Mizzou researcher Kiruba Krishnaswamy recently received an NSF CAREER award to develop a sustainable food system.

More than 2 billion people suffer from hidden hunger, a form of malnutrition where individuals lack essential micronutrients — like vitamins and minerals — even though they consume what appears to be an adequate amount of calories.

University of Missouri researcher Kiruba Krishnaswamy is focused on tackling this global challenge. She recently received a five-year, $532,000 Early Career Development (CAREER) award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) — the NSF’s most prestigious award for early-career faculty — in support of her project titled “FEAST (food ecosystems and circularity for sustainable transformation) framework to address hidden hunger.”

“Food is a universal basic human right,” said Krishnaswamy, an assistant professor with joint appointments in the MU College of Engineering and MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. “Whenever we talk about hunger, we usually talk about chronic hunger, but hidden hunger is much more dangerous. If we don’t have enough micronutrients, our bodies won’t be able to absorb the required nutrients. This can create a snowball effect — leading to serious health issues like spina bifida, iron deficiency and anemia.”

The Roy Blunt Soil Testing and Research Laboratory located in Portageville, Missouri, will strengthen research support for southeast Missouri producers.

Both crop and livestock receipts are projected to decline along with farm income, according to the Rural and Farm Finance Policy Analysis Center’s spring report.

Topping-off ceremony held April 12 for new Learning Center.

The 57th Annual Nutrition and Exercise Research Day will feature nationally known speakers around the topic of obesity medications, including Amanda Velazquez, who was recently featured in the Oprah Winfrey weight-loss special. The event is sponsored by the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources’ Division of Food, Nutrition & Exercise Science and School of Medicine’s Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology. Presentations are free and open to the public.

Presentations will take place Thursday, April 25, at Monsanto Auditorium in Bond Life Sciences Center.

Velazquez, who will speak at 11 a.m., is an assistant professor of medicine and surgery and the director of obesity medicine at the Center for Weight Management and Metabolic Health at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. She is passionate in achieving healthy equity and reducing health disparities through increased access to the treatments for obesity, improving obesity medicine and nutrition education efforts for trainees and healthcare professionals, and cultivating systematic healthcare change through preventive medicine efforts. Her research interests have focused on pharmacotherapy treatments of obesity, medical education of obesity medicine and nutrition, and reducing weight bias and stigma among healthcare professionals. 

John M. Jakicic, who will speak at 4 p.m., is a research professor at the University of Kansas Medical Center in the Department of Internal Medicine. He has an interdisciplinary research program that examines lifestyle approaches to the prevention and treatment of chronic health conditions, with a particular focus on the role of increased physical activity and reduced sedentary behavior on these outcomes.

The Brown Graduate Research Fellowship Program was created to assist CAFNR graduate students in obtaining international research experiences as part of their graduate education. Fellowships are awarded to CAFNR graduate students who are U.S. citizens twice a year and vary in amounts not to exceed $7,500.00 each.

Proposals for this scholarship are now open for submission, and must be submitted by May 15.

The funding available through the fellowship must be used for international travel and research costs, and may not be used for other purposes, such as providing a student stipend or payment of fees. Awards will be variable, but will not exceed $7,500. Special consideration will be accorded proposals that seek or provide funding in addition to the Brown Fellowship.

For more information, visit the Brown Fellowship page on CAFNR’s website.

CAFNR faculty members have received the following recent grants (listed by Principal Investigator):

Heike Buecking, Acquisition of Goods and Services – CSWQ FY24-25, Agricultural Research Service, 4/1/24-3/31/25, $104,500

Lisa Webb, Identifying effects of weather and land use on autumn and winter waterfowl distribution dynamics in the 21st century, Mississippi Flyway Council, 8/1/23-7/31/24, $9,955.94

Jodi Whittier, Aquatic Community Gap Analysis of the Missouri Natural Areas System, Missouri Department of Conservation, 6/1/23-6/30/24, $103,253

Kerry Clark, Introduction to U.S. Gastronomy and Food Ingredients for Colombia, Foreign Ag Service, 3/19/24-3/19/25, $113,455.23

Kerry Clark, Hotel Foodservice Industry Trends & Best Practices for Mexico, Monterrey – 8, Foreign Ag Service, 4/1/24-3/31/25, $118,461.46

Andrew Scaboo, Utilizing Molecular Markers for Soybean Variety Development, Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council, 7/1/24-6/30/25, $137,000

Jacqueline Limberg, Washington University Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences, Washington University, 3/1/24-2/28/25, $50,000

Heike Buecking, Acquisition of Goods and Services – Plant Genetics Soybean FY24-25, Agricultural Research Service, 4/1/24-3/31/25, $34,073.60

Gurpreet Kaur, Screening soybean varieties to flooding stress in Northern Missouri, Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council, 4/1/24-3/31/25, $20,000

Andre Froes de Borja Reis, Planting date in Missouri: How to adjust maturity group, plant density, and row spacing to optimize yield and minimize risk, Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council, 4/1/24-3/31/25, $78,043

Andre Froes de Borja Reis, Optimizing soybean management at the southwest region: investigating the interplay between planting dates and cover crop, Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council, 4/1/24-3/31/25, $13,835

Feng Lin, Fisher Delta Center Soybean Breeding Program, Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council, 7/1/24-6/30/25, $512,235

Ben Knapp, Expanding agroforestry production and markets for producer profitability and climate stabilization, Nature Conservancy, 5/1/23-3/31/28, $1,967,171

Andrew Scaboo, North Missouri Soybean Breeding Program, Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council, 7/1/24-6/30/25, $485,000

Up to a Trillion Cicadas Could Emerge in the U.S. Later This Spring
Smithsonian Magazine

Mizzou Breaks Ground for New Soil Testing and Research Laboratory
Agri Marketing

Missouri’s net farm income projected to decrease 18% in 2024, 25.5% nationally
The Center Square

Lavender offers opportunities for value-added ag
Farm Progress

The Promise of Underutilized and Biofortified Crops
Farms.com

Nicklaus: Path to world food security goes through St. Louis
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

This map shows where trillions of cicadas will emerge in 2024
AOL News

AI in agriculture? New MU Center researches the future of farming
KOMU

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