Chase Floyd joined the Fisher Delta Research, Extension and Education Center Jan. 1 as an assistant research professor and state extension specialist for crop protection. In this position, Floyd will research and develop pest thresholds to maximize producer yield retention and incorporate new technology and methods to aid Missouri producers.

CAFNR Research Council announced the return of its webinar series starting in February. Zipei Zhang, assistant professor of food science, will kick-off the series Feb. 9 with his presentation, “Broaden the application of phytochemicals in food and pharmaceutical areas”.

Phytochemicals are chemical compounds produced by plants. Phytochemicals have received much attention in recent years due to their many health benefits. The pharmaceutical potential of phytochemicals have not yet been fully discovered. In this talk, Zhang will explore how to use multidisciplinary approach to improve the stability and bioavailability of phytochemicals and broaden their pharmaceutical application to solve our most pressing health concerns.

Zhang’s main research interest include emulsion, gastrointestinal digestion, phytochemicals, antimicrobial agent and food colloids. He has authored and coauthored more than 70 research papers and one book chapter. He has previously received awards from the ACS, AOCS, Phi Tau Sigma and IFT in recognition of his scientific achievements.

Join the webinar on Zoom Feb. 9 at 3 p.m.

The next CRC webinar will be March 9 and will feature Benaiah Schrag’s presentation, “Lab-to-Market Programs at the National Science Foundation”.

CAFNR teamed up with the College of Arts and Science (and a few other colleges) to launch the Center for Applied Statistics and Data Analysis (CASDA) at MU in the fall (2022). CASDA will provide statistical consulting to CAFNR faculty, postdocs and graduate students. You can expect pre- and post-award statistical support, experimental design consultation, recommendations for appropriate methods and software, programming support, data analysis support (coding, interpretation), journal methods write-up (excluding graduate student theses) and recommendations for contacts for new methodological development, if needed.

For faculty and postdoctoral fellows who require statistical assistance, please contact Dr. Suhwon Lee, Interim Director of CASDA, directly at leesuh@missouri.edu to set up an appointment. Depending upon your statistical needs, after the initial meeting with Dr. Lee, your work may be completed by Dr. Lee, other CASDA personnel, or other Department of Statistics faculty with the necessary statistical expertise.

For graduate students who need statistical consultation for their analysis of thesis or dissertation data, please fill out a Request Statistical Analysis/Software Help Form. If you are having trouble submitting a request, please email Lada Micheas at kotlovl@missouri.edu.

CASDA is committed to providing timely statistical services to faculty, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students.  As with all things research, CASDA encourages you to plan ahead and not wait until the last minute to submit your requests for statistical consultation.

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

Craig Paukert, Big Piney River and Aquatic Organism Passage Assessment, Corps of Engineers, 9/30/22-9/29-27, $407,368

Henry Nguyen, Yield Limitations of Soybean Varieties Under Drought: Identifying and Overcoming Weaknesses by Team Drought via Breeding, Genomics, Phenomics and Physiology, Agricultural Research Service, 10/1/22-9/30/23, $43,896

Kendra Esparza-Harris, Transition – Wooded Paddocks to Woodland Silvopasture for Integration into Rotational Grazing System, University of Minnesota, 9/5/22-10/25/24, $14,983

Xi Xiong, Weed Management Practices to Increase Sweet Potato Production in Missouri, Missouri Department of Agriculture, 11/1/22-10/31/24, $28,080

Tim Reinbott, Development of Smart-farm Irrigation Toolkit for Smallholder Vegetable Producers, Missouri Department of Agriculture, 9/1/22-2/28/25, $49,973

Felix Fritschi, Characterizing the impact of nitrogen transporter genes on soybean yield, seed protein concentration, and amino acid composition, Smith Bucklin, 10/1/22-9/30/23, $36,174

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