Over the course of the next year, University of Missouri researchers, including Chung-Ho Lin, a research associate professor and lead scientist in the bioremediation program with the MU Center for Agroforestry, are partnering with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources in the Coronavirus Sewershed Surveillance Project.

This new project will detect the presence of the novel coronavirus in samples of wastewater from across the state to help inform disease mitigation efforts.

Steven Van Doren, a professor of biochemistry, has received a $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for a “rapid response” study of an aspect of the virus that has received little attention, but could hold promise for defeating the pandemic.

CAFNR researchers are part of a collaboration with Kansas State University focused on studying heat tolerance in soybeans. Henry Nguyen, Curators’ Distinguished Professor, and Tri Vuong, senior research scientist, both in the Division of Plant Sciences, are part of the collaboration, which recently earned a $500,000 grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).

In nearly two decades of working as a researcher at the University of Missouri, Chung-Ho Lin has never felt the urge to study human waste. But science isn’t always glamorous work, and now, to help put a stop to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lin and his team in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources’ MU Center for Agroforestry are willing to do whatever it takes.

CAFNR Student Wins Awards During 2020 ADSA-SAD Undergraduate Research Competition

The American Dairy Science Association Student Affiliate Division (ADSA-SAD) recently announced several awards and honors during its 2020 ADSA-SAD Undergraduate Research Competition. Jiashun Xu, a senior food science and nutrition major in the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, won first place in the Undergraduate Student Poster Presentations – Original Research/Independent Study competition. The title of Xu’s presentation was, “Foaming and baking properties of spray-dried ingredients from whey protein and pectin complexes.”

MU Faculty Part of Gene Editing Task Force

The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) recently announced an 11-person Gene Editing Task Force, which includes two individuals from the University of Missouri: Bhanu Telugu (associate professor) and Londa Nwadike (food safety state specialist, MU Extension). The 11-person task force comprises scientists and industry leaders who will map out recommendations for regulating this emerging genomic technology in animal agriculture with appropriate safeguards and procedures.

Missouri to study wastewater to monitor COVID-19 spread in the state

KSDK.com

Century-old farm converts into a wellness company

OzarksFirst.com

Second MU researcher to receive NSF grant for COVID-19 study

Columbia Missourian

Research farms, labs search for new ways to improve crops

Ag|Update

Happy 4th of July from the CAFNR Office of Research!