Stories

April 11, 2024

Groundbreaking for new building named for former Sen. Roy Blunt held at Fisher Delta Research, Extension and Education Center

Robert Cook, Don Rone, Paul T. Combs, David Haggard, Patrick McHaney, Aaron Brandt, Gary Wheeler, Chris Chinn, Jason Bean, Roy Blunt, Keith Holloway, Shelly Fisher, Trent Haggard, Charlie Kruse, Dave Blakemore, Mun Choi, Justin Rone, Rob Kallenbach, Chad Higgins, Shibu Jose and Chris Daubert. A groundbreaking was held Friday, April 5, for the Roy Blunt Soil Testing and Research Laboratory at the University of Missouri’s Fisher Delta Research, Extension and Education Center (FD-REEC) in Portageville, Mo. “As a longtime Delta Day attendee and Delta Center advocate, I’m pleased to have been part of spearheading a new facility that will support…

April 11, 2024

Taking on the global challenge of hidden hunger

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. Kiruba Krishnaswamy 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…

Sun over columns at Mizzou.

April 2, 2024

Plant Science and Technology professor named to Soil Health Institute board of directors

Rob Myers, extension professor in the Division of Plant Science and Technology, was announced as a new member of the Soil Health Institute board of directors. Rob Myers The Soil Health Institute is a global non-profit with a mission of safeguarding and enhancing the vitality and productivity of soils through scientific research and advancement. The Institute brings together leaders in science and industry to conduct research and empower farmers and landowners to adopt soil health systems that contribute economic and environmental benefits to agriculture and society. Myers appointment was effective April 1.

April 2, 2024

Bethany Bedeker Named Driver to Distinction

CAFNR Vice Chancellor and Dean Christopher Daubert surprised Bethany Bedeker, cover crop outreach manager, with the Driver to Distinction award at the faculty and staff meeting March 21, 2024, for her tireless work engaging with farmers as part of the Center for Regenerative Agriculture.

Personal Financial Planning student Sydney Kile helps Columbia resident Brenda Jones with her tax filing as part of the VITA tax prep service.

April 1, 2024

Personal Financial Planning students serve community members and practice their craft with VITA Tax Prep

Every spring, CAFNR’s Personal Financial Planning majors work with community members to prepare their taxes for free, using their financial skills and getting to know their clients.

April 1, 2024

Biochemistry student receive DAAD Rise award

CAFNR student Lara Stefani, biochemistry, received the DAAD Research Internship in Science and Engineering award to study abroad in Germany.

Five students pose in front of mountains.

April 1, 2024

Mizzou Plant Sciences students see success at the National Collegiate Landscape Competition

For the first time, seven Mizzou students competed in the National Collegiate Landscape Competition (NCLC) conducted through the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP).

Four students pose with a plaque.

April 1, 2024

Mizzou Animal Sciences Academic Quadrathlon Team takes first place for the third year in a row

The Mizzou Animal Sciences Academic Quadrathlon Team tied for first place with Kansas State University at the American Society of Animal Sciences Midwest Section competition held at the University of Wisconsin – Platteville.

Winners holding certificates

April 1, 2024

Biochemistry and Plant Sciences Students win awards at 2024 Midwest American Society of Plant Biologists Meeting

Four CAFNR undergraduates won awards at the 2024 Midwest American Society of Plant Biologists Meeting held at Purdue University.

A light-skinned man with curly, short, grey hair wearing a long-sleeve blue plaid button-up shirt poses with a metallic art sculpture of a helix in the background.

March 30, 2024

Full circle: CAFNR professor is making strides in human health that stem from an observation made 40 years ago

Gary Weisman is a Curators’ Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry — a lofty title — and his career has come a long way over the course of four decades. In fact, when he arrived at Mizzou in 1985, the scientific community had largely rejected his research, which is now sparking global curiosity and driving innovation in healthcare. Weisman’s research career was set in motion when he was a postdoc at Cornell and worked on a team that discovered that adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, a nucleotide component of nucleic acids that provides energy to a cell, exists outside of the cell and…