NASHVILLE (TSU News Service) – The College of Agriculture, Human and Natural Sciences at Tennessee State University has been awarded $1.7 million in grants to strengthen teaching, research and extension programs in the food and agricultural sciences.
The College received the award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s 1890 Capacity Building Grants Program. This is the third time in as many years that the Agricultural College has received near the maximum funding from the USDA under this type of funding.
The funding is spread among six specific projects:
- Building Extension Capacity Using a Mobile Biodiesel Production Platform -$249,744; Principal Investigator: Jason de Koff and team: Prabode Illukpitiya, John Ricketts and Alvin Wade
- Geospatial Information Systems Training and Outreach for Extension and Research Professionals -$249,969; Principal Investigator: Solomon Haile; Roy Bullock
- Enhancing Food Safety Knowledge of Small to Medium-sized Produce Growers in Tennessee and Illinois -$250,000; Principal Investigator: Agnes Kilonzo-Nthenge and team: Fisseha Tegegne, Dharma Pitchay and Samuel Nahashon
- Improving Enrollment and Retention of Minority Students in Pre-veterinary Medicine at TSU –$149,952; Principal Investigator: Makonnen Lema; Samuel Nahashon
- An Economics Analysis of Local Food Environment and Demand for Fruits and Vegetables in a Food Desert Cluster -$299,196; Principal Investigator: Lan Li and team: Enefiok Ekanem, Prabode Illukpitiya, Surendra Singh and Fisseha Tegegne
- Identification and Modulation of Functional Protein Association Networks for Drought Tolerance in Switchgrass -$499,995; Principal Investigator: Suping Zhou, Jason de Koff, Dafeng Hui and Fur Chi Chen
The 1890 Institution Teaching, Research and Extension Capacity Building Grants Program is intended to strengthen teaching, research and extension programs in the food and agricultural sciences by building the institutional capacities of 1890 Land-Grant Institutions, and Tuskegee University. The CBG program supports projects that strengthen teaching programs in the food and agricultural sciences in specified need areas of curriculum design and materials development, faculty development, and others. CBG supports projects that strengthen research and extension programs in need areas of studies and experimentation, extension program development support systems, and others.
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With nearly 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university and is a comprehensive, urban, coeducational, land-grant university offering 38 undergraduate, 22 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top Universities in the county by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912 Tennessee State University celebrates 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu
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