In this edition

  • A message from Dr. Bajwa
  • Upcoming events
  • Recent grants in the COA/MAES
  • Upcoming funding opportunities
  • Recent publications
  • Notices and opportunities
  • COA/MAES in the news

A Message from Dr. Bajwa

Dear COA/MAES Family,It is October already. We continue to be busy in Bozeman, celebrating homecoming week October 7-13. Our COA homecoming award ceremony was very well-attended with over 70 people helping us honor our award winners: Distinguished Faculty Gary Brester, Distinguished Staff Ed Davis, Alumni Achievement winner Jim Sargent and Honorary Alumni Jack Riesselman. We also recognized our Blue and Gold Award Winner, Kent Norby. While we have many alumni, faculty and staff with very impressive accomplishments, we can only recognize a few each year. We honored those special few people who made extra-ordinary contributions to Montana agriculture and the world beyond. Congratulations once again to all the award winners!The College and MAES have some great news to report. It has been 2 months since we welcomed a new group of students to MSU. Of the 3,300 students in the class of 2023, ~700 came to our college. We currently have 2,039 students, 239 of them pursuing graduate education.MSU also recently announced all-time high research expenditures from the 2018-19 year. Of the $138 million in research expenditures, MAES/COA researchers account for the largest portion, over $42.5 million, a jump from the year before. It is worthwhile to note that the economic impact of our research to the state of Montana is many times this research expenditure, thanks to the excellent work of our faculty, research staff and students. Your work makes a difference in the lives of many Montanans and the people beyond.We are currently incorporating your suggestions to our strategic plan. While we are working on it, I would like to share my thoughts on some of the strategic anchors identified in our strategic plan. As the Land-Grant University of Montana, we are all in the business of research, teaching and outreach. Our strategic planning group identified transformative teaching and learning as one of the seven strategic anchors.My idea of transformative teaching and learning as it relates to our teaching mission is an education that transforms the lives of people who are receiving the education, providing the education, supporting the educational activities, and the communities that are served by the product of this education. Until I went to college, I hadn't traveled more than 20 miles outside of my hometown, and didn't know much about the world outside. Education transformed me and paved the way to get me where I am today.What does transformative education mean to you? How can we make our educational efforts more engaging and transformative to all involved in our programs, particularly students?

Wishing you all an enjoyable and productive fall,

Sreekala Bajwa

Upcoming Events

  • October 23: Deadline for Science as Art Contest. We are looking for visuals that capture some aspect of science, to be displayed during Celebrate Ag Weekend. Submit by email to sfraser@montana.edu
  • October 25-27: The Alternative Energy Resources Organization will host a three-day conference focused on sustainable food systems at MSU. Learn more here. 
  • October 31: Animal & Range Sciences Stakeholder Meeting, ABB 134 
  • November 1-2: Celebrate Ag weekend! Get ready for a great couple days. Full schedule of events here. 
  • November 14: Bair Ranch Lecture Series presents, "Weed Ecology and the Relationships of Farming Systems, Soil and Microbiology," with Dr. Fabian Menalled, 12-1 p.m. ABB 134 
  • November 26: Montana Science Olympiad Talks & Tours, 1-2 p.m. This is a highlight for visiting high school and middle school students as they get to visit MSU's studios, labs and classrooms while meeting faculty, staff and students. If you would be willing to host a group of students, sign up here.  

Recent Grants in the COA and MAES

  • Brian Bothner, Erik Boyd, Joan Broderick, Jennifer Dubois (MBI): "Probing novel pathways of iron sulfide acquisition and trafficking in bodel biocatalytic systems," US Department of Energy. 
  • Stephanie Ewing (LRES): "Developing a new geospatial approach for rangeland carbon monitoring," Woods Hole Research Center. 
  • Mark Jutila (MBI): "Identification of lytic phage for Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae," USDA NIFA. 
  • Clayton Marlow (ARS): "Rangeland responses to grazing management after the lodgepole wildfire complex," US Agricultural Research Service. 
  • Raina Plowright (MBI): "Rabies simulation model Singapore," University of Queensland. 
  • Scott Powell (LRES): "Increasing nitrogen fixation potential in pulses for environmental and economic sustainability," USDA. 
  • Edward Schmidt (MBI): "Hepatocyte-targeted somatic-cell genetic complementation in mice," and "Metabolic basis of the NADPH-independent disulfide reductase system in mouse liver," NIH. 
  • Ryan Thum (PSPP): "Genetics to improve hybrid and Eurasian watermilfoil management," University of Minnesota. 
  • Carly Urban (DAEE): "Local school district data collection," NextGen Personal Finance. 
  • Megan Van Emon (ARS): "Impacts of a dried distiller's grain plus soluble supplement on rumen nutrient digestion intake and reproduction," SweetPro Feeds, LLC. 
  • Jovanka Voyich (MBI): "AI/AN CTRP: Admin Core," NIH. 
  • Seth Walk (MBI): "Integration of mononuclear phagocytes into the human gastrointestinal GOFlowChip for investigation of luminal antigen sampling," NIH. 
  • Nina Zidack (PSPP): "Updating potato seed certification practices to effectively manage emerging virus disease issues." 

Upcoming Funding Opportunities

  • NIFA Farmer/Rancher Grant Program: proposals due November 11 
  • NIFA Professional Development: internal MSU submission due November 8, NIFA proposal due November 13 
  • NIFA Professional Plus Producer Grant Program: internal MSU submission due November 8, NIFA proposal due November 13 
  • NIFA Research to Grass Roots Grant Program: internal MSU submission due November 15, NIFA proposal due November 20 
  • Montana Water Center Water Resource Fellowship Program: proposal due November 15 
  • The next application deadline for graduate admission to the Molecular BioSciences Program is December 14. Let your graduate students know! 

Notices

COA/MAES Teaching & Equipment RFP Submit to: Jody Barney, Budget and Fiscal Director of COA/MAES, at jody.barney@montana.edu and your department head.Submission Due Date: Friday, November 15 by 5 p.m.

COA/MAES is pleased to announce an equipment RFP for each component of our operations. The College of Agriculture has set aside $40,000 for instructional equipment and the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station has set aside $410,000 for research equipment. The funding will need to be expended no later than May 31, 2020.

The impact on your research program (teaching program for instructional equipment requests) and Montana Agriculture will be the main consideration for awarding the grants. Preference will be given to awardees with matching funds from external sources. We look forward to our internal applications.

To Apply: Please fill out the application PDF and submit to Jody Barney, Budget and Fiscal Director of COA/MAES, at jody.barney@montana.edu as well as your department head. Proposals are due Friday, November 15 by 5 p.m. A faculty committee will evaluate and make recommendations for funding to Sreekala Bajwa, MSU Vice President of Agriculture. Award announcements will be shared after the committee has selected award projects.

The #IamAg social media campaign is ready to roll, and we need everyone's submissions! Tell us a bit about yourself and your research here, and we'll feature one researcher a week on our social media channels. The link can also be found on the COA website under "Publications and Events."

The Year of Undergraduate Research is underway! Tell us about your students' work so we can recognize them.

MSU Communications is working on the annual publication "MSU is Your University: The Montana Student's Guide to MSU" and is looking for nominations of junior/senior students to feature. The guide is a recruitment piece for in-state high school students and features in-state MSU students and their honest, uncensored responses about their experiences at MSU. If you know a Montana student who deserves to be featured, email reagan.colyer@montana.edu. 

The Department of Research Centers is currently recruiting three tenure track faculty positions at the NWARC, SARC and WTARC. Please forward these links to anyone you feel may be interested.

Do you have new research, awards or honors, or know someone who does and might be too shy? Email reagan.colyer@montana.edu with news and developments!

COA/MAES in the News

New survey suggests improvements in Montanans' understanding of noxious weeds 

Sustainable Food and Alternative Energy Expo set for Oct. 25-27 at MSu

MSU's annual Celebrate Agriculture weekend set for Nov. 1-2

MSU economist's research on colony collapse disorder published in national journal

Environmental Health program earns national accreditation