Award Data

Independent of the field (human health, agriculture, etc.) it is clear that early detection is the only solution to prevent epidemics. Our dual-mode nanosensory platform is a disruptive concept that utilizes two detection modes in a single biosensor chip. In the case of Citrus Tristeza Virus, current detection is slow, expensive, requiring constant human interference and laboratory conditions with ...

Agricultural breeding programs inevitably produce individuals on the non-desired gender, such as male calves on a dairy farm. These individuals are harvested or destroyed early on, to minimize the cost of supporting these animals. Nonetheless, they reduced the profitability and efficiency of these enterprises. This project would reduce or eliminate the production of undesired offspring by sorting ...

Mathematics achievement of Native American students is the lowest of all racial and ethnic groups, a disadvantage that is evident by the fourth grade. Students living on American Indian reservations, which are located in rural persistent poverty counties, perform even below the national average for Native Americans. Dakota Learning Project (DLP) applies research in mathematics education and comput ...

Fossilized hydrocarbon-based energy sources such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas provide a limited, non-renewable resource pool. This creates a somewhat precarious situation in today's political climate because supply disruptions are highly likely and could cripple the ability of our economy to function. This is regarded as a national security issue. Renewable plant biomass-derived energy ...

We are currently witnessing an unprecedented mountain pine beetle population expansion across North America, transforming some of our most productive pine forests into enormous wastelands composed of unhealthy and dead trees that contribute to the global greenhouse gas emissions. Currently there is little hope of stopping the spread of MPB before our pine forests are devastated. Scientists believe ...

Agricultural non-point source (NPS) run-off is the leading source of pollution in our rivers and lakes. When one considers the scale of farmland in the United States--330 million acres--the impact of run-off is not surprising. The USDA pays over $1.5 billion annually towards the Conservation Reserve Program for land conservation along waterways, an effort partially targeted to decrease NPS polluti ...

Nitrate (NO3-) contamination in water is a worldwide environmental problem. High nitrate levels can result in adverse human health effects and eutrophication of lakes, rivers, oceans, and terrestrial ecosystems. There are several sources of nitrates, including manure, fertilizers, sewage, industrial wastewater, soil runoff, and atmospheric deposition. In order to effectively manage nitrate polluti ...

In this SBIR Phase I project, Pemaquid Mussel Farms (PMF) seeks to determine the feasibility of fabricating a submersible mussel raft that will eliminate problems associated with surface mussel rafts (mussel drop off, wave and ice damage to rafts, lower yields, visual impacts) while improving crop production and quality. In the northeast and northwestern U.S., the preferred method of mussel suspen ...

Small growers in Hawaii have the potential to produce an abundance of high value fruit and vegetables supplying for the needs of local island markets as well as the mainland markets. However, due to the insidious, unrelenting, high pressure of fruit flies, especially from the two key Bactrocera invasive pest species, Oriental Fruit Fly and Melon Fruit Fly, these growers cannot achieve their produc ...

American consumers want to know their farmers, and wholesale buyers are looking for source identified agricultural products that are augmented with reliable data about the identity of the producer and how the product was produced. This data can easily be made available using any smartphone by scanning a UPC code or QR code using data standardized in GS1 formats. Though this market is evolving in r ...