Award Data

Coral transplantation is a primary management option for rehabilitation of degraded reefs. Stabilization (via adhesion, etc.) of transplants on existing reef or artificial substrates notably improves their survival rate. Improved underwater adhesives are needed for expedient and convenient stabilization of coral transplants with improved survival rate. A new hybrid organic-inorganic adhesive is pr ...

The project will research and develop an online learning module to increase the capacity of ruralhigh school students to use written local news reports as a knowledge source to make informeddecisions which will enable them to lead successful lives and contribute to the wellbeing of theircommunities. Over 66% of rural senior high school students in the U.S. do not have the readingcomprehension and ...

Nozzle clogging on orchard and vineyard sprayers is a problem that often isn't addressed until the nozzle(or multiple nozzles) are inoperable to the point that an operator can visually detect the fault. By then anunknown portion of the field has been sprayed inadequately since the fault was not immediately detected.We propose a technology that continually monitors a sprayer via imaging and which w ...

This project's goal is to reduce spray drift from aerial applications while at the same timesignificantly increase the efficiency and profitability of aerial applicators. The project willachieve this objective through development of a scalable commercial-scale high pressurechemical delivery system designed to mount on most any piloted fixed or rotary-wing aircraftand potentially larger Unmanned Ae ...

Rural communities suffer from many obstacles that prevent a constant rate of growthwith one of their most difficult problems being that their isolation makes the delivery set-updeployment and maintenance of new technologies rather difficult. Larger installations requiringthe use of helicopters and cranes to fully deploy such as most modern cell towers are alreadymonumental efforts that require hun ...

U.S. hog farming is a $35 billion industry facing a pressing issue in the amount of manure theyproduce. A hog farm with 800000 hogs produces 1.6 million tons of waste per year more than thewaste produced by the city of Philadelphia. One popular manure management system is anaerobicmanure lagoons outdoor earthen basins filled with animal waste. However these lagoons areparticularly vulnerable to na ...

Using Renewable Energy to Make Tilapia Production Financially Viable for Small FarmsInvestigator: Fox W.S. Institution: Arizona Green (Div. of Teach Sharp LLC) Elfrida AZMaking production of tilapia (and other warm-water fish) financially viable and sustainable on asmall-farm scale depends on several factors. The number-one constraint is the need to maintaino o tropical water temperatures (70 to 1 ...

We are developing a portable photocatalytic air purifier for reduction of ammonia levels in poultryhouses. This will be effective regardless environmental conditions integrate with existingventilation equipment enable cleaner air for improved poultry productivity and weight gains andhave a cost payback of about one year. Our approach will reduce the number of air changes neededto maintain indoor a ...

Many factors acting together including concerns aboutworker safety food safety pesticide resistance and new regulations governing pesticides haveheightened grower awareness to reduce insecticide inputs and increase reliance on biopesticides.Foremost among the forces leading to change is the need to reduce input costs in order tomaintain economic viability. Mating disruption is among the most effec ...

Fruits and vegetables are a fundamental food resource and prolonging their storage life is acritical challenge for our society especially during storage and shipping.Ethylene is a planthormone that promotes ripening but in high concentrations (>100 ppb) it causes over-ripeningand increased susceptibility to pathogens and senescence.Reduction of ethylene to below 5 ppbis therefore a major opportuni ...