Award Data

We have developed a bioinspired nanoparticle technology using the coat protein (CP) assemblies ofTobacco mild green mosaic tobamovirus (TMGMV) to deliver nematicides to roots reduce dosageand improve soil mobility efficacy and safety. The CP's zwitterionic nature allows the loading andrelease of nematicides. The TMGMV-delivered nematicides (TDN) are efficacious againstCaenorhabditis elegans in liq ...

Hatchery production is one of the largest costs and restraints to fin fish aquaculture andspawning aids are ranked as a high priority drug required by the aquaculture industry.Exogenous hormone administration has been developed to induce maturation and obtainfertilized eggs.While the GnRH hormone and slow-release vehicle are not new theircombination into a commercialized product that can work be u ...

With increasing global industrialization hazardous pollutants such as heavy metals organiccompounds and pesticides are being produced in greater quantities by chemical agriculturalpharmaceutical and many other industries. Since these pollutants pose serious environmentaland health threats environmental regulations require that they are removed from wastestreams such as wastewater before dischargin ...

In order to meet growing demands of renewable energy photovoltaic (PV) developments willrequire significant land space for ground-mounted PV systems. This growing demand is creatingcompetition for land resources causing the most challenges for small and mid-size farms. Thischallenge can be reformed into an environmental and financial opportunity for these farms withthe increased research of co-loc ...

There is compelling value to feeding live algae in fish hatcheries as the current survival rate oflarvae fed frozen paste is relatively low resulting in higher costs.However the complexity andcosts of existing photo-bioreactors and the logistical costs of shipping live material over distancesare barriers to the widespread deployment of live algae as feed.Culture BioSystems has successfully grown 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 ...

Imported Fire Ants (Solenopsis richteri Solenopsis invicta) are invasive pests which currentlyinfest over 140 million ha in 14 states. Damages related to fire ants have a significant impact onmany economic sectors including agriculture and biodiversity. The estimated annual cost spent onfire ant control is 3 billion dollars. Current chemical insecticides used in fire ant control are notselective c ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...