Auburn scientists launch six inaugural AAES-Cuba projects

Six projects that aim to encourage and advance academic collaborations between Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station researchers at Auburn University and scientists at universities and agricultural research institutes in Cuba are underway, supported by funding from a new Auburn University/AAES–Cuba Grants Program.

Titles of the funded projects and the Auburn lead investigator(s) are:

• “Capacity building among Cuban scientists in the application of crop simulation models and decision support systems”—crop, soil and environmental sciences associate professor Brenda Ortiz
   
• “Development of strategies to evaluate land-use management for sustainable food production and environmental protection”—Brenda Ortiz
   
• “Capacity building for detection of avian influenza virus and safe disposal of organic materials in case of an outbreak”—poultry science professor Joseph Giambrone
   
• “Turfgrass management in Cuba: A whole-systems approach as significant golf course construction looms”—Beth Guertal, professor of turfgrass and nutrient management
   
• “Identification of novel botanical pesticides for sustainable urban pest management”—Arthur Appel, professor of entomology
   
• “Compatibility studies of product to control plant parasitic nematodes and disease in crops of economic importance to Cuba and the U.S.”—Beth Guertal, professor of turfgrass and nutrient management, and Rodrigo Rodriguez-Kabana, Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of plant pathology

These projects involve Auburn faculty and scientists from partner institutions in Cuba including the Agrarian University of Havana (UNAH), Centro Nacional de Sanidad Agropecuaria (CENSA), and Pasture & Forage Research Institute (Indo Hatuey).

In essence, the awards are small seed grants to fund cooperative projects that will be used to leverage major grants from federal, state, or private funding agencies, said Henry Fadamiro, Auburn Alumni Professor and assistant dean and director of global programs for the College of Agriculture. 

The 2016 Auburn/AAES–Cuba grants were awarded in May, a year after the College of Agriculture signed an international academic interchange agreement with the Cuban institutions. That agreement, one of the first such treaties between Cuba and a U.S. university since the Cuban trade embargo was imposed in 1962, resulted from three decades of College of Agriculture faculty members’ engagement with Cuba in the areas of agriculture and crop protection.

War Eagle from Havana! 
Cuba Study Abroad back in 2017

This past summer, 16 students from across the university took an historic cross-country trip to Cuba. Jointly organized by the Auburn University Colleges of Agriculture and Human Studies, the 12-day, three-credit study-abroad trip focused on food security, giving students a hands-on view of how the recently opened country is rapidly changing.

The trip will be offered again in the first mini-mester of summer (May) 2017, but due to popular demand, enrollment will open during fall 2016 semester, and orientation classes will be scheduled for the spring 2017 semester.

Again led by Beth Guertal in the College of Agriculture’s Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences and Paula Hunker, director of strategy and policy for the Hunger Solutions Institute in the College of Human Sciences, the trip will be expanded next year to take in even more of Cuba and will include a number of unique cultural experiences, such as salsa dancing lessons, a visit to the world-famous ballet in Havana, and visits to the Ernest Hemingway’s home.

Focusing on food security, the trip will stop at large and small agro-ecological farms, which use organic techniques and oxen rather than tractors. In Havana, one of the highlights of the first trip was a stop at the World Food Programme where the country director explained about Cuba’s unique struggle to ensure that no one went without food, despite financial hardships.

Students from every major will have an opportunity to apply for the trip, but priority will be given to those from the Colleges of Agriculture and Human Sciences.

“One of the great pleasures of this trip was the opportunity to travel with and get to know students and faculty from all over campus,” said Guertal. “We had students from a wide range of majors, and their life experiences and positive attitudes for every part of this trip was so heartening and fun.”

The College of Agriculture is also collaborating with the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) to organize and teach a two-week course on “sustainable crop production” in Cuba in May 2017. The course is open to students from U.S., Cuba, and other countries.
 
For more information, contact Beth Guertal at guertea@auburn.edu or Paula Gray Hunker at paula.hunker@auburn.edu.

Auburn University signs second historic Cuba partnership

In July, a delegation from Auburn University’s College of Agriculture traveled to Cuba to continue the work of the Auburn University/AAES Grants Program. The delegation included Henry Fadamiro, assistant dean of global programs and alumni professor; Beth Guertal, professor of turfgrass and nutrient management; and Brenda Ortiz, associate professor of crop, soil and environmental sciences.

The group initiated the first round of grants funded by the Auburn-Cuba grants program. Six research projects were funded through the first round of grants. Auburn and Cuban scientists will begin working together this fall.



The delegation also signed another historic agreement between Auburn University and two Cuban institutes under the Cuban Ministry of Agriculture—Instituto de Investigaciones de Sanidad Vegetal (INISAV) and Soils Institute (IS).

INISAV is Cuban’s Plant Health Research Institute with strong programs in plant pathology, nematology and entomology.  Scientists at INISAV are interested in engaging and collaborating with Auburn’s plant protection faculty.

In addition to signing the landmark agreement and paving the way for the six funded research projects, the delegation also identified potential Cuban partners for Auburn’s School of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences.