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April 2022 Edition of the Official Newsletter of the
School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences

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SANS students receive awards at 69th annual honors convocation
Farm Credit Foundation awards scholarships to agricultural majors
47abc video: Delmarva Power funds climate resilience activities in DNS
Dean's Message
Urban forestry students plant tree for 150th Arbor Day celebration
47abc video: "Good News" UMES Arbor Day
47abc video: Celebrating arbor day, how to care for trees
Delmarva Public Radio: Local ecologist Dr. Joan Maloof to give talk at UMES
47abc video: FBI seeing ransomware attacks on ag sector, warning farmers
Doctoral student heading for promising career in toxicology
SANS students travel to Dominican Republic for service learning trip
Fashion merchandising students network with alumnae in LA
Horticultural students get hands-on experiences
STEM students and community benefit from SANS/Dreyfus lectures
Nutrition and Health Program organizes community service day
LSAMP 2022 Summer Research Program looking for undergrads
UPDATED: High Path Avian Influenza detected in the U.S .
UMES Land-grant Scholarship Program

The spring semester is winding down

SANS students receive awards at
69th annual honors convocation

Top, Zoe Gobourne received the top honor, the Award of Excellence, for the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences. Gobourne was also the Most Outstanding Student for the Department of Human Ecology. Presenting the award, from left, are: Dr. Grace Namwamba, chair of Human Ecology, and Dr. Moses T. Kairo, SANS Dean.

Above left, Ryan Howe received the Most Outstanding Student award for the Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences. Kairo (far left) and Dr. Jurgen Schwarz, chair, Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences, presented the award.

Above right, Iyinyeoluwa Okulate is the recipient of Natural Sciences' departmental award.

Students in the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences were among the 603 undergraduate students honored for their academic prowess during the 2021 calendar year at UMES’ 69^th spring honors convocation. Each school at the university honored a top student along with a student from each academic department at the April 14 ceremony. Dean’s list students were also recognized.

Read More>

Farm Credit Foundation awards scholarships to UMES agricultural majors

Attendees at the scholarship presentation, pictured from left, are: Dr. Moses T. Kairo, dean of the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences; Aliyah Evans, a sophomore Pre-vet student in UMES’ Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences; Charles M. Wright IV, chairman of the Farm Credit Foundation for Agricultural Advancement; Makalah Wolfe, a sophomore Pre-vet student; UMES President Heidi Anderson and David Balcolm, vice president for University Relations.

Two sophomores at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore are the recipients of $10,000 scholarships from the Farm Credit Foundation for Agricultural Advancement. The awards will assist both students in their general agriculture (animal and poultry science concentration) studies and intent to become veterinarians.

Charles M. Wright IV, owner of Wright’s Market in Mardela Springs, Maryland, recently visited campus to present the scholarship awards to Makalah Wolfe and Aliyah Evans on behalf of Farm Credit. Wright, a UMES general agriculture alumnus (’89) and chairman of the Foundation, traveled a similar path as the awardees and holds an affinity for his alma mater.

Read More>

Delmarva Power funds climate resilience activities in Department of Natural Sciences

Click on the image above as 47abc reports on Delmarva Power's $400,000 gift to local HBCU's and community colleges, including UMES. The money will support scholarships, teacher training and curriculum development for educating the next generation of the energy workforce. UMES' share, $150,000, will fund activities in four areas at the university, including the Department of Natural Sciences for climate resilience.

Dear SANS Stakeholders,

The Spring Semester is drawing to a close, and while students are preparing for final exams, researchers and graduate students are revving up for another busy field season.

Earlier this month, I attended two national conferences: the Biennial ARD Research Symposium in Atlanta, Georgia, and the NOAA EPP Educational Forum in Tallahassee, Florida. The highlight for me was witnessing presentations by many of our students. Not only was I impressed by the quality of the research, but also by how poised and well prepared the students were. Back on campus, I witnessed a number of graduate student dissertation defenses. Again, the same characteristics were on display.

The honors convocation provided another reflective moment for me to celebrate student excellence – congratulations to all honorees! I am extremely proud of our students and thankful for the mentors who support them on their educational journey here at UMES. We value our young people and look forward to offering summer programs that are focused on student development.

Likewise, let me give a big shout-out to our stakeholders who continue to support our students. Two are highlighted in this edition of the Digest: Delmarva Power and the Farm Credit Foundation for Agricultural Advancement. I am grateful to all the individuals and entities (public and private) who support our programs.

In closing, I am cognizant of the importance of our research and extension enterprise as we continue to find solutions to the many challenges facing our state and nation. In a way, we can say we are living in the best of times. The current events provide many opportunities to enhance the lives of the communities we touch.

With very best wishes,

Moses T. Kairo

Urban forestry students plant tree for 150th Arbor Day celebration at UMES with DNR MFS

At top: Pictured at UMES' celebration of the 150th anniversary of Arbor Day, from left, are: UMES students Lamohnyea Johnson and Shawn Demetrius; Dr. Jurgen Schwarz, chair of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences; Dr. Stephanie Stotts, associate professor of forest ecology at UMES; Dutch Harbour, grounds supervisor at UMES; Reina Murphy, UMES student; and Maryland Department of Natural Resources Forest Service representatives Matt Hurd (regional forester for the Eastern Region) and Marian Honeczy (supervisor for Urban and Community Forestry).

Above left: UMES Student Reina Murphy gives the history of Arbor Day.

Above right: Eastern Regional Forester Matt Hurd helps urban forestry students plant a red maple beside the William P. Hytche Athletic Center.

This year’s Arbor Day celebration was notable as it marked the 150^th anniversary of the national observance. UMES teamed up with the Maryland Forest Service for a tree planting ceremony on April 29 to serve as one of the statewide kick-off events aiming to be a catalyst to meet the state’s tree canopy goals.

The Maryland General Assembly passed the Tree Solutions Now Act of 2021 allocating $10 million per year over an eight-year period to encourage the planting of five million trees in the state. The Chesapeake Bay Trust serves as the administrator of the funds being distributed to educational institutions, communities, civic groups and others who commit to planting trees in underserved regions.

As part of the effort, Marian Honeczy, an urban and community forester with the Maryland Forest Service reached out to the state’s four Historically Black Colleges and Universities to register for the Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree Campus Higher Education Program.

Read More>

47abc featured UMES Arbor Day on its "Good News" segment May 2

Click HERE as WMDT talks to Dr. Stotts on how to care for trees

Click here for WBOC's report on UMES' Arbor Day event. Video coverage appeared on the April 29 news at 6.

UMES alumna to give talk on old-growth forests

UMES hosts Dr. Joan Maloof on May 5 to continue the conversation on forestry on the heels of Arbor Day’s 150^th anniversary. A local writer, ecologist and conservationist, Maloof will talk about the importance of old-growth forests.

The UMES alumna and professor emeritus at Salisbury University will present “Recognizing, Understanding and Protecting Old-Growth Forests” at a 4 p.m. seminar open to the campus and community as part of the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences Seminar Series. The event is free and takes place in the Carver Hall auditorium on the main campus.

Maloof, who has worked with plants her entire life, holds a bachelor’s in plant science, a master’s in environmental science and a doctorate in ecology. Along with research articles in journals such as Ecology, the American Journal of Botany and the International Journal of Environmental Studies, Maloof is the author of several books on old-growth forests.

Agricultural economics professor weighs in on national issue that could affect the food supply.

Farmers received an April 21 FBI warning to be on alert for ransomware attacks that could disrupt their operations and potentially the national food supply. Click on the image above to watch video from 47ABC's interview with Dr. Stephan Tubene, an associate professor of agricultural economics and associate director of the 1890 Center of Excellence for Global Food Security and Defense at UMES.

Doctoral student heading for a promising career in toxicology research

When Zoe Johnson crosses the stage on May 20 during the University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s Spring 2022 commencement exercises to accept his doctorate in toxicology, it will be with a mindset to help safeguard public health by continuing his research with the pharmaceutical industry or a federal agency.

For his doctoral dissertation, Johnson explored a “promising novel agent that protects cells of the brain and nervous system from the harmful effects of organophosphorus compounds such as Chlorpyrifos—a widely used pesticide.” He found that the novel agent, the Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase Activating Polypeptide (PACAP), is beneficial as a medical countermeasure for the treatment of such exposures.

A top-notch undergraduate who came to UMES seven years ago to pursue a master’s degree in toxicology, Johnson has a lengthy list of achievements. High on the list is his involvement as an ambassador with the White House Initiative on HBCUs, for which he received its Excellence for Innovation and Competitiveness Award in 2019. He also completed a professional program in higher education at Harvard Graduate School of Education in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Read More>

SANS students travel to Dominican Republic over spring break for service trip

Pictured above, UMES honors students from left, are: (standing) Doria Wheeler, Amal Adamu, Memunatu Conteh, Jessica Collins, Michelle Yang, Juan (bus driver), Kalin Toogood, Dr. Yen Dang (UMES School of Pharmacy), Jaidyn McCullough, Dr. Michael Lane (Henson Honors Program), Dr Jocelyn Briddell (Henson Honors Program), (kneeling) Bertrand Akuche, Himali Gujrati, Elise Johnson and Jumole Akinola.

Pictured below, SANS students from left, are: Memunatu Conteh (biology), Kalin Toogood (biology, pre-med), and Jaidyn McCullough (Human Ecology, minor in entrepreneurship and concentration in fashion merchandising).

UMES students who are members of the Richard A. Henson Honors Program or School of Pharmacy had an experience of a lifetime as they traveled to the Dominican Republic for a service learning trip over Spring Break, March 19-26. Four SANS students (see photos and captions, SANS student names in bold) were among the group of 14, including three faculty/staff advisors, who volunteered at the National Environmental School in Jarabacoa, a town in the Central Mountain Range of the Dominican Republic with four major rivers nearby.

In addition to odd-jobs, including planting sweet potatoes, gardening, painting and building a lean-to, the students also worked on research projects that they presented to the campus community on April 28. A comparative (Dominican Republic vs Eastern Shore of Maryland) study of water samples, an assessment of the views of COVID-19 risks, and prostate and cervical cancer awareness were some of the projects.

Read More>

Fashion merchandising students network with alumnae mentors in the LA fashion industry

Fashion merchandising students visiting LA over UMES' spring break (standing) from left, are: Nathan Dance, Donzhane Lyons, Vante Thomas, Tianna Cunningham, Darienne Penn, Aleecia Joof, Taylor Brown, Kassidy Langham, Sadani Percy-Byrd, Amya Ellis and Tamber Jackson. One of the group's tour guides, UMES alumna Octavia Outlaw (seated, left) is pictured with the group advised by Dr. Bridgett Clinton-Scott (seated, right).

UMES fashion merchandising students likely still have stars in their eyes after a spring break experiential learning trip to the glamorous and glitzy LA Fashion District. Dr. Bridgett Clinton-Scott, an associate professor in the Department of Human Ecology, connected 11 of her students with UMES alumnae working in the industry in Los Angeles.

“Students participating in the Fashion Entrepreneur Mentorship Program were given this opportunity to meet their fashion mentors in person and continue building lasting connections that were created and strengthened all year through virtual seminars,” Clinton-Scott said. “The purpose of the trip was to show students that they can have a successful career in the fashion industry just like their fashion mentors.”

Read More>

Horticultural students get hands-on experiences

Top:  Volunteers, pictured from left, are: (UMES) Isaiah McKenzie, Dr. Naveen Dixit, Charles Smith III, Logan Doggett, Stephanie Webb, (Fruitland community members) Jean Plancher, and Joseph and Jeremiah Gale.

Above Right:  UMES horticultural student Solomon Hutchins prunes trees in the Fruitland Mini-Orchard.

Dr. Naveen Kumar Dixit, an assistant professor of horticulture and UMES Extension specialist, took his Introduction to Horticultural Sciences class to help members of the City of Fruitland prune fruit trees in the Fruitland Mini-Orchard on April 5. Promoting mutually-beneficial interactions between UMES and the community are goals of both programs, Dixit said.

"During this experiential activity, horticultural students worked with local middle school students, teaching them the basics of plant structure and function. At the same time, they learned from community members the reasoning behind the 'Make Fruits Available to All' extension program to teach and encourage economically challenged segments of the community how to grow healthy foods," Dixit said.

The community orchard was established on March 20, 2019 as a collaborative project of UMES and the City of Fruitland. The fruit trees bore their first fruit in June of last year.

A week later (April 12) the horticultural students took part in a site visit to Butler's Farm Market and Orchard in Marion, Maryland, where they met with owner/operator Michael Butler (pictured second from left) to hear firsthand the current challenges small farmers that are raising fruit on the Eastern Shore are facing. Butler shared information on how the operation managed business during the pandemic and the importance of diversifying crops to benefit the bottom line.

STEM students and community benefit from SANS/Dreyfus lectures featuring distinguished chemist

At top: UMES’ Department of Natural Sciences hosted distinguished chemist Dr. Kimberly Jackson as the speaker for an April 14 technical lecture and a non-technical talk for the community the following day. Jackson is chair and professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Spelman College in Atlanta and received recognition as one of the “Twenty-two Trailblazing Black Scientists and Engineers” last year by Chemical and Engineering News.

Above left: Dr. Deborah Sauder introduces the speaker for the SANS Seminar Series and 2021 Jean Dreyfus Lectureship for Undergraduate Institutions awarded by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation.

Above right: STEM students listen as Jackson shares her wealth of knowledge.

Read More>

UMES Extension Nutrition & Health Program enlists campus volunteers for spring community service day

McCoy Curtis, (Top, pictured far right), a program assistant with UMES Extension's Nutrition and Health Program, organized a Spring Service Day on Saturday, April 2 in the Town of Princess Anne. Some 60 volunteers from the campus and community spent the day cleaning up the community garden at the Garland Hayward Center and the Todd Family Community Garden, trimming trees, raking leaves, picking up trash and helping neighbors in need of some light chores.

Among others, Curtis enlisted the help of UMES student organizations such as the Men of Distinction, WORTH, Young Men of Distinction and Sisters Inspiring Sisters. Girl Scout Troop #1285, Averting Familiar Education, Thompson Academy and other community groups joined the effort.

The activity was part of UMES Extension's Well Connected Communities "Culture of Health" initiative, for which Curtis is the leader for the Princess Anne-Eden area. He is also part of the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education and Family Consumer Sciences programs within the overarching UMES Nutrition and Health Program.

The UMES Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation is looking for motivated undergraduate students interested in its 2022 Summer Research Program. Join a community of scholars to "engage in networking and research activities, along with professional development workshops designed to enhance academic work. The program will take place June 13-August 5 on campus.

UMES STEM majors who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents can apply by May 7 by emailing Dr. Tracy Bell at tdbell@umes.edu. A stipend and housing is available.

Pictured below are the 2021 participants.

Avian Influenza detected on Delmarva-Latest updates

The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has confirmed cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in commercial poultry flocks in the U.S. for the first time since 2020 and on the Delmarva Peninsula since 2004. For an interactive map of 2022 North American Avian Influenza cases click HERE.

Click HERE for information from the DE-MD HPAI Joint Information Center on what farmers can expect in the first 72 hours if they suspect their flock has HPAI.

Click HERE for important biosecurity information, including links to websites and phone numbers for reporting.

On March 9, Maryland Secretary of Agriculture Joseph Bartenfelder signed an order restricting the movement of poultry litter generated in certain areas of the state to prevent the possible spread of the disease. Read more at MDA HERE.

“These announcements are a reminder to anyone who raises poultry to be vigilant and practice biosecurity to protect their flock,” said Dr. Jennifer Timmons, an assistant professor and poultry science researcher at UMES.

Winter 2022 now available!

The NOAA Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center trains and graduates students from underrepresented communities in marine science for careers in research, management, and public policy that support the sustainable harvest and conservation of our nation's living marine resources. With its partner institutions, the LMRCSC conducts research on marine and estuarine systems congruent with the interests of NOAA Fisheries. The Center is supported by the NOAA Education Partnership Program with Minority-Serving Institutions.

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Upcoming Events

Register at www.umes.edu/SANS/Events/

UMES Extension MyFaRM Program-FREE!
"Marketing Risk"
Friday, May 13, 1-3 p.m., Henson Center, UMES
Covers marketing risks farmers may not be aware of when marketing their products to the public. Instructor: Dr. Theresa Nartea. Registration HERE!

UMES Extension IFARMS Saturday Workshop Series
May 14, 3-6 p.m., UMES Research and Education Farm
"Using Web Soil Surveys Before Renting or Purchasing a Property." Presenter: Chuck Schuster
Register HERE!

For more information or assistance with above events, call 410-621-5450 or email nmburton@umes.edu.

SANS in the News

Local ecologist and conservationist Dr. Joan Maloof to give talk at UMES
Delmarva Public Media, Community Calendar, May 2, 2022

UMES celebrates anniversary of Arbor Day
WMDT 47abc, "Good News," May 2, 2022

Celebrating arbor day, what community members can do to care for their trees
WMDT 47abc, April 29, 2022 (Dr. Stephanie Stotts)

WBOC News at 6 -Video from UMES Arbor Day tree planting ceremony

UMES Celebrates 150th Arbor Day by Joining College Campus Tree Program
WBOC TV 16, "Outdoors Delmarva," April 28, 2022

FBI seeing ransomware attacks on agriculture sector, warning farmers to protect themselves
WMDT 47abc, April 25, 2022 (Dr. Stephan Tubene)

Local community colleges and HBCU's receive grants from Delmarva Power
March 16, 2022 (climate resilience activities in DNS at UMES)

New Research Publications

Arora-Williams, K., Holder, C., Secor, M., Ellis, H., Meng, X., Gnanadesikan, A., Preheim, S. (2022). Abundant and persistent sulfur-oxidizing microbial populations are responsive to hypoxia in the Chesapeake Bay. Environmental Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.15976

Adebola, T., Hart, D., Chigbu, P. (2022). Bathymetric trends in the body size, and diet of Astropecten americanus in the northwest Atlantic Ocean. Estauriine, Coastal and Shelf Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2022.107814

Kang, X., Meng, X. (2022). Stratification variability in a lagoon system in response to a passing storm. Limnology and Oceanography (L&O). https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.12016

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