FY 2007
USDA Food and Agricultural Sciences National Needs
Graduate and Postgraduate Fellowship Grants Program
Annual Program Summary
Higher Education Programs
Science and Education Resources Development
Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service
U.S. Department of Agriculture
January, 2008
FY 2007
USDA Food and Agricultural Sciences National Needs Graduate and
Postgraduate Fellowship Grants Program
Annual Program Summary
The Food and Agricultural Sciences National Needs Graduate and Postgraduate Fellowship Grants Program is administered in the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, Science and Education Resources Development, Higher Education Programs Office under the legislative authority contained in section 1417(b)(6) of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977, as amended (NARETPA) (7 U.S.C. 3152(b)(6)). Initiated in FY 1984, the USDA Food and Agricultural Sciences National Needs Graduate and Postgraduate Fellowship (NNF) grants are designed to help meet the nation’s ongoing need for food and agricultural scientific and professional expertise. The fellowships are intended to encourage outstanding students to pursue and complete graduate degrees in critical areas of national need. In FY 2005, the fellowships program operated under new rules where Replacement Fellows are allowed and Graduate Fellows are eligible to work on campus in activities related to their program of study. Also, beginning in FY 2005, applications were widely solicited for Master’s as well as doctoral graduate level training. Prior to FY 2007, the program has supported the graduate degree programs of approximately 1,352 graduate students in disciplines pertaining to identified areas of national need in the food and agricultural sciences.
In the FY 2007 program, funds appropriated, after allotted expenditures for (a) National Teaching Awards, (b) Food and Agricultural Information Systems and (c) the cost of the review panel, to support graduate training grant awards totaled $3,258,691.14. Funds from preceding fiscal years were combined to fund grant awards of $4,318,500. All U.S. colleges and universities that confer a graduate degree in one or more of the food and agricultural sciences areas targeted for national need fellowships were eligible to apply. The available funds were distributed across the two degree levels and national need areas to support applications that were determined to respond to the announcement with proposed excellent programs to train students to meet targeted national needs presented in the FY 2007 program announcement. For the FY 2007 award cycle CSREES offered support for Graduate Fellowship training grants for both Master’s and Doctoral levels of study. Also, Special International Study or Thesis/Dissertation Research Travel Allowances (IRTA) grants were available to provide support for eligible USDA Fellows to conduct thesis/dissertation research or to undertake studies at sites outside of the United States. The IRTA awards for eligible USDA Graduate Fellows were only available as provided for within the program announcement. Post-doctoral Fellowships were not offered. Applications were solicited in the following Targeted Expertise Shortage Areas (TESA 1): Agricultural Genomics and Bioinformatics; 2) Natural Resources and the Environment; 3) Agricultural Systems Engineering 4) Agricultural Management and Economics; 5) Food Science; 6) Human Nutrition; 7) Sciences for Agricultural Biosecurity; 8) Training in Sustainable Sciences. Based on peer review, 24 proposals were selected for funding. These 24 grants will support the recruitment and training of 28 students at the Master’s level for two years, 42 students at the doctoral level for three years. Supplemental funding in support of nine (9) International Research and Thesis Experiential Learning Opportunities, (IRTA) was included in the 24 awards. The grants were awarded to 19 institutions in 19 states. Summary tables of the applications received, proposals funded, the number of graduate fellowships/IRTAs granted, and the funds awarded in each Targeted Expertise Shortage Area (national need area) are presented in Tables 1 through 3. Specific information related to the fellowships program run in FY 2007, by Targeted Expertise Shortage Areas (TESA), state, and number of fellows supported, in each grant are presented in the tables that follow. Over $19 million in funding was requested in the 91 applications submitted. Tables 4 through 6 present the institutional summary data for awards by state.
Table 1. Funding Requests by Targeted Expertise Shortage Areas (TESA)
TESA / No. Proposals Received / No. Proposals Reviewed / No. Masters Fellows / No. Ph.D Fellows / IRTA / Total RequestedAgricultural Genomics and Bioinformatics / 20 / 20 / 3 / 17 / 6 / $4,583,768
Natural Resources and the Environment / 11 / 11 / 4 / 8 / 2 / $2,247.000
Agricultural Systems Engineering / 7 / 7 / 9 / 14 / 5 / $1,326,000
Agricultural Management and Economics / 16 / 16 / 4 / 11 / 6 / $3,412,691
Food Science / 15 / 13 / 3 / 9 / 3 / $2,701,500
Human Nutrition / 6 / 6 / 2 / 5 / 2 / $1,506,720
Sciences for Agricultural Biosecurity / 2 / 2 / (0) / 1 / 1 / $481,500
Training in Sustainable Sciences / 14 / 14 / 10 / 10 / 4 / $3,662,770
Table 2 . Funding Decisions by Targeted Expertise Shortage Area (National Need Area)
Agricultural Genomics and Bioinformatics / 4 / 9 Doctoral + 7 Master’s / $940,500
Natural Resources and the Environment / 4 / 5 Doctoral, 8 Master’s+ 4 IRTA / $706,500
Agricultural Systems Engineering / 1 / 2 Doctoral IRTA / $15,000
Agricultural Management and Economics / 5 / 11 Doctoral, 4 Master’s+ 2 IRTA / $898,500
Food Science / 3 / 4 Doctoral, 4 Master’s + l IRTA / $393,000
Human Nutrition / 1 / 3 Doctoral / $229,500
Sciences for Agricultural Biosecurity / 2 / 6 Doctoral / $459,000
Training in Sustainable Sciences / 4 / 7 Doctoral, 4 Master’s / $691,500
Table 3. Graduate Fellowships Training Awards made in FY 2007
CO / Colorado State University / Fellowships in Integrated Resource Management / Gordon D. Niswender / 156,000
DEL / University of Delaware / Innovative Food Processing and Preservation Technologies to Ensure Food Safety / Haiqiang Chen / 156,000
FL / University of Florida / Graduate Training for Plant and Crop Biosecurity. / Norman Carey Leppla / 229,500
FL / University of Florida / The Agricultural Genomics, Education and Metabolomics (GEM) Graduate Fellows Program / Maria Gallo / 229,500
IA / Iowa State University / Moving From Multidisciplinary to Interdisciplinary Graduate Study in Sustainable Agriculture / Betty L. Wells / 153,000
IN / Purdue University / Enhancing Foods for Health / Mario G. Ferruzzi / 229,500
IN / Purdue University / Graduate Fellowships in the Economics of Alternative Energy / Gerald E Shively / 229,500
KS / Kansas State University / Food Industry Management Enhancement Program / Vincent Amanor-Boadu / 195,000
MA / Tufts University / Training Leaders to Understand and Integrate Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences and Policy / Kathleen A. Merrigan / 156,000
MA / Tufts University / Tufts-USDA Doctoral Fellowship Program in Obesity / Miriam Elizabeth Nelson / 229,500
MN / University of Minnesota / Doctoral Training of Veterinarian Scientists in Animal Infectious Agents and Zoonoses / Mark S Rutherford / 229,500
MS / University of Mississippi / Graduate Training in Multi-Scale Approaches to Forest Restoration and Management Science / Stephen Brewer / 168,000
Table 3 Cont’d. Graduate Fellowships Training Awards made in FY 2007
State / Institution / Graduate Training Project Title / Project Director / Award Amount ($)NC / North Carolina State University / Graduate Training in the Application of Genomic and Bioinformatic Technologies to Fungal Pathosystems / Ralph A. Dean / 229,500
OH / The Ohio State University / Training Future Faculty in Sustainable Sciences Through an Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in Rural Sociology (IPPRS) / Linda Lobao / 153,000
PA / The Pennsylvania State University / Invasive Plants: Integrated Approaches for a National Threat / David A. Mortensen / 153,000
RI / University of Rhode Island / NNF-DIMO: Graduate Fellows in Diseases of Marine Organisms / Marta Gomez-Chiarri / 229,500
TX / Texas A&M University / Preparing Underrepresented Scholars for Challenges in Agricultural Biosecurity and Sustainability - A Research and Leadership PhD Program / Yongheng Huang / 229,500
VA / Virginia Polytechnic Institute / USDA National Needs Fellowship in Bio-Fuel Systems / Jeffrey R. Alwang / 229,500
VT / The University of Vermont / Multicultural Doctoral Education in Ecosystem and Watershed Science / Deane Wang / 229,500
Table 4. Institutions Awarded Graduate Fellowship Grants by State 2007
State` / Institution / Number of Fellows Supported / Funds AwardedCO / Colorado State University / 4 MS / $156,000
DE / University of Delaware / 4 MS / $156,000
FL / University of Florida / 3 PhD / $229,500
FL / University of Florida / 3 PhD / $229,500
IN / Purdue University / 3 Ph.D / $229,500
IN / Purdue University / 3 Ph.D / $229,500
IO / Iowa State University / 2 PhD / $153,000
KS / Kansas State University / 5 MS / $195,000
MA / Tufts University / 4 MS / $156,000
MA / Tufts University / 3 PhD / $229,500
MT / Montana State University / 7 MS / $252,000
MN / University of Minnesota / 3 Ph.D / $229,500
MO / University of Missouri, Columbia / 3 Ph.D. / $229,500
MS / University of Mississippi / 4 MS + IRTA / $168,000
NC / North Carolina State University / 3 Ph.D. / $229,500
Table 4. Cont. Institutions Awarded Graduate Fellowship Grants by State 2007
State` / Institution / Number of Fellows Supported / Funds Awarded ($)OH / Ohio State University / 2 Ph.D / 153,000
PA / Pennsylvania State University / 2 Ph.D / 153,000
RI / University of Rhode Island / 3 PhD / 229,500
TX / Texas A&M University / 3 Ph D / 229,500
VA / Virginia Polytechnic Institute / 3 PhD / 229,500
VT / The University of Vermont / 3 PhD / 229,500
IRTA Only Awards
State / Institution / Number of Fellows Supported / Amount ($)
GA / University of Georgia (William Kerr) / 1 Ph.D. IRTA / 7,500
IL / University of Illinois, Urbana-Champagne (Mike Hirschi) / 2 Ph.D. IRTA / 15,000
MI / Michigan State University (Melvin Yokoyama) / 2 Ph.D. IRTA / 15,000
FY 2007 Graduate Fellowships Proposal Review Process
There were 91 proposals submitted in response to the FY 2007 announcement. The peer review process utilized experts located in each of the five regions of the land grant university system (NC, NE, S, W and 1890) to review the proposals. Each proposal was reviewed by four faculty and/or professionals in the targeted national need areas. In a July 2007 meeting, a twenty-nine-member peer review panel evaluated and recommended proposals for further consideration. The peer review membership, was comprised of public/private stakeholders and included faculty and subject matter experts from land grant and non-land grant institutions; practitioners from the food, environmental and agricultural sciences community; and professional organizations. At the panel meeting, three panelists evaluated each proposal for merit with respect to addressing the criteria outlined in the requests for applications; training in the identified national need area; potential for successful matriculation of highly qualified personnel to meet the Nation’s needs in the targeted expertise shortage areas and meeting program purpose and goals. Included in the FY 2007 program cycle awards were graduate training to support Fellows in the priority areas of agricultural biosecurity; bioenergy and invasive species.
The peer review process highlighted areas that proposals to the National Needs Fellowship Grants Program should fully address:
(i) demonstrable evidence of the capacity to complete the training based on prior success in graduate training; (ii) approaches that demonstrate commitment to recruiting, mentoring and retaining outstanding students committed to the TESA; (iii) enhancing diversity (talents, gender, socio-economic, racial, ethnic and cultural) in the fellows supported to pipeline highly qualified and diverse personnel into the nation’s food and agricultural sciences workforce; (iv) addressing opportunities for practice of scholarship; critical thinking, management, communication, and leadership skills in an integrative manner; (v) providing strategies for problem solving that encompass a global perspective; (vi) including truly innovative training to sustain the scientific disciplines in the food, agricultural and environmental sciences; and (vii) creating project management procedures that enable successful outcomes where fellows are pipelined into further training or into the workforce to meet the programmatic goals of this funding opportunity – National Needs Graduate Fellowship Grants Program..
The descriptions of National Needs Graduate and Postgraduate Fellowships Program grants awarded in FY 2007 may be accessed from the CSREES Current Research Information System database using the following link:
http://cris.csrees.usda.gov/cgi-bin/starfinder/0?path=fastlink1.txt&id=anon&pass=&search=CG=*38420*%20NOT%20PS=term*&format=WEBTITLESG