Impactful research projects honored with CANR Excellence in Research Impact Award

The SARS-CoV-2 Epidemiology-Wastewater Evaluation and Reporting (SEWERS) Network and Metrics, Management, and Monitoring: An Investigation of Pasture and Rangeland Soil Health and its Drivers (3M) Team are being honored May 2.

The SARS-CoV-2 Epidemiology-Wastewater Evaluation and Reporting (SEWERS) Network and Metrics, Management, and Monitoring: An Investigation of Pasture and Rangeland Soil Health and its Drivers (3M) Team are being honored with CANR Excellence in Research Impact Awards.

The CANR Excellence in Research Award program recognizes the outstanding contributions of CANR researchers to the research mission of Michigan State University (MSU). In particular, the awards focus on the impact that their achievements have had on academic and/or external stakeholder communities. The Impact Award, co-sponsored by ABR and MSUE, recognizes research projects that have made an outstanding impact in the external stakeholder community. During this year’s CANR Faculty and Staff Awards, recipients of both the 2023 and 2024 CANR Excellence in Research Awards will be honored.

2023 Impact Award
SARS-CoV-2 Epidemiology-Wastewater Evaluation and Reporting (SEWERS) Network

The MSU SEWERS team is being recognized for their impactful work related to SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance. In collaboration with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), the MSU SEWERS team has worked to harness and expand monitoring capabilities in Michigan to track the SARS-CoV-2 virus in wastewater. The team has served as an essential hub in a statewide network of laboratories conducting advanced testing of recreational waters and microbial source tracking.

Members of the SARS-CoV-2 Epidemiology-Wastewater Evaluation and Reporting (SEWERS) Network include:

  • Joan Rose, Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences 
  • Erin Dreelin, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife
  • Nishita D'Souza, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife
  • Rebecca Ives, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife 
  • Jade Mitchell, Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering
  • Ryan Julien, Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering
  • Lydia Arbaugh, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife
  • Xijiao Wang, Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering
  • Spencer Kuehn, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife
  • Simran Singh, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, College of Engineering
  • Alex Tran, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife
  • Corrine Caponigro, Biomedical Laboratory Science, College of Natural Science
  • Emily Zak, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Natural Science
  • Melissa Downs, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife
  • Sarah Holmes, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife
  • Mackenzie DeRaad, Lyman Briggs College, Zoology

 

2024 Impact Award
Metrics, Management, and Monitoring: An Investigation of Pasture and Rangeland Soil Health and its Drivers (3M) Team

The 3M Team project works to provide farmers and ranchers tools to accurately measure outcomes of soil health in grazing land environments, in turn guiding management decisions and quantifying the impact of intentional management. The project also examines social and economic sustainability, otherwise known as producer well-being, items rarely studied in livestock agriculture. In collaboration with 60 farms, the team collects intensive data from sites in Michigan, Oklahoma and Wyoming. The project uniquely combines technology, ecology, social and economic sciences in a wholistic approach to allow producers to make informed decisions that benefit their operations.

Members of the Metrics, Management, and Monitoring: An Investigation of Pasture and Rangeland Soil Health and its Drivers (3M) Team include:

  • Jason Rowntree, Department of Animal Science
  • Matt Raven, Department of Community Sustainability
  • Melissa McKendree, Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics
  • Frank Lupi, Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics
  • Jeremiah Asher, Institute of Water Research

 

 

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