Isaac Norris, an Urban Conservationist with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), will present a guest lecture and discussion on campus Friday from 1:45-3 p.m. in Metz Hall, Room 407. Students, faculty and staff are invited.
The lecture is part of the Careers in Environmental Science Fall Seminar presented by the TExAS FAST Program and the Environmental Science and Sustainability Program.
The NRCS provides technical and financial assistance for urban agriculture pioneers and growers. The center assists with information on soil health, irrigation and water conservation, and week and pest management.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Wildlife Services is expanding egret deferment activities in Elmendorf Park. The use of pyrotechnics will be expanded to longer periods throughout the day. The pyrotechnics sound like fireworks. Activities will take place daily over the next few months.
This is part of an effort that began in 2019 to thin the population of egrets in the park because of the threat of bird strikes to aircraft from nearby Kelly Airfield/Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Wildlife Services will be conducting deferment activities in Lake Elmendorf Park over the next few months associated with the egret population. Activities include using small pyrotechnics that sound like fireworks. These activities will take place from approximately 6-8 p.m. This will be daily for at least the next two months.
This is part of an effort that began in 2019 to thin the population of egrets in the park because of the threat of bird strikes to aircraft from nearby Kelly Airfield/Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Wildlife Services will be conducting deferment activities in Lake Elmendorf Park over the next few months associated with the egret population. Activities include using small pyrotechnics that sound like fireworks. These activities will take place from approximately 6-8 p.m. This will be daily for at least the next two months.
This is part of an effort that began in 2019 to thin the population of egrets in the park because of the threat of bird strikes to aircraft from nearby Kelly Airfield/Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.
OLLU senior Biomathematics and Environmental Science and Sustainability major Rachel Dziuba recently attended a three-day program in Washington, D.C.: the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA) from Learning to Leading: Cultivating the Next Generation of Diverse Food and Agriculture Professionals (NextGen).
While visiting USDA headquarters, Dziuba and other students heard from USDA Undersecretary for Research, Education, and Economics (REE) and USDA Chief Scientist Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young, REE Deputy Undersecretary Sanah Baig and NIFA Director Dr. Manjit Misra. Speakers shared stories about belonging and leadership potential, spoke about their own career paths to USDA and emphasized the array of opportunities available at USDA for students from a variety of disciplines. During the morning session, students also engaged in a communications training.
The students also attended USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) release of the 2022 Census of Agricultural data where they heard USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack discuss the need to recruit and train the next generation of agriculture professionals. They also had an opportunity to meet, exchange ideas and see themselves as part of USDA through a conversation with USDA Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres-Small and Deputy Undersecretary Baig.
OLLU received a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) NextGEN program to help build the next generation of food, agriculture, natural resources and human sciences (FANH) workforce. The award was announced June 21 during a special ceremony held in Washington, D.C.
OLLU will use the $5 million, five-year grant to support “TExAS FAST: Texas Experiential Learning and Scholarship Program for Food and Agriculture Science Training.” The program will begin in fall 2023.
Incoming OLLU freshmen majoring or minoring in Environmental Science and Sustainability will have the opportunity to apply for academic scholarships of $5,000 per year, and room and board scholarships of $8,619. In addition, they will take part in the new Environmental Science and Sustainability Living Learning Community, summer research projects, and will receive a monthly stipend of $1,000 for 24 months and a paid internship ($4,000) during their senior year.
“I am beyond thrilled to have been awarded this grant,” said Briana Salas, PhD, OLLU Associate Professor of Environmental Science and Project Director. “When I created the Environmental Science and Sustainability program in 2021, I did so in response to student interests in human impacts on the environment and a desire for additional options for STEM degrees. The program has been successful in the last two years, but this opportunity will completely transform the student experience.”
Adam Bynum, OLLU Instructor of Biology, will serve as co-Project Director.
In addition to student scholarships, the grant will fund professional development activities for faculty to revise STEM classes in a CURE format (Classroom based Undergraduate Research Experiences). The CURE format allows students who otherwise might not have the chance to experience “real” research to get those experiences in the classroom setting.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services is conducting deferment activities in Lake Elmendorf Park associated with the egret population. Activities include using small pyrotechnics that sound like fireworks. These activities will take place in the morning from approximately 6-8 a.m. and again later in the day from approximately 5-8 p.m. This will be daily for at least the next two months.
This is part of an effort that began in 2019 to thin the population of egrets in the park because of the threat of bird strikes to aircraft from nearby Kelly Field.
It wasn’t your typical Spring Break visit to the beach for OLLU students participating in a $250,959 grant funded project sponsored by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).
While visiting the Texas coast, Torrence Campos, Julianna Collins, Aaliyah (Alex) Delgado and Sierra Jaramillo took part in marine field research on the gulf, explored the Oso Bay Wetlands, attended a talk on counterstory and toured research facilities at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, and visited the local U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office to learn about job opportunities and internships. They were accompanied by Dr. Briana Hauff Salas, Assistant Professor of Environmental Science, and Dr. Jamie Crosswhite, Instructor of Professional Writing and Communication.
OLLU secured the grant from NIFA to develop career opportunities and access for underrepresented STEM students.
The federal money from NIFA, a subordinate of the USDA, is part of a $1 million, four-year Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) Education grant shared with the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and Northeast Lakeview College (NLC).
This Ecological-JEDI approach aims to increase self-efficacy in STEM through a justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) perspective.
“I am thrilled to provide this incredible opportunity to our students, especially for the brand-new Environmental Science program at OLLU,” said Dr. Salas, a Co-Principal Investigator of the grant. “Our goal is to give our EcoJEDI scholars life-changing outdoor experiences and science communication skills, while getting them ready for graduate school and/or career opportunities at the USDA post-graduation.”
The grant aims to build a city-wide collaboration to facilitate career readiness in food and agriculture sciences (FAS) through science literacy and counter-storytelling.
“Counter-storytelling encourages students and their audience to include perspectives that are often considered marginal, subjective, and non-disciplinary, thus embracing explicit principles of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI),” said Dr. Crosswhite, a Co-Principal Investigator on the grant.
EcoJEDI will bolster recruitment and graduation and establish a career pipeline with USDA by prioritizing the inclusion of historically marginalized and underserved populations through the collaboration of OLLU, UTSA and NLC, all of them HSIs.
At OLLU, the grant funding is dedicated to driving student success initiatives, such as selecting student fellows, who will receive funding to attend regional and national conferences and engage in environmental science and natural resource learning opportunities such as the Spring Break visit to the coast.
These students are also honing their communication and leadership skills, crucial for career readiness. Students have the unique opportunity of collaborating with their peers from across San Antonio. This city-wide network of access and support aims to make visible the community stories and marginalized perspectives that are seldom visible.
Along with Dr. Salas and Dr. Crosswhite, the other Co-Principal Investigators of the grant are: Jeffrey Hutchinson, UTSA Associate Professor of Integrative Biology; Sue Hum, UTSA Professor of English; Vikram Kapoor, UTSA Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Gwen Young, UTSA Associate Professor of Integrative Biology; and Laura Perry, Northeast Lakeview College Professor of Biology.
Since the beginning of the fiscal year on June 1, OLLU has secured more than $1.95 million in new grant funding. These awards will be paid out over multiple years and the focus of the funding is on student scholarships and support.
Awards include:
▪ $1,339,205 (over 5 years) from the U.S. Dept. of Education, Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaurate Achievement Program to support the McNair Scholars Program.
▪ $284,106 (over 3 years) from the National Science Foundation, Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program) to fund the “Supporting Persistence by Increasing the Relevance of Algebra to Learning (SPIRAL)” project which aims to improve STEM outcomes among OLLU students.
▪ $250,959 (over 4 years) from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hispanic-Serving Institutions Education Grants Program to increase recruitment, graduation, and career readiness in food and agriculture sciences by diminishing barriers and prioritizing the inclusion of historically marginalized, underserved populations through a city-wide collaboration of three Hispanic Serving Institutions – OLLU, UTSA and Northeast Lakeview College.
▪ $50,000 from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to develop an evidence-based First-Second Year Experience program that is rooted in the tenets of IDEA (inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility).
▪ $8,150 from the San Antonio-Mexico Foundation for Education for scholarships to expand educational opportunities for Mexican students and those of Mexican origin living in the U.S.
▪ $3,500 from the Consulate General of México for IME-Becas Scholarships to expand educational opportunities for Mexican students and those of Mexican origin living in the U.S.
