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Roughly three-quarters of North American plant species require an insect for pollination, including many key food crops. Image Provided

Cornell researchers studying obesity prevention, herbicide-resistant weeds, protection for native bees and other topics have received $1.6 million in federal funding for 54 new projects that support New York’s agriculture, environment and communities. 

The Ithaca-based Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station (Cornell AES) administers yearly funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Every year, land-grant universities in all 50 states receive funds to address locally important problems in agriculture and food systems, the environment, applied economics, and community and individual development. The grants can be used as seed funding for researchers to explore ideas individually, or as a mechanism to bring together diverse researchers in multiple states to address issues of regional or national importance.  

Two of this year’s awardees will contribute to a 15-year Multistate Research Project addressing sustainable solutions to problems affecting bee health. Roughly three-quarters of North American plant species require an insect for pollination, including many key food crops. Pollinators are estimated to contribute more than $15 billion per year to the U.S. economy. 

Bryan Danforth, professor of entomology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), is collaborating with partners at Pennsylvania State University, Rutgers University and the University of Massachusetts to study management strategies for ground-nesting native bees. Working in collaboration with apple orchard growers, researchers will install “bee bed” habitats ideal for native pollinators, then relocate priority bee species to these orchards to increase bee diversity and pollination resilience. 

“An increase in the richness of diversity of native pollinators can facilitate higher fruit yields,” Danforth said, “leading to increased economic activity, enhanced food security and more resilient farming practices for New York growers.” 

Minglin Ma, professor of biological and environmental engineering (CALS), and Scott McArt, associate professor of entomology (CALS), will continue development of microgels that can protect pollinators from the harmful effects of pesticides. Their previous work showed that when bumblebees were fed their microparticle antidote and then exposed to lethal doses of neonicotinoids (the most common class of pesticides in the U.S.), they had a 30% higher survival rate than bees that didn’t receive the treatment. The new research seeks to optimize this work by using a molecular imprinting technique that can more effectively bind to neonicotinoids and protect bees. 

“One-third of the food we consume is dependent on managed and native pollinators for sustained production, yield and quality,” Ma said. “We hope that this more-potent and universal detoxification strategy will improve bee health, limit bee declines and promote agriculture and food security.” 

Margaret Smith, associate dean and director of Cornell AES, said multistate projects like Ma, McArt and Danforth’s enable researchers with diverse expertise to effectively tackle difficult regional and national problems through collaboration. 

“The purpose of the land grant is to support research of local interest, but there are many challenges that are not restricted to state borders,” Smith said. “When we collaborate across states, we can develop research that’s more robust and broadly applicable.”  

Some of the other 54 projects funded this year will explore: 

Preventing obesity – African Americans in the U.S. are disproportionately affected by type 2 diabetes. It has been shown that eating proteins and vegetables before carbohydrates can suppress appetite and lower blood sugar levels. This project, led by Joeva Barrow, assistant professor of molecular nutrition in the College of Human Ecology, will study whether such nutrient sequencing can normalize blood glucose to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes in African Americans. 

Managing herbicide-resistant weeds – Herbicide-resistant weeds threaten crops in New York and nationally. Vipan Kumar, associate professor of weed science in CALS, is leading a project to understand the extent and locations of herbicide-resistant weeds in New York field crops and develop cost-effective integrative weed management strategies. His lab will conduct statewide field surveys to identify the evolution of herbicide resistance among the most troublesome weed species – including Palmer amaranth, common waterhemp and horseweed – in New York field crops. 

Supporting dairy farms – Like humans, some cows develop excessive inflammation after giving birth, which harms their health and may impact the health and growth of their calves. Jessica McArt, associate professor and department chair, and Taika von Königslöw, assistant professor, both of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine, will assess differences in colostrum (the first milk produced after birth) and blood samples between healthy and unhealthy cows shortly after birth. Then they’ll evaluate whether the cows’ health status impacts calves’ early-life health and growth. 

Designing rural ditches to prevent flooding and improve water quality – Roadside ditches in rural areas play a critical role in flood control and water quality. Anne Weber, assistant professor of landscape architecture (CALS), and Rebecca Schneider, associate professor of natural resources and the environment (CALS), will explore how roadside ditches can be better designed to improve water quality and enhance ecological services. They’ll test a range of custom seed mixes and maintenance strategies to meet ecological needs and aesthetic expectations. 

Assessing forest carbon storage with lasers – Forests play a critical role in absorbing atmospheric carbon dioxide. Traditionally, researchers gauge how much carbon forests are storing based on tree diameter and height, but the equations used to make these estimates have high uncertainty; improving these equations requires cutting down and weighing trees. Xiangtao Xu, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology (CALS), and Peter Smallidge, New York state extension forester (CALS), seek to improve carbon storage accounting by using LIDAR (light detection and ranging) technology, which more accurately and rapidly measures tree volume without harming trees. The project will also train foresters to use these new assessment techniques and to access opportunities for carbon markets. 

This article originally appeared in the Cornell Chronicle.  

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