Stories From 2021
Student Spotlight: Md Mahfuz Islam
Islam is one of six out of 101 college classmates who chose to pursue higher-level degrees abroad. He arrived in the U.S. in January 2021 after months of pandemic-related delays in the U.S. and Bangladesh that threatened his academic goals. Islam is now studying the impact of compost on the management of degraded or compacted construction sites and roadside urban soils.
The H-2A Visa Program: Addressing Farm Labor Scarcity in North Carolina
In the summer issue of the NC State Economist, Alejandro Gutierrez-Li discusses labor scarcity and how the H-2A guest worker program seeks to address it
Plants Return from Space in Microgravity Research Projects
The plant biology experiments of two NC State researchers are back on Earth after spending weeks at the International Space Station. Marcela Rojas-Pierce, a professor, and Imara Perera, a research professor, sent plant biology experiments to space in early June. Now, the projects have returned, and Rojas-Pierce and Perera will study how these plants have reacted and adapted to new and extreme environments.
Solving Health Crises for a Better World
Four years after earning his doctorate, CALS alumnus Bradley Kearney joined the Army as a biochemist. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he's providing the best possible health system for all Army operations. Kearney joined the military in 2016 and now serves as a medical planner in the U.S. Army Japan Surgeon’s Office.
Irish Potato Famine Pathogen Stoked Outbreaks on Six Continents
North Carolina State University researchers continue to track the evolution of different strains of the plant pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine in the 1840s, which set down roots in the United States before attacking Europe.
To Preserve Global Food Security, New Tools Needed to Prevent Plant Disease Pandemics
Plant diseases don’t stop at a nation’s borders and miles of oceans don’t prevent their spread, either. That’s why plant disease surveillance, improved plant disease detection systems and predictive plant disease modeling – integrated at the global scale – are necessary to mitigate future plant disease outbreaks and protect the global food supply.
Principles of Writing and Presenting Scientific Research: A Virtual Workshop
Professors of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at North Carolina State University taught a virtual course, Principios de Redacción y Presentación de Investigación Científica, or Principles of Writing and Presenting Scientific Research, entirely in Spanish to a class of 13 students from the Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina.
Preserving Sweetpotato Exports
Thanks to a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service NC State scientists including PI, Lina Quesada-Ocampo, and IR-4 Project experts will examine how to continue North Carolina-grown sweetpotatoes to Europe despite European Union regulations lowering fungicide tolerances.
Edwin Rutto: Going the Distance
Cross country runner Edwin Rutto looks homeward to Kenya’s Great Rift Valley as he prepares to graduate with a degree in plant and soil sciences.
Student Researchers Create Database of Sustainability-Related Courses
The universitywide resource allows students to identify sustainability-related courses on campus — and supports NC State’s vision as a leading research university addressing world challenges. The UN’s 17 SDGs are a universal call to tackle social and environmental issues such as eliminating hunger and reducing systemic inequalities by 2030.