Research
NC State Borlaug Cohort Shines at 2022 World Food Prize
NC State was well represented with its largest cohort attending the 2022 World Food Prize and Borlaug Dialogue to network with fellow USDA-FAS Borlaug fellow and mentors and discuss global food security problems and innovative solutions.
Horticulture’s Yencho and Pecota Win NC State’s Innovator of the Year Award
Craig Yencho and Ken Pecota were both recognized with the Innovator of the Year award for their work to develop a cultivar that now accounts for nearly 90% of sweet potato production in North Carolina. Released in 2005, Yencho and Pecota’s “Covington” sweet potato makes up 20% of the total acreage of sweet potatoes grown in the U.S. and has become a lucrative European export.
NC State Hosts USDA Borlaug Mentor Workshop
CALS International Programs hosted a Borlaug mentor workshop event where past mentors elaborated on their experience of being a Borlaug mentor.
The Gift of Perspective
Dr. Tom Wentworth, Emeritus Professor of Plant and Microbial Biology, and his wife, Linda Rudd, made a generous contribution to Research Pack Abroad, which supports student research and faculty travel abroad.
Four International Agribusiness Titans Commit to Collaborative Work in NC State University Plant Sciences Building
Bayer, BASF, SAS and Novozymes have agreed to collaborate with NC State University researchers at the new Plant Sciences Building, a leading-edge facility at the heart of the university’s N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative.
I AM CALS: Rick Brandenburg Serves Farmers in N.C., 50 Countries
After 38 years, an expert on pests in peanuts and turf finds international work more rewarding than ever.
CALS International Programs Partners for Our Planet’s Progress
CALS faculty members forge collaborations with industry, governments, research institutions and nonprofit organizations, working on every continent except Antarctica. Such projects have helped farmers in developing nations manage plant diseases and insects that harm life-sustaining crops; determined the toll that climate change is taking on rice, one of the world’s most important crops; improved nutrition; trained graduate students in advanced scientific technology—and much more.
Elevate NC State’s Plant Science Research
In early 2022 the global plant science community will have a new focal point for genetics and genomics research when the Genomic Sciences Laboratory opens in the NC State University Plant Sciences Building. “This new facility syncs well with the World Health Organization’s 2050 initiative to double food production in order to sustain the world’s fast-growing population,” GSL Director David Baltzegar, said.
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.
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.