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Mollie Rappe

A small white box on PVC pipe poles over plots of soybeans in sandy soil.

Dec 9, 2020

Fiber Internet and More: NC State Research Stations Go Digital

CALS is investing in high-speed internet and other digital systems at its research stations and field labs to ensure these vital facilities will help keep North Carolina agriculture growing. 

Cranos Williams in front of Hunt Library

Nov 18, 2020

PSI Profile: Cranos Williams, Platform Director for Data-Driven Plant Sciences

Cranos Williams, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has been named the director of the Data-Driven Plant Sciences platform for the North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative. 

An ear of corn on a farm in North Carolina

Oct 12, 2020

Grant Continues Support of Crop DNA Replication Research

A new NSF grant will allow two Plant and Microbial Biology professors to continue their work of 17 years unraveling how plants control DNA replication and how this influences agronomic traits. 

Bill Collins speaks to a group gathered in a tobacco field, with a tractor in the background

Sep 23, 2020

Collins Continues Support for Agricultural Innovation

Bill Collins and Ann Collins named a study room in the new Plant Sciences Building. Learn why they feel supporting the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative is vital for the future of North Carolina. 

A small white box on PVC pipe poles over plots of soybeans in sandy soil.

Sep 9, 2020

Faculty Focus: Nelson to Help USDA Guide Agricultural Innovation

Natalie Nelson, an assistant professor in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering was selected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to serve as one of the 11 subject matter experts for the USDA’s Agriculture Innovation Agenda. 

A wooden crate being hoisted by a crane into a building with a blue sky.

Sep 2, 2020

Syngenta Donates One-of-a-Kind Laboratory Equipment to N.C. PSI

Syngenta donated four plant growth chambers and a specialized weighing system to the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative. At more than $1.5 million, this is the largest corporate donation to N.C. PSI, so far. 

A small, red fly on a blueberry, against a black background.

Aug 31, 2020

A New IDEA: Pairing Trainees with Computational Experts During the Pandemic

This spring in the midst of a pandemic, a committee of CALS faculty members matched graduate students and postdocs with data they needed to analyze or model computationally to computational experts with the necessary expertise. Learn more about how the collaboration is going for three trainees. 

Three different varieties of sweetpotatoes with different skin colors.

Jul 10, 2020

‘Map’ of Sweetpotato Genome to Improve Breeding Efforts

NC State scientists recently published a scientific paper that mapped the genetic locations of economically important traits in sweetpotatoes such as higher yield and disease resistance. Their genetic map may lead to breeding better sweetpotatoes. 

A sandy field of soybeans

Jun 29, 2020

Using Leaf Fungi to Improve Crop Resilience

An interdisciplinary team led by Christine Hawkes is identifying beneficial fungi found in five key crops with the aim of using them to help plants fend off diseases and tolerate drought stress. 

A group of students in a corn field as the sun sets.

Jun 22, 2020

CALS Researchers Return to the Bench and Field

As NC State ramps up the Research Restart process, here’s how three researchers from across the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are returning to the lab bench and test field after time away due to COVID-19.