Mission

A portion of the Kentucky State University Mission Statement (1993) reads: "Kentucky State University, as the 1890 land-grant institution in the system, shall carry out its responsibilities under federal law and participate fully in the appropriate U.S. Department of Agriculture programs, in accord with the mission of the University." The research portion of the Land-Grant Program is called the Community Research Service (CRS). The name reflects the mission of the program, which is to help resolve agricultural, educational, economic, and social problems of the people of Kentucky, especially those with limited resources living in rural communities.

Program Areas

CRS fulfills its mission by conducting applied and basic research in the following program areas: Human Nutrition and Health and Plant and Soil Science. Personnel and resources are distributed among the program areas to achieve the best balance of addressing the perceived research needs of the state and nation, while making maximum use of available facilities. 

The three primary goals of the research program are: (1) new crop development and new uses for existing crops; (2) sustainable production practices with reduced chemical inputs; and (3) enhancing human nutrition, health and food safety.

Impact

Documentation of program impact can be measured in many ways. Student involvement in the Research Program is an objective in every laboratory. A list of Student Awards demonstrates the level of dedication to student achievement. Another tangible measure of impact is publications, which included refereed journal articles, book chapters, published abstracts and proceedings, and other lay publications.

The Research Reporter, published quarterly, provides a summary of program activities. Issue(s) currently available are:

Volume 9, No. 3 (  3rd Quarter 2006) 

Facilities

The Atwood Agricultural Research Facility (1986) houses the offices and principal laboratories of CRS, and serves as the hub for program activities. Augmenting this facility is the 203-acre Research and Demonstration Farm (1986). A field laboratory and meeting facility was added to the farm in 1989, and the greenhouse was completed in 1993. The farm is designed to test theoretical laboratory work under practical conditions, and to serve as a demonstration site for educational programs. The Beetle Biodiversity Laboratory and Museum was established in 2005 for the study of leaf beetle biodiversity and to house the Kentucky State University Insect Museum (KSUIM) and Robert J. Barney Beetle Collection (RJBBC). 
 
Administrative staff

News

Kentucky Academy of Science Annual Meeting

A total of 40 faculty and students represented Kentucky State University at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the Kentucky Academy of Science, hosted this year jointly by the University of Louisville and Bellarmine University in Louisville.  Of these, eleven presenters were undergraduate students, eight were graduate students, and 21 were research professionals.

Those KSU students who placed in the undergraduate oral competitions were:

•  Latrice Faulkner, Agricultural Science, first place;
• Cynthia Lu, Anthropology and Sociology, first place;
• Santhi Chilukuri, Health Sciences, third place;
• Samantha Wang, Physiology and Biochemistry, third place;
• Jennifer Shoulders, Health Sciences, fourth place; and
• Rachel Hayden, Physiology and Biochemistry, fourth place.

John Rodgers placed first in the Agricultural Sciences poster competition. Graduate students placing in the Agricultural Science oral competition were:

• David Wood, first;
• Russell Neal, second; and
• Kimberly Trosvick, third.

Other students making presentations were Caroline R. Wilson, Yoon-Hyeon Hu, Leslye S. Brent, Lauren Collins, Michael O. Somuah, Travis Bailey, Russell S. Neal, David R. Wood, and Tiffany Ogunsaya.

Mentors for the students presenting included:  Jeremiah Lowe, Lingyu Huang, Michael Bomford, Brian Boudreau, K.R. Thompson,  Avinash Tope, Changzheng Wang, George Antonious, Zachary Ray,  K.L. Friley, Li Lu, and Shawn Coyle.

President Mary Evans Sias with the KAS student winners.

23rd Annual MANRRS Career Fair and Training Conference

Five Kentucky State University students attended the 23rd Annual Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS) Career Fair and Training Conference March 27 to March 29 in Denver, Colo. All of the students are graduating senior biology majors who have been mentored by researchers in the Land Grant Program Community Research Service during their tenure at KSU.

The students presented their research in the oral research competition at the conference.  Those presenting with their mentors’ names in parenthesis were Lauren Collins (Dr. Kirk Pomper), Turquoise Brown (Martha Marlette and Susan Templeton), Maurisha Jenkins (Dr. Changzheng Wang), David Osborne (Drs. Michael Bomford and Changzheng Wang) and Jennifer Shoulders (Dr. Avinash Tope). Congratulations to all the student presenters, but especially to Jennifer Shoulders who placed second in the national competition. 

 A special thanks to Dr. Harold R. Benson for his financial support of MANRRS. Thanks also to the mentors and advisors who worked with the students to make this experience possible. Rachael Steward is the KSU chapter advisor and Joyce Owens is the co-advisor. Ms. Owens accompanied the students to Denver.