Record $80 million grant to fund pilot program encouraging the implementation of climate-smart practices on farms

With the Alliance to Advance Climate-Smart Agriculture, which is now underway, Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences will distribute more than $57 million of the largest grant in the university’s history to producers to enact climate-friendly practices and serve as a pilot program for a national model.

Whole Orchard Recycling Provides Alternative to Burning Trees

Whole orchard recycling is an alternative process for disposing of trees at the end of their productive lives. Researchers are studying how this process may also help improve nitrogen in soils. Hear a microbiologist explain whole orchard recycling on the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory’s Bonding Over Science podcast.

To Cut Global Emissions, Replace Meat and Milk with Plant-Based Alternatives

Replacing 50% of meat and milk products with plant-based alternatives by 2050 can reduce agriculture and land use related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 31% and halt the degradation of forest and natural land, according to new research in Nature Communications journal.

New Research Suggests Wheat Crops May Be Threatened by Unprecedented Heat and Drought

A recent study led by a researcher at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University found that the likelihood of extreme temperatures that could affect crop yields has increased significantly in wheat-producing regions of the U.S. and China.

Winter cover crops could reduce nitrogen in Illinois drainage water by 30%

As Corn Belt states seek ways to curb nitrogen flow from farms into the Gulf of Mexico, new University of Illinois research adds evidence for winter cover crops as an important part of the solution. A simulation study published in Science of the Total Environment finds widespread planting of cereal rye in Illinois could reduce nitrate in the state’s tile drainage water by 30%.

Developing countries pay the highest price for living with large carnivores

A team of researchers has highlighted human-wildlife conflict as one of the globe’s most pressing human development and conservation dilemmas. New research published in Communications Biology looked at 133 countries where 18 large carnivores ranged, and found that a person farming with cattle in developing countries such as Kenya, Uganda or India were up to eight times more economically vulnerable than those living in developed economies such as Sweden, Norway or the U.S.

As Winters Warm, Nutrient Pollution Threatens 40% of U.S.

Scientists are ringing alarm bells about a significant new threat to U.S. water quality: as winters warm due to climate change, they are unleashing large amounts of nutrient pollution into lakes, rivers, and streams.

The first-of-its-kind national study finds that previously frozen winter nutrient pollution—unlocked by rising winter temperatures and rainfall—is putting water quality at risk in 40% of the contiguous U.S., including over 40 states.

CU Social Innovation Hub – Driving Social Science Research towards Social Innovation, Raising the Community’s Quality of Life, Meeting Social Needs

Chula reveals the success of CU SiHub as an incubator for faculty members, researchers, and students to drive research in the social sciences, arts and humanities to create social innovation businesses and social enterprises toward a sustainable society.