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National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food & Agriculture Research: Huaijun Zhou 

Year Awarded  2023

Total award amount   $100,000

Location   Davis, CA

Matching Funders   Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Grantee Institution   University of California Davis

Dr. Huaijun Zhou was awarded the 2023 National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food & Agriculture Research for his multidisciplinary approach to animal and poultry genome research, which supports improved global food security through genetic enhancement of poultry health and production efficiencies.

FFAR-OCP Disruptive Fertilizer Technology Fellowship Informational Webinar 

Informational Session Virtual

Long arm of tractor sprays fertilizer on. Rows of young corn.

FFAR-OCP Disruptive Fertilizer Technology Fellowship Program 

Applications are under review

FFAR & OCP North America Announce Fertilizer Fellowship Awardees & 2023 Opportunities 

FFAR Announces New Innovator in Food & Agriculture Research Awardees 

The Revitalization of Indigenous Crops in the Southwest 

Year Awarded  2023

Total award amount   $450,000

Location   Tempe, AZ

Grantee Institution   University of Arizona

Climate change is compromising highly nutritious, localized food grown by Indigenous societies, which has led to detrimental health disparities for American Indians, including higher rates of diabetes, heart disease and obesity. Dr. Michael Kotutwa Johnson aims to ensure crop biodiversity and increase access to nutritious food through partnerships with tribal communities. Kotutwa Johnson is examining water conservation practices that increase Indigenous food production, analyzing Indigenous foods’ nutritional value to integrate these foods into USDA and other food programs and developing safeguards to protect Indigenous groups data rights.

Big Data to Improve and Sustain Wheat End-Use Quality in the Face of Increasingly Variable Climate Scenarios 

Year Awarded  2023

Total award amount   $322,129

Location   Corvallis, OR

Grantee Institution   Oregon State University

To maintain a competitive advantage, United States grain producers often focus on producing wheat with milling and baking qualities desirable in Asia and Latin America, the primary importers of U.S. wheat. However, climate extremes can destabilize wheat crops with these end-use qualities. Dr. Margaret Krause is supplementing end-use datasets assembled by the USDA by linking measurements of wheat milling and baking quality to climate and crop management data. Krause aims to determine which climate and crop management factors most affect wheat quality, whether end-use quality can be forecasted and what options might be available to producers to improve wheat quality.

Developing circular urban food systems for a rapidly growing desert city 

Year Awarded  2023

Total award amount   $450,000

Location   Tempe, AZ

Grantee Institution   Arizona State University

Using food waste-derived fertilizer in controlled environment agriculture can address urban food system challenges. Yet, limited information is available about fertilizer characteristics and application methodologies. Dr. Yujin Park is examining the nutrient content of food waste-derived fertilizer, determining procedures to increase its nutrient balance and evaluating the impact of its use with indoor and greenhouse production systems.

Evaluating the use of calcium silicate amendments to manage the bioavailability of organic carbon in agricultural soils 

Year Awarded  2023

Total award amount   $449,607

Location   New Haven, CT

Grantee Institution   Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station Research Foundation Inc.

Organic carbon greatly benefits soil health and functions such as crop productivity, limiting erosion and sequestering carbon dioxide. Dr. Itamar Shabtai is evaluating the interactions of calcium inputs, currently studied for sequestering inorganic carbon, on soil organic carbon. The project is examining how these inputs affect soil organic carbon and soil health and whether they change soils’ microbial community.

Advancing the Design and Fabrication of Biopolymer-based Nanocomposites for Sustainable Food Packaging 

Year Awarded  2023

Total award amount   $450,000

Location   Clemson, SC

Grantee Institution   Clemson University

Current food packaging still relies on non-biodegradable plastics, which persist in the environment for a long time and can harm wildlife. Dr. Zhaoxu Meng's research aims to design and fabricate high-performance packaging materials with sustainable, biodegradable biopolymers derived from renewable sources like food and agriculture waste and byproducts. Meng is using advanced technologies like computational modeling and artificial intelligence to guide the hypothesis-driven, bottom-up—linking molecular structure to materials' overall performance—design and fabrication processes.