Seven graduate students from the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences and the College of Veterinary Medicine have been awarded MnDrive Global Food Ventures fellowships for 2015-16. They are the third such group of Fellows, and during the course of their awards will participate in activities designed to help build their skills in communications and problem solving along with pursuing individual research projects. MnDRIVE is a landmark partnership between the university and the state of Minnesota that aligns areas of university strength with the state’s key and emerging industries to advance new discoveries that address grand challenges.
The new fellows and their research projects are:
Fernando Leite, College of Veterinary Medicine, “Securing Food Supply and Improving Animal Health by Prevention of Swine Salmonella.” Adviser: Dick Isaacson
Feng Li, CFANS, “Investigate plant immunity in wheat and oats to develop genetic disease resistance to rust fungi.” Adviser: Melania Figueroa
Zachary Metz, CFANS, “Determine new molecular targets to control and kill the foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes.” Adviser: David Baumler
Andrew Petran, CFANS, “Organic production practices to bolster local and sustainable fruit production.” Adviser: Emily Hoover
Grant Stoddard, CVM, “Reducing dairy cattle lameness through improved hoof management.” Adviser: Gerard Cramer
Michaela Trudeau, CFANS, “Effect on growth performance and virus resistance of SDPP replacements in antibiotic free feeding programs for pigs.” Advisers: Jerry Shurson and Pedro Urriola
Sylvia Wanzala, CVM, “Improved Diagnostics for Mycobacterial Infections in Humans, Cattle, and Wildlife.” Adviser: Srinand Sreevatsan