The College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences (CAFES) at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls awarded seven faculty research fellowships. These will help increase dairy-related research through the Dairy Innovation Hub initiative.
Faculty members will tackle research projects in the hub’s four priority areas. These include stewarding land and water resources; enriching human health and nutrition; ensuring animal health and welfare; and growing farm business and communities.
Funded through a $7.8 million per year investment by the state of Wisconsin, the hub conducts research and development at UW-Madison, UW-Platteville and UW-River Falls. This helps keep Wisconsin’s $45.6 billion dairy community at the global forefront. Since its launch in 2019, the hub has funded more than 160 projects across the three campuses.
A faculty research fellowship is a temporary position for permanent faculty members to provide support for a specific research project. This includes making sure that the faculty member has time to conduct research and support for teaching responsibilities.
UW-River Falls faculty that were selected for funding include:
Bahareh Hassanpour – Plant and Earth Science Department
Hassanpour is an assistant professor in agricultural water management. Her research interests are in remediation of non-point source pollution, water quality, nutrient cycling, and the transport of contaminants. Hassanpour’s project is “Groundwater fluctuations-related nutrient cycling and stream water quality in agricultural headwater areas.” It aims to create a molecular-scale explanation of the transport and cycling of nutrients in soil and groundwater where manure is applied.
Veronica Justen – Plant and Earth Science Department
Justen is a crop science professor with research interests in plant breeding, field crop production, and enhancing diversified crop rotations with cover crops. Justen’s project is “Optimizing forage cover crop systems for agronomic production and environmental stewardship.” It will evaluate the effects of cover crop species, environmental factors, and agronomic management on the productivity of forage cover crop rotations in Northern climates.
Sylvia Kehoe – Animal and Food Science Department
Kehoe is a professor of dairy science and assistant chair of the department. She teaches courses on lactation and milk quality as well as animal welfare. Kehoe’s project is “Effects of using calf jackets on performance and health of purebred and crossbred dairy calves in different environments.” It will evaluate the use of calf jackets for dairy and crossbred calves in both an indoor and outdoor environment.
Natasha Rayne – Plant and Earth Science Department
Rayne is an associate professor of plant and earth science, specializing in soil science with an emphasis on soil fertility. Her research focuses on nutrient cycling and the improvement of soil health using manure. Rayne’s project is “Effect of in-field prairie strips on nutrient cycling and biodiversity in crop production systems: a preliminary study.” It will examine the soil nutrient contributions of planted prairie strips to crop production systems and changes in the soil nutrient status.
Susanne Wiesner – Plant and Earth Science Department
Wiesner is an assistant professor of environmental science. Her research interests include agricultural atmospheric science and climate resiliency, land-atmosphere interactions, remote sensing, and ecosystem management. Wiesner’s project is “Establishing a baseline greenhouse gas budget and climate resilience target for the Mann Valley Dairy Farm.” She intends to improve the monitoring and verification of greenhouse gas emissions at the Mann Valley Farm.
James White – Agricultural Economics Department
White is an associate professor of agricultural economics. He teaches a variety of courses in the department and has research interests in agricultural management, finance, and public policy. White’s project is “Rural economic development in Wisconsin: analysis of intergenerational mobility and community-centered case studies.” It will focus on rural Wisconsin communities and examine causes of economic decline and alternatives for generating positive economic growth.
Bob Zeng – Agricultural Engineering Technology Department
Zeng is an assistant professor of agricultural engineering. He is a licensed professional engineer with expertise in the areas of machinery systems modeling, testing, automation, and numerical simulation. Zeng’s project is “Efficient manure land application through innovative tillage systems: feasibility and environmental impacts.” It will investigate the feasibility of integrating innovative tillage and liquid manure land application systems and their impacts.
