The Land-Grant Ledger: November 2021

NOVEMBER 2021 | ISSUE NO. 2

THE LAND-GRANT LEDGER INSIDE THIS ISSUE Dean's Message Equine Excellence in Johnson County Parliamentary Procedure to Foster Youth Leadership Experiential Learning to Feed the Educational Pipeline Opportunities for the Next Generation Magnificence in MANRRS Homecoming Festivities Offer Opportunities for Student Scholarships

Dean's Message Dear Stakeholders and supporters of TSU’s Land-Grant Programs, This is Homecoming time for alumni and friends! Campus is busy hosting several events. However, for the second year in a row, we met Ag alumni virtually and updated the progress the college has made this past year, despite COVID-19. You would be pleased to know that we began the process to expand our county operations to ten more counties, bringing our total to sixty counties. This expansion is made possible by the additional support we are receiving from the state and we are extremely thankful to the Governor and the legislators. The rebuilding effort of the Agricultural Research and Education Center research facilities destroyed by the 2020 tornado is in full swing.

The first set of greenhouses will be made available to researchers by the end of this year. The construction of other buildings and greenhouses are at various stages. This is a great collaborative effort among several internal and external partners, including the Tennessee Board of Regents, several state agencies, and the insurance company. This issue has several interesting updates, please read on.

Chandra Reddy, Dean Director of Research and Administrator of Extension

EXTENSION

Equine Excellence in Johnson County

By Janiece M. Pigg Tennessee State University (TSU) Johnson Country 4-H Club hosted their annual county 4-H Horse Show. Danielle Pleasant, Johnson County 4-H Extension Agent, explained that the horse show, “gives local youth a place to exhibit their horses and gain experience in a safe, positive, and encouraging environment.”

In collaboration with Spur’n S Rodeo arena and the Johnson County Chamber of Commerce, youth, 4th through 12th grade, are given the opportunity to exhibit their horses and showmanship to the community and likeminded equine industry professionals throughout the state. Through this event, youth are encouraged to pursue further educational immersion in the equine industry in Tennessee.

Ms. Pleasant embodies the mission of an encouraging educational environment to allow this horse show to thrive for her students and the community. She explained, “This event heavily relies on our amazing volunteers. The feedback from youth and their families is always positive.

We strive to provide a positive and encouraging atmosphere rather than a competitive and critical environment for our horse show.”

For more information about Johnson County 4-H Horse Show and other educational programs , please contact TSU Extension Agent, Ms. Danielle Pleasant at dsilverm@tnstate.edu.

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EXTENSION

Parliamentary Procedure to Foster Youth Leadership

By Janiece M. Pigg Dyer County Tennessee State University (TSU) 4-H and Agricultural and Natural Resources Extension Agent, Ms. Mary Beth Neal, has implemented a UT – TSU Extension partnership program aimed to teach youth how to conduct an orderly and productive business meeting.

Through this program, Dyer County 4-H Club students in 4th through 8th grade have gotten the opportunity to learn how to lead successfully in a group assembly setting utilizing parliamentary procedure.

Ms. Neal explained, “Dyer County 4-H teaches approximately 1,400 youth how to effectively conduct a meeting by using Robert’s Rules of Order. Youth elect their peers to the offices of President, Vice President, Secretary I, and Secretary II. Youth are given the responsibility of guiding the meeting and making sure that fellow members receive the opportunity to have their voices heard.”

Parliamentary procedure programs allow “4-H to teach youth the essential life skills of leadership, responsibility, teamwork, and cooperation.”

For more information on this program, please contact Dyer County 4-H and Agricultural and Natural Resources Extension Agent, Ms. Mary Beth Neal at mneal9@tnstate.edu.

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RESEARCH

Experiential Learning to Feed the Educational Pipeline

By Janiece M. Pigg

Photo by Janiece M. Pigg

Dr. Ahmad Aziz, in collaboration with Tennessee State University (TSU) faculty, Dr. John Ricketts, Dr. Thomas Broyles, and Dr. Matthew Blair, utilized a stateof-the-art mobile STEM education lab to facilitate an experiential learning event in plant and environmental science for students across the region of middle Tennessee.

Dr. Aziz explained, “Plant genetics research offers an excellent opportunity to train diverse students using the mobile experiential learning lab in ecological consciousness topics while also academically motivating underserved stakeholders.”

This multifaceted, educational experience allowed for students in middle and high school to learn more about agricultural research projects such as plant DNA modeling. Many interdisciplinary TSU graduate and undergraduate students assisted faculty members throughout the mobile laboratory experience.

This experiential learning opportunity has allowed TSU to foster a pipeline of potential students from diverse backgrounds into agricultural and natural resource sciences.

To learn more about TSU’s mobile educational laboratory and opportunities for experiential learning in agricultural and plant sciences, please contact Dr. Ahmad Aziz at aaziz@tnstate.edu.

ACADEMICS

Opportunities for the Next Generation in a Changing Agricultural Landscape

By Monica Wright When Emmanuel Wallace graduated from high school four years ago he had something few of his fellow classmates did: a concrete plan. He already knew he wanted to be a biomedical engineer and was accepted at the University of Memphis, where he had his engineering classes mapped out. But then he met Bambi.

“She was a baby goat!” Wallace quickly explains with a laugh. After spending the summer at a program run by Tennessee State University that had Wallace working and conducting research on a farm – where he fed Bambi each day – everything changed. “I really loved it, I loved being on the farm and learning about agriculture and farming. It really interested me.” It didn’t take long for Wallace to scrap his long-planned engineering career and enroll in agriculture courses at Tennessee State University, an Historically Black College and University (HBCU) over three hours away in Nashville.

As cute as everyone can agree Bambi was, agriculture seemed an unlikely path for a kid from the historic Orange Mound neighborhood of south Memphis who hadn’t previously set foot on a farm. Family and friends questioned the change, but Wallace held firm. “They were asking me every day, ‘Ok, Emmanuel, what are you going to do with an agriculture degree?’ And I said, ‘I don’t know, but this is where I’m supposed to be.’”

Four years later, Wallace’s unique story caught the attention of the Farm Credit Mid-America internship program, which has a dedicated Launching Leaders program for students at HBCUs. The program provides a $3,500 stipend to current students and recent graduates to encourage people of color in the field of agriculture. Wallace spent the summer of 2021 working on Farm Credit’s small loan application process to make improvements for both customers and team members.

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ACADEMICS

Wallace also worked on a Farm Credit project partnering with a national youth organization to bring school-based hydroponic farming into Memphis to address the issue of food deserts, which are areas with limited access to affordable and nutritious food. Hydroponic farming, which involves growing crops without soil, is particularly useful in urban areas where land can be scarce. The project resonated with Wallace’s own experiences growing up without ready access to healthy food options. “Orange Mound, where I grew up, is a food desert and I wanted to make sure that kids growing up in that neighborhood have better options than I did.”

To that end Wallace met with teachers and counselors at East High School - where he graduated salutatorian in 2018 - to begin discussions to create a hydroponic farm to address food insecurity. He went so far as to bring in TSU to assist with the ongoing creation of the project.

Andrew Melton, Wallace’s mentor in the internship program and a regional vice president for agricultural lending with Farm Credit Mid-America, said that while Wallace didn’t grow up on a farm or have an agricultural background, that proved to be an asset rather than a hindrance. “We learned a lot from his projects. To have him come in with a fresh mindset, new ideas and asking great questions, it made us think differently about things. It was very exciting to see all the dots connect for Manny during his time with us and I’m even more excited to see what Manny does in the future to impact his community and agriculture.”

After switching concentrations several times within his agriculture major Wallace found that the Farm Credit Mid-America internship helped him solidify his focus for the future into one dedicated to agricultural policy. His plan after TSU is to get a master’s in public administration to hone his political science skills, which he hopes will ultimately lead to a job affecting change. “Most of the time agriculture, especially with policy, is tied to farmers and the rural communities because that’s where agriculture is. But at the same time certain policies also affect the inner-city communities and we need farming programs so we have access to fresh food as well.”

With all Wallace’s successes and plans he hasn’t forgotten about Bambi, the baby goat that started it all. He still visits the TSU farm that inspired his switch to agriculture, which Bambi still calls home, and whose growth has seemingly mimicked Wallace’s pathway in agriculture. “When I last saw her she was really big!”

ACADEMICS

Magnificence in MANRRS

By Janiece Pigg Tennessee State University (TSU) students have exhibited their vast industry expertise and professional competencies at the National Society for MANRRS Regional Cluster Contest. As representatives from Region Three, TSU students earned numerous prestigious awards. In the Doctoral Division, Bhawana Ghimire won first place and Anita Scales won second place. In the Masters Division, Krishana Neupane and Kabirat Nasiru tied for first place. In the Industry Interview Contest, Ryanna Copeland won second place.

Dr. De’Etra Young, Associate Dean for Academics and Land-Grant Programs and TSU MANRRS Chapter Advisor is proud of students’ performance at the regional summit.

She said, “I am incredibly proud of each of these students. They have worked hard and represented the TSU College of Agriculture with pride and excellence. I look forward to seeing those who have advanced to compete nationally.”

The first place regional competition winners from TSU, Bhawana Ghimire, Krishana Neupane, and Kabirat Nasiru, will advance to compete nationally in March 2022 at the National Society for MANRRS Conference in Jacksonville, Florida.

For more information on the TSU Chapter of the National Society for MANRRS and involvement information, please contact Dr. De’Etra Young at tsumanrrs@manrrs.org.

HOMECOMING

Homecoming Festivities Offer Opportunities for Student Scholarships

By Janiece Pigg Tennessee State University (TSU) hosted the Annual Homecoming Scholarship Gala at the Music City Center in Downtown Nashville this month. This black tie formal event is a student scholarship fundraising celebration for patrons and stakeholders of TSU. The College of Agriculture was well represented at the event by faculty and staff from various departments throughout the college. In attendance was Dean Chandra Reddy, Ms. Donna Hinton, Ms. Cassandra Williams, Ms. Curletha Campbell, Mr. Jason Foster, Ms. Helen Trimble-Anthony, Ms. Debra Alexander, Ms. Sherry Crudup, and Ms. Janiece Pigg.

The gala featured a plethora of honorees and scholars dedicated to raising funds for student scholarships. One of the most notable accomplishments recognized at the gala was the establishment of a $5 million endowed scholarship fund to assist students financially, without the burden of their courses being purged due to nonpayment circumstances.

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THE LAND-GRANT LEDGER

NOVEMBER 2021 | ISSUE NO. 2

THANKS FOR TUNING IN THIS MONTH A special thank you to all of our partnering individuals, organizations, sponsors, and stakeholders for your continued support of our land-grant mission. As an institution, we thrive on the innovative partnerships that continue to foster the development, education, and success of all Tennesseans.

Thank you most especially to our featured colleagues and students, Danielle Pleasant, Mary Beth Neal, Dr. Ahmad Aziz, Emmanuel Wallace, Bhawana Ghimire, Anita Scales, Krishana Neupane, Kabirat Nasiru, and Ryanna Copeland, for their outstanding work to further our land-grant mission of education, research, and outreach. Without such amazing staff, faculty, and students, the College of Agriculture would not be able to foster active innovation through instruction, research, and public service.

We would also like to thank all of our cooperating organizations that are a vital part of the success of the College of Agriculture at Tennessee State University. Thank you to the Tennessee Board of Regents, Farm Credit Mid-America, UT Extension, the National Society for MANRRS, and the countless local sponsors that allow our programs to flourish throughout the state of Tennessee.

To lean more about the TSU College of Agriculture, visit our website by clicking or scanning the QR code.

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