Fashion merchandising students get firsthand experience Grant primes students for STEM graduate studies, careers

A $100,000 Closing the Gap grant will aid Dr. Bridgett Clinton-Scott, an associate professor in UMES’ Department of Human Ecology, in her continuing effort to connect fashion merchandising students with alumni through a fashion entrepreneur mentorship program.

“This is a semester-long program exposing students to fashion careers through firsthand experiential projects with alumni and other fashion mentors,” Clinton-Scott said. “The program also grooms students to enter into corporate positions with major fashion brands.”

Last year, Clinton-Scott said, five fashion merchandising students — Nathan Dance, Aleecia Joof, Tamber Jackson, Kassidy Langham and Vante Thomas — participated in a yearlong Gap Inc. apprenticeship program as a direct result of the grant.

Funded by ICON 360 x Gap Inc., students also apply their creative skills and knowledge in special projects exposing them to media production, product development and entrepreneurship.

The Closing the Gap initiative was launched last year as a means of “strengthening educational opportunities for the next generation of Black, indigenous and other people of color fashion leaders … to drive innovation within the fashion industry.”

The grant is part of half a million in funding allocated among nine HBCUs to “boost their fashion programs.”

The National Science Foundation has renewed a fiveyear, $3 million grant funding the University System of Maryland’s Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation program, which is aimed at increasing the number and success of minority students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

“We are pleased to be able to continue this opportunity to positively impact the lives of many science-minded students at our institution,” said Dr. Moses T. Kairo, dean of the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences at UMES.

Since the initiation of the program three decades ago, UMES has provided opportunities for some 250 students. Undergraduates receive academic and social support including mentoring, professional development workshops, community outreach activities and, most importantly, research opportunities under the guidance of a faculty mentor. Students present research at STEM conferences and the annual UMES Research Symposium. Participants who have completed qualifying activities earn a stipend at the end of each semester.

UMES is joined by the University of Maryland College Park, the University of Maryland Baltimore County and Towson University in collaborative efforts under USM’s LSAMP. The program is funded under National Science Foundation Grant No.1619676.

LEARN MORE AT: www.umes.edu/SANS/LSAMP/About-LSAMP

At top: From left, fashion merchandising majors Justin Harrison and De’Yona Willoughby, Donzhane Lyons and Darienne Penn pose with Dr. Bridgett Clinton-Scott, center. At top: Summer 2022 LSAMP interns pose for a photo.

How zinc can sway corn yield

Micronutrient zinc deficiency can cause decline in corn yield according to UMES Associate Professor of Horticulture Naveen Kumar Dixit. Funding through the Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board in Queenstown, Maryland, will enable Dixit to continue his research on micronutrient zinc to enhance yield potential in corn.

A $12,500 grant award will allow Dixit to replicate and build on a field experiment during last year’s growing season.

“We are pleased to provide funding for projects that carry out our mission to increase the profitability of Maryland grain production and to improve public understanding of agriculture using checkoff funds to support promotion, education and research,” Joe Bruning, president of Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board.

During Dixit’s field experiment, multiple doses (0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 lbs/A) of zinc were applied in the form of liquid fertilizer using a strip-till machine. Zinc was delivered 4 inches below the soil level and 2 inches below the seed level. Corn roots, Dixit said, accessed the applied zinc between fourth and sixth leaf stage when the roots reached a depth of 6 inches in the soil profile.

“Positive effects of zinc were observed on corn yield, number of grains per cob, number of grains in basal and apical region of the cob, grain yield in basal and apical region of the cob, cob length and pollen viability,” Dixit said.

The highest (168.0 bu/A) grain yield was observed in 8 lbs/A zinc application and was 16% more in comparison to controls (141.0 bu/A), Dixit said. The increase in corn yield at 8 lbs/A zinc application is attributed to a decrease in dry matter accumulation in shoot at harvest (11.8%), increase in number (basal grain: 7%, apical grain: 10%) and yield of grains in basal (14.3%) and apical (18.1%) region of the cob, and increase in pollen viability (6.3%).

Based on the current price ($6.86/bu) of corn, the total economic gain per acre is $192.08, not including the cost of labor and other resources. The current price of ZnSO4 fertilizer (35.5%) is $120/50 lbs. To provide 8 lbs of zinc (100%) per acre, approximately 24 lbs of ZnSO4 fertilizer (35.5%) is required, which costs approximately $60/A. Therefore, the total economic profit ($192.08 - $60) is $132.08/A by using 8 lbs/A application of zinc.

“The corn yield (168.0 bu/A) was calculated during low rainfall conditions and could end up being more during a season with normal rainfall,” Dixit said. “However, it is evident even with drought conditions that the application of zinc enhanced the yield in treated plots in comparison to controls.”

Does poultry affect the air?

Lecture explores industry's impact on ambient air quality

A March 15 lecture at UMES addressed one of the area’s hot topics, ambient air quality related to the poultry industry. Chemistry professor Deborah Sauder presented the results of the first two and a half years of a study led by the Maryland Department of the Environment to measure ammonia and particulate matter air concentrations on the lower Eastern Shore.

The university played a key part in collecting and reporting the data, along with MDE. The Lower Shore Air Monitoring Project was set up in April 2020 with air monitoring stations installed at locations in Princess Anne (considered a low-density poultry operation site) and Pocomoke City (high poultry density). Air quality at these sites can be compared with other sites MDE operates in Maryland, but these sites are the first to measure ambient air quality on the Eastern Shore. The research study was supported with more than $500,000 in funding by the Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment.

The Campbell Foundation has extended funding to UMES to continue the study through Fall 2023 in collaboration with MDE to ensure that the data collected during COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns was not artificially depressed by unknown factors, and that the study is correctly determining ambient air quality on the Lower Eastern Shore.

So far, Sauder said, the data has shown little variation in average air pollution levels between areas with no poultry farms, those with a low density of chicken houses and those in high density areas.

What are the potential effects of large poultry houses on air quality?

This is the first to measure ambient air quality on the Eastern Shore. Ammonia and particulate matter air concentrations were measured.

AT ISSUE: THE STUDY: RESULTS:

Data thus far has shown little variation in average air pollution levels between areas with no poultry farms, those with a low density of chicken houses and those in highdensity areas.