Think the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (AGNR) doesn’t include bioscience? Think again!
The College of AGNR was well represented at Bioscience Research & Technology Review Day – an annual event featuring research talks, presentations, mini-symposia and demonstrations by University of Maryland scientists held inside the Stamp Student Union.
Graduate students, professors and researchers from nearly a dozen different departments across campus got a chance to show off their work in this field.
For instance, Ashley Belle, a PhD student in the Department of Environmental Science and Technology (ENST) eagerly discussed her work studying radishes as a potential source for renewable energy. Belle and ENST faculty members Stephanie Lansing, Ray Weil and Gary Felton are testing dairy manure and forage radishes to develop a new technology that could help corn silage-based dairy farmers reduce greenhouse gas emissions, nutrient runoff and environmental impacts while producing a renewable biofuel during the winter months.
Belle says she aspires to work in environmental research and development once she completes her PhD but will always rely on her strong science background.
“I feel like if you can really understand the science behind something, you can optimize the technology and make it work for you,” says Belle.
Meanwhile, a study administered jointly by University of Maryland Extension (UME) and the School of Public Health analyzed the quality of private well water in Cecil County and whether owners of those wells know how to test their water.
Despite finding mostly safe levels among the private wells tested in Cecil County, researchers including family science Extension specialist Elizabeth Maring and Cecil County Extension educator Karen Aspinwall hope to expand the project statewide.
“I’ve actually really loved working with Extension and have been thinking once I complete my PhD I’d like to look for jobs there,” says Rachel Rosenberg Goldstein, a graduate student in the School of Public Health involved with the study.
The theme of Bioscience Day 2012 was “Understanding Life.” In addition to highlighting work being done at the University of Maryland in this particular subject area, Bioscience Day provides an opportunity for executives and industry or government professionals to promote the potential for collaboration, network with colleagues, recruit employees and investigate job opportunities.
