After a day in the field measuring and recording characteristics of Maryland marshes, students in Wetlands Ecology classes compare things like soil types and the amount of carbon different marsh environments can capture.
From getting up close and personal with a tractor to shaking soil from soybean roots to learn how they take nitrogen from the air, students learn about what it takes to produce the world’s food, feed, fiber and fuel crops in Introductory Crop Science.
Today more than ever, our students are eager to make an impact on the world—to help solve big problems like environmental degradation, food insecurity and one-health issues. And they’re seeking experiences that help them understand the issues as they exist beyond the walls of a classroom, in the real world, where modern agriculture holds promising solutions to global hunger, climate change, and social injustices.
At AGNR, project-based learning takes students out into that world, where they learn to connect textbook facts with roll-up-your-sleeves-applications. Our students experience first-hand the broad reach of modern agriculture, and they understand why it means so much more than farming.
Whether they’re working outside on campus, or in the nearby community, students learn for instance, that nutrient management modelers do a better job when they understand how farm equipment works, and crop breeders succeed when they blend deep knowledge of genetic tools with practical greenhouse skills. Or they may learn how plant-based dyes could help reduce industrial waste from synthetics, and technologies like aquaponics may make healthy food more accessible in urban food deserts.
Here’s just a sampling of the variety of classes that offer opportunities for students to learn and apply hands-on skills to the fields they may eventually work in.
by Kimbra Cutlip : Momentum Magazine Summer 2023
After a day in the field measuring and recording characteristics of Maryland marshes, students in Wetlands Ecology classes compare things like soil types and the amount of carbon different marsh environments can capture.
In Food Microbiology Laboratory, students learn about food safety and the effect of different conditions on microbial growth and spoilage, like the way salt affects pathogen growth, as well as the role of other microbes in fermentation of foods like kombucha, pickles and wine.
The Quest for Color: Science, Culture, History, and Practice of Dyeing Fiber plunges students into the history, chemistry, and development of safe, sustainable plant-and insect-based dyes.
A student prepares a steel plate for arc welding, one of several skills taught in the Fundamentals of Agricultural Mechanics, which gives students first-hand experience with the trades needed to keep a farm running.