Research News for the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences

It may seem that a forecast that accurately predicts whether precipitation will fall as rain or snow isn’t very important unless your plans include skiing, snowboarding or driving through a canyon. In reality, when scientists develop forecasts or provide ...

Katie Kraus was once a student researcher in the dietetics bachelor’s program at Utah State University. She pursued her studies with zeal even then and was named Undergraduate Researcher of the Year in 2006. It turned out that her work then was merely the...

Research professor John Morrey in the Department of Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences, and former director of USU’s Institute for Antiviral Research, has been named the 2025 College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences Distinguished Professor of the Y...

Assistant Professor Feuz makes complex economic concepts accessible and engaging through case studies, hands-on experiences, and interactive discussions. His focus on teaching about the real-world applications and impacts of economics prepares his student...

Assistant Professor Lacee Boschetto leads the Family and Consumer Sciences Education program with a philosophy that reflects her passion for teaching: "Make it Known. Make it Real. Make it Matter."

Assistant Professor Daniella Hirschfeld, in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, was recently recognized as the 2025 CAAS Early Career Researcher of the Year for her contributions to urban ecology and environmental planning...

Professional Practice Assistant Professor Alyssa Reidhead creates opportunities for students to take action and learn in the process. Her outstanding work providing students with meaningful and memorable learning opportunities in the Department of Nutriti...

Associate Professor Matt Yost, in the Department of Plants, Soils, and Climate and who serves at interim associate dean for research in the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences, has been named the 2025 CAAS Researcher of the Year for his exceptiona...

David Anderson, a faculty member in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, was recently honored with the 2025 CAAS Faculty University Service Award for his many contributions to Utah State University. Anderson chairs USU’s Co...

Associate Professor Kara Thornton-Kurth has played a pivotal role in graduate student success during her nearly 10 years at USU. The outstanding animal scientist was recently named the 2025 CAAS Graduate Research Mentor of the Year.

Apples are a “temperate” crop, meaning that they are adapted to temperate zones. In North America, the ideal areas are those that have the right blend of temperatures (not too hot in the summer, not too cold in the winter, and a long enough growing season...

Ty Wilson’s undergraduate research prepared him to be well ahead of his peers during an internship he attended at Michigan State. The 24-year-old Rupert, Idaho native has spent the past two years working in Dr. Amita Kaundal’s lab researching plant-microb...

While pursuing a college degree in her native country, India, Amita Kaundal didn’t have a chance to participate in research as an undergraduate student. But after coming to the United States and spending two years as a postdoctoral research fellow at the ...

The group came together with two main objectives: to experience firsthand the complex ecological and social dilemmas facing the Colorado River watershed at an especially pivotal point in history, and to launch a research project to monitor ubiquitous and ...

Science and journalism might be considered sibling fields — each is the pursuit of knowledge through discovery with an emphasis on objectivity, the collection of evidence, and the reporting of verifiable conclusions. Yet scientists do not often engage in ...

Utah State University soil scientists are uncovering how fire severity affects soil erodibility and the likelihood of flooding, using drone mapping and ground analysis on burn scars like those in Spanish Fork Canyon near Price. Their findings reveal how p...

Bailey Guinn, a master’s student in landscape architecture at Utah State University, has been awarded the prestigious JSR Foundation Scholarship and BLT Built Design Award for her "Waking Water" project. Her design aims to heal the Warm Springs and North ...

Professor Michael Pate is making a real difference in the world of agricultural safety, especially for young people. His research has been instrumental in creating safety protocols that help protect youth from the unique hazards found in agricultural work...

Here at Utah State, researchers in the Crop Physiology Lab and in Plants, Soils and Climate are developing a new way to grow plants in orbit. They’re building a new high-tech planter box that, if selected, will be installed in the ISS and act as a self-co...

Cheeses like mozzarella and cheddar melt smoothly due to their high-fat content and protein structure, which allows them to stretch and flow when heated. In contrast, cheeses like ricotta don’t melt the same way because they contain more moisture and lowe...

Idowu Atoloye, a research postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Plants, Soils, and Climate, recently received a $225,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to study biochar, a charcoal-like materi...

Associate Professor Matt Yost received funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to study how other parts of the country are managing drought.

Bruce Bugbee and Lance Seefeldt are principal investigators for a multi-institution, NASA-funded team awarded a prestigious honor for foundational research efforts toward sustaining human exploration on Mars.

On Jan. 18, Utah’s two Carnegie-classified R1 public research universities showed off the best work of their undergraduate researchers during the Utah Legislature’s spring session.

Even with record snowfall last year, Utah still faces long-term drought impacts. With much of the state covered in dry farmland, the need for crops that thrive in dry conditions is ever-present. Kylie Hansen aims to address this critical issue.

Utah's population growth has made it imperative to address the consequences of drought and the detrimental effects it brings to the Great Salt Lake. Mary Claire Jennings is passionate about water conservation and points out that “grass lawns are especiall...

Being able to consistently create a specific food with the characteristics that consumers want and expect is vital in the food industry. Sakshi Singh presented research she has done on cheddar cheese chemistry with mentors Assistant Professor Prateek Shar...

Each January, Utah’s two public research universities—Utah State University and the University of Utah— come together and undergraduate student researchers share their work with legislators, business leaders, and the public at a celebration of research.

USU junior Ty Wilson, has long been fascinated by how plants grow in extreme environments such as mountains and high deserts. His research focuses on isolating microbes from a drought-tolerant native plant, Shepherdia x utahensis ‘Torrey,’ a hybrid buffal...

When you hear about genetically modified organisms, does your mind jump to the end of humanity as we know it? Then let’s start smaller with something like a Syrian hamster.

A multidisciplinary team of researchers at Utah State University and Michigan State University have been awarded $1.97 million over 4 years from the United States Department of Agriculture to study more efficient ways of managing this major crop.

The American Dairy Science Association® (ADSA) is pleased to announce Prateek Sharma as the 2021 recipient of the ADSA Foundation Scholar Award in Dairy Foods.

USU dietetics faculty members Katie Brown and Lacie Peterson of the Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Sciences (NDFS) have been recognized by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Three students working in disciplines within the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences were awarded Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunity Grants (URCO) to support conducting their own research in life, plant and food sciences this summer....

Professor Silvana Martini has been named a fellow of the American Oil Chemists' Society. Martini is a food scientist whose research is focused on developing healthier fats that have excellent sensory appeal to consumers.

To food scientists, cheese is more than just an ingredient for sandwiches or an appetizer. Cheese is chemistry, biology and physics all deliciously at work, and it’s big business in the dairy industry.

True-blooded Aggies love the spot where the sagebrush grows and they may have reasons to love it even more, say Utah State University undergraduate researchers David Suisse and Kayla Wasden Suisse.

A possible vaccine to protect against the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 has been tested and found effective and safe in several animal models by a team of scientists at the Rega Institute in Leuven, Belgium.

It's snack time! USU students used their creativity, food science knowledge and a lot of work to win the Institute of Food Technologists Smart Snacks for Kids competition.

USU Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources Department and the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) host Utah’s first ever public hemp seminar.

Idowu Atoloye, a student in USU's Department of Plants, Soils and Climate, was awarded the Nelson Yield-Limiting Factors Graduate Student Scholarship by the American Society of Agronomy at its annual conference in November.

Scientists at Utah State University are studying cultivation practices to optimize the yield and quality of hemp for botanical medicines.

Researchers in Utah are working to introduce more fire-resistant plants into western landscapes to reduce the damage.

Researchers from Utah State University and two other institutions recently published a study that uses tree rings to link climate variability to long-term patterns in temperature.

Earning a top spot in a national food science competition takes more than proving yourself as a chef, according to Vidita Deshpande, a PhD candidate studying food science at Utah State University.

Exposure to greenspace, as scientists call it, is linked to reduced stress and anxiety, lower rates of allergies and diabetes, better pregnancy outcomes, and even shortened recovery times from surgery, among other benefits. However, this relationship brin...