Texas Tech University System

One of the Most Profound Challenges in Educating the U.S.'S Food, Agricultural, Natural Resources, and Human Sciences (FANH) Workforce Is Modernizing Training in Advanced Methods for Study of Plant, Animal, and Soil Microbiomes That We Now Know to Be Essential for Plant and Animal Health and Productivity. Specifically, the Fanh Workforce Lags in Training on These Essential Agricultural Microbiomes in the Areas of High-throughput Genome Sequencing and Related Approaches That Analyze Microbiomes Using Rna, Protein, and Other Molecules Using Advanced Computer Approaches That Are Necessary for This Work, Using Leading Bioinformatics Software. Within This Realm, an Area of Broad Interest to Fanh Sciences Is Plant and Animal Defensive Microbiomes and the Specific Host-microbe Interactions That Act to Drive These Systems to Protect Plants and Animals From Diseases. Quality Integrated Education and Training Programs in This Area Are Sorely Lacking, Partly Due to the Rapid Technological Changes in Sequencing and Computation and Partly Due to Insufficient Efforts to Pull Together the Necessary Multidisciplinary Training Programs. Therefore, This Proposal Seeks to Bridge the Gap in Omics and Bioinformatics Training While Addressing Two Hec Educational Need Areas (1) Curriculum Development, Instructional Delivery Systems and Expanding Student Career Opportunities; and (2) Faculty Preparation and Enhancement for Teaching. This Hec Project Takes Advantage of Strong Teaching and Training Programs at Texas Tech University (TTU) and Interdisciplinary Multi-departmental Teams With Project Co-directors With Strengths in Microbiomes, Genomics and Bioinformatics, Cattle Science, Poultry Science, Food Safety, Antimicrobial Resistance, Crop Physiology, and Agricultural Soil Sustainability and Effects on Production. the Project Also Integrates With TTU'S New School of Veterinary Medicine, and TTU'S Multiple Campuses With Their Expanding Enrollment and Core Facilities. Specifically, This Hec Project Seeks to Educate Underserved, Rural West Texas Students Through an Approach That Centers on Authentic Project-based Learning and Multidisciplinary Peer-based Mentoring, Implemented Through Three New Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CURES) and Piloting a New MASTER'S of Science Concentration in Genomics of Animal and Plant Microbiomes. the Project Will Also Facilitate Advanced Faculty Training in These Critical Areas for Numerous Ttu Faculty From Different Departments, Including Biological Sciences, Veterinary Sciences, Animal & Food Sciences, and Plant & Soil Sciences. Through Rigorous Pedagogical Practices in Teaching Students Real-world Cutting-edge Tools, This Project Will Provide Core Competencies for Approximately 194 Students in Baccalaureate and MASTER'S Programs at Ttu and Create 20 Educational Product Outcomes, While Establishing Programs That in the Near-term Future Are Expected to Educate ~200-500 Students Per Year. Coreactivities Will Provide Much-needed Hands-on, Real-world Training Courses That Will Bridge Various Fields of Study and Integrate Undergraduate, Graduate, and Faculty Training. It Is Anticipated That Trainees From This Program May Become Future Trainers, Exponentially Expanding the Outcomes of This Project to Modernize the Fanh Workforce.