January 25 – Faculty from the Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) College of Agriculture and Human Sciences joined forces with their colleagues from Texas A&M AgriLife for the first Stronger Together virtual summit.

Nearly 300 people participated in the virtual event on Jan. 22 to learn about different research activities taking place at the two universities. 

The summit – themed “Strengthening Texas A&M AgriLife and Prairie View A&M University Agriculture Connections – was the first of its kind. Each organization paired faculty members with their counterparts in the areas of Animal Science, International Programming, Nutrition and Food Systems, and Plant and Environmental Science.

“Our collaboration speaks to the souls of our universities, established as the two land grant colleges in the state of Texas,” Gerard D’Souza, Ph.D., CAHS dean and director of Land Grant Programs said. “We don’t compete, we cooperate. By joining together as we have today, we only strengthen our work and our stakeholders are better for it.”

Researchers from each university gave a brief presentation on their current research and academic efforts. After sharing their respective work, the teams identified potential opportunities for future areas of collaboration. 

Summit presenters included: 

  • Animal Science: Research Scientist Gary Newton, Ph.D., and Assistant Professor Milton Daley, Ph.D., from PVAMU and Professor and Head of Animal Science Cliff Lamb, Ph.D., and Interim Head of Poultry Science Audrey McElroy, Ph.D., from AgriLife
  • International Programming: Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Department Head Kwaku Addo, Ph.D., and Assistant Professor and Research Scientist Noel M. Estwick, Ph.D., from PVAMU and Director of the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture and Development Elsa Murano, Ph.D., from AgriLife
  • Nutrition and Food Systems: Assistant Professor Tamra Tolen, Ph.D., and Professor Sharon McWhinney, Ph.D., from PVAMU and Associate Director of AgriLife Research Rebecca Seguin-Fowler, Ph.D., and Interim Head of Nutrition and Food Sciences David Threadgill, Ph.D., from AgriLife
  • Plant and Environmental Science: Professor Aruna Weerasooriya, Ph.D., and Endowed Professor Ali Fares, Ph.D., from PVAMU and Department Head of Plant Pathology and Microbiology Sandy Pierson, Ph.D., and Department Head of Soil and Crop Sciences David Baltensperger, Ph.D., from AgriLife

The presenters discussed several potential collaborative efforts, from teaching and adjunct appointments and joint research efforts to sharing internships and cross-listing upper-level academic courses. 

“What this [summit] is about is continuing what we’re doing and strengthening what we’re doing in terms of interactions that are mutually beneficial,” Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Texas A&M AgriLife Research Director Patrick Stover, Ph.D., said.