PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – Prairie View A&M University’s annual Research and Innovation Week took place on April 10 – 14. The event brings together all PVAMU colleges to celebrate the excellent and important research being done within the university. This week is also a fantastic way for the colleges to connect and inspire each other to dig deeper and share resources for the landmark work undertaken each day. Several students and researchers in the College of Agriculture and Human Sciences (CAHS) presented research posters throughout the week, and some of our faculty appeared on panels.

Monday was Student Research Day, which featured CAHS and other PVAMU students displaying their current projects, in collaboration with the Conference for Interdisciplinary Student Research (CISR). CAHS graduate student Mikayla Oberlton took first place, with the support of her faculty mentor Lauren Foster, Ph.D.

CAHS graduate student Mikayla Oberlton

Information, Impact and Sustainability Center Graphic Designer Ebony Ohen, worked as a judge of the student posters and shared her delight in seeing the intellectual, relevant, and sound research on display.

“Our students are doing incredible work as it relates to the topics they are researching,” Ohen said. “I was particularly intrigued to see the intersection between agriculture and architecture when listening to PVAMU graduate student Isabel Macias’s presentation: Waller County – Becoming a County with Senior Farmers. Although a student in the Master of Architecture program, I found her research to be extremely relevant as it relates to understanding the needs of underserved communities, which is one of our missions here at the College of Agriculture and Human Sciences. The reality of the matter is, many of these farms in Waller County are privately owned by families, and many of the children within the second and third generations have simply moved away and started lives outside of the farm. I would love to see collaborations form between our college with some of these senior farmers, that way the farmland they’ve spent their lives tending to can still be sustained for generations to come.”

Innovation Day on Tuesday provided guests with an opportunity to hear from executives, directors, and CEOs of companies that sell products designed with innovative research at the forefront of the businesses. International Research Center for Energy and Economic Development Executive Director Bobby Melvin, Patent and Trademark Resource Center Representative Hannah Edlund, and Founder & CEO of Happy Pads – the first and only patented biodegradable sanitary pad for women in Ethiopia – gave presentations on how to move research-based products to the marketplace. Wednesday’s International Student Research Day included Ugandan students participating in a virtual symposium on research topics that are significant in their country.

On Thursday representatives of Shell’s Texas offices, Sandia’s National Labs and PVAMU representatives spoke on partnering with industries for research-led programs and the challenges and benefits that can arise from these partnerships. Some challenges include trying to engage each side well and breaking down any coded barriers of understanding related to each team’s goals. They also mentioned keeping businesses aware of the value of the research and science coming from universities is essential to building these relationships. Extension Program Specialist II Talia Washington and CAHS Endowed Professor Ali Fares, Ph.D., spoke on a panel about their industry partnerships with Google and National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Smart Agriculture Program respectively, and the benefits of capturing these partnerships to further the needs of their department.

“I focus on small business development and my community partnership is with Google,” Washington said. “Grow with Google has been doing outreach into the community since 2017 and in 2020 we partnered with them, took their curriculum, and provided workshops in the community to show our business owners how to become digitally savvy. We also partnered with them to help people recently released from prison to become properly acquainted with the digital world.”

The week ended with Faculty Research Day on Friday, with PVAMU faculty discussing their research and other scholarly activities. Researchers from CAHS such as Fares, Peter Ampim, Ph.D., Javoud Barouei, Ph.D., and more, presented their various research areas among other PVAMU faculty.

(Gallery pictures:  The Office of Research and Innovation)

Pascale Mondesir
Communication Specialist
pamondesir@pvamu.edu

*Please note this article has been updated to reflect the correct spelling of Mikayla Oberlton’s name and class rank. Oberlton is a graduate student; the previous publication stated she is a senior. We apologize for our error.