MAROON RESEARCH FALL 2013 MAROON …. FALL 2013. 5. MAROON RESEARCH FALL 2013. MSU RANKS IN THE TOP 10 FOR AG SCIENCES RESEARCH . ississippi State University’s commitment to its

MAROON RESEARCH FALL 2013

Research and Economic Development News from Mississippi State University

MAROON RESEARCH

FALL 2013

2 RESEARCHMAROON RESEARCH

A FEW WORDS ABOUT FUNDINGI hope that your fall went well. It has been a very successful semester in the Office of

Research and Economic Development, and I am pleased to be able to share a selection of our

activities with you in this issue of Maroon Research.

As you can imagine, having the funding necessary to support our research remains a top

priority for us. Appropriation cuts, the federal budget sequester, and the recent government

shutdown have all contributed to heightened concern. Quite frankly, less money for research

affects major land-grant universities like MSU in a number of counterproductive ways.

We are working diligently to mitigate these effects by, among other things, supporting

faculty with their funding proposals, and providing resources to enable successful grant

writing. Contact Assistant Vice President for Research Teresa Gammill at tgammill@research.

msstate.edu with your questions, or visit http://www.research.msstate.edu/rresources for

more information.

As you may know, MSU recently launched the public phase of a major fundraising program

called Infinite Impact: The Mississippi State University Campaign. We work closely with the

MSU Foundation, and its work plays a crucial role in supporting research at our institution,

and so will this capital campaign. I encourage you to learn more about Infinite Impact at

http://www.infiniteimpactmsu.com

As always, thank you for taking the time to read this quarter’s issue of Maroon Research.

Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] with your research or

economic development questions or suggestions.

David Shaw is vice president for research and economic development at Mississippi State University. Contact him at [email protected].

ON THECOVER

Undergraduate Research SymposiumMississippi State University undergraduates and

faculty browse poster displays at the summer

2013 Undergraduate Research Symposium in

August. Read more on page 7.

College Board Approves The Mill MSU’s E.E. Cooley Building, originally Starkville’s

John M. Stone Cotton Mill, lost its recognizable

“face” in mid-October when university journey

linemen Bubba Forrester and Ken Palmer removed

the fiberglass Bully statue that had adorned the

front entrance since the early 1960s. The iconic

figure has been moved to the Gast Building,

where previous Cooley Building employees now

work. The Cooley Building has been vacated

recently in anticipation of renovation work for

The Mill multi-use development project. Read

more on page 10.

Mississippi Economic Council Mississippi State University President Mark E.

Keenum addressed the Mississippi Economic Council

board of directors Oct. 4 during its meeting at

the Hunter Henry Center on the campus of MSU.

The MEC is best known as “the state chamber

of commerce” and has been at the forefront of

good government and pro-education issues for

decades. MSU and MEC partner on the STAR

Scholarship for students who earn MEC STAR

Student status.


3RESEARCH FALL 2013

MISSISSIPPI STATE IN TOP 100 FOR RESEARCH

Mississippi State continues to rank among the nation’s top

research universities, according to new data from the National

Science Foundation.

The recently released NSF Higher Education Research and

Development Survey for Fiscal Year 2011 places Mississippi State

at 91st overall among public and private institutions based on

$226.1 million in total research and development expenditures.

Nationally, MSU is ranked 53rd in non-medical school

R&D expenditures.

The land-grant institution remains a top 10 school in the U.S. for

agricultural sciences, as well as a top 50 university in engineering.

In computer science, MSU climbed from 39th to 37th. It also

achieved top 30 status in social sciences, and rose from 82nd to

75th in environmental science, according to the NSF.

“These significant totals are the result of very hard work by

our faculty, and they represent the commitment we have as a

university to providing innovative solutions, creative works and

new scholarship that address pressing local, state, regional, national

and global needs,” said David Shaw, the university’s vice president

for research and economic development.

At 48 percent, MSU’s research expenditures accounted for nearly

half of the total for Mississippi institutions, the survey found.

Additionally, the university had more than 4,000 research

personnel — accounting for 60 percent of the total for the state.

“We have an innovation ecosystem in place on campus that is

leveraging our research to grow capacity and the economy by creating

jobs, enhancing quality of life and providing new opportunities

in communities around our state,” Shaw said.

The full NSF report is online at www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf13325/

pdf/nsf13325.pdf.

In addition to its NSF status, Mississippi State is designated by the

Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a “Very

High Research Activity University,” which represents the highest

level of research activity for doctorate-granting universities in the

country. MSU is the only school in the state with the distinction,

and one of only 108 nationwide.

Visit www.research.msstate.edu to learn more about Mississippi

State’s research and economic development activities.


VILSACK PRAISES MSU’S AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS

Mississippi State University officials toured U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack around campus in late September in a rare opportunity to brief a sitting Cabinet member on significant federally funded research projects.

Vilsack spent a whirlwind afternoon with MSU researchers and students, learning about ongoing research and answering questions and listening to comments from MSU students.

“Mississippi State is targeted right where it needs to be,” Vilsack said. “It’s important to this country that we continue to have a vital economy, and to do that, we have to have production agriculture, and we need to continue to expand agriculture, and particularly export opportunities.

“Here we are at the veterinary school, which basically allows Mississippi producers and others to continue to be productive in agriculture of all kinds,” he said.

MSU ranks ninth in the country by the National Science Foundation for research and development expenditures in agricultural sciences among private and public institutions. In 2011, the university conducted nearly $97 million in agriculture-related research, and last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture granted MSU more than $28 million in federal research dollars.

“I’m proud of the relationship we have between USDA and Mississippi State,” Vilsack said.

MSU President Mark E. Keenum, a past undersecretary of agriculture, welcomed Vilsack’s interest in MSU research.

“The USDA touches everyone in our country, and one-fourth of income in Mississippi comes from agriculture,” Keenum said. “Secretary Vilsack is over one of the largest departments in the American government, and one that touches practically every American.”

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, left, toured several U.S. Department of Agriculture research projects being conducted on the Starkville campus of Mississippi State University on Sept. 25, and joined MSU President Mark E. Keenum for a press conference after the tour. Keenum is a former Under Secretary of Agriculture. Vilsack also met with a group of students from the Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine during his MSU visit.

5RESEARCH FALL 2013


MSU RANKS IN THE TOP 10 FOR AG SCIENCES RESEARCH

Mississippi State University’s commitment to its land-grant mission

and to the state’s $7.5 billion agriculture and forestry industry resulted

in a top spot in a recently released National Science Foundation report.

The National Science Foundation’s Higher Education Research and

Development Survey for Fiscal Year 2011 ranked MSU ninth in the

nation for research and development expenditures in agricultural

sciences among public and private institutions. MSU has ranked in

the top 10 in this category for 11 consecutive years. The university

spent $96.6 million in agriculture-related research.

The report ranked MSU 91st overall among public and private

institutions based on $226.1 million in research and development

spending in FY 2011.

“Our talented faculty members, researchers and Extension specialists

address real-world problems that impact people in Mississippi and

across the globe,” said Greg Bohach, vice president of MSU’s Division

of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine. “Their work

inspires the next generation of MSU scientists to look for innovative

and practical solutions to the agricultural challenges of producing

food, fiber and fuel in the 21st century.”

The Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine

includes the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the Mississippi

Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, the College of Forest

Resources, the Forest and Wildlife Research Center, the College of

Veterinary Medicine and the MSU Extension Service.

George Hopper, who directs four of the division’s six units, said

stations and centers around the state allow scientists to address a

wide variety of research topics that target the unique needs of the

state’s agricultural producers and landowners.

“From the row crop and catfish research at the Delta Research

and Extension Center in Stoneville to the horticulture, truck crops,

forestry, poultry and beef cattle research throughout the state, MSU

experts work hard to respond to the needs of our farmers, landowners

and manufacturing industries while contributing to the greater body

of knowledge in a variety of fields,” Hopper said.

Mississippi State University research in support of the state’s $2.5 billion poultry industry, such as that conducted by Dr. Alejandro Banda at the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Poultry Research and Diagnostic Laboratory in Pearl, helped MSU rank ninth in the nation in agricultural sciences research and development spending.


The state’s premier research university is boosting its high-performance comput-ing capabilities with the installation of a new supercomputer.

Mississippi State’s High Performance

Computing Collaboratory (HPC2) will soon be

home to a CS300-LC cluster supercomputer — a

liquid-cooled system manufactured by Cray

Inc. (Nasdaq: CRAY).

Named “Shadow,” the new system will serve

as the primary high-performance computing

asset for shared research, according to an

MSU official.

“This investment is the latest example of

Mississippi State’s commitment to providing

powerful, technologically-advanced resources

for our researchers,” said Trey Breckenridge,

director of high performance computing.

The installation is expected to be completed

by December. Once operational, Shadow

will be 10 times faster than the university’s

previous fastest system, but consume far less

energy, Breckenridge said.

According to the company, the CS300-LC

system features an innovative, liquid-cooled

design that uses warm water heat exchangers

instead of chillers to directly cool the computer’s

processors and memory, allowing for a more

efficient removal of system heat.

“This new cooling technique is revolution-

ary. The water used to cool the system is

the temperature of the outside air, up to

104 degrees, with almost no additional air

conditioning required,” Breckenridge said.

“There are a few systems doing this in

Canada and northern Europe, but as far as

I know, we are the first to ever try this in a

subtropical environment,” he added.

Shadow will be housed at the HPC2 facility

in the Thad Cochran Research, Technology

and Economic Development Park adjacent

to the MSU campus in Starkville.

“Shadow achieves its tremendous comput-

ing power largely due to the use of 260 new

Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors. They are so

powerful that two of them, which combined

are smaller than a loaf of bread, are as fast as

our fastest computer just 10 years ago — and

that system was the size of six refrigerators,”

Breckenridge said.

The supercomputer will support research

for the land-grant institution’s Center for

Advanced Vehicular Systems, Center for

Computational Sciences, Geosystems Research

Institute, Center for Battlefield Innovations

and Institute for Genomics, Biocomputing

and Biotechnology, as well as the MSU-led

Northern Gulf Institute.

HPC2 BOOSTS MSU

SUPERCOMPUTING POWER

7RESEARCH FALL 2013


HPC2’s members are focused on multidis-

ciplinary, team activities that share a common

objective of advancing the state-of-the-art in

computational science and engineering using

high-performance computing, Breckenridge

said.

“The supercomputing power we have in

Mississippi is becoming more important as

the state and region develop an economy

where businesses built on technology thrive,”

Breckenridge said.

“The economic impact of Shadow and

our other resources is significant now and

will be much more so in the years to come,”

he added.

The Cray system will run a broad set of

applications for research projects, including

fluid dynamics, structural mechanics, materials

modeling, astrophysics, molecular modeling,

transportation modeling and planning, weather

and ocean modeling, geographic information

systems, genomics and bioinformatics.

Mississippi State consistently ranks among

the nation’s fastest academic computing

sites as compiled by TOP500.org, which

is an international organization dedicated

to cataloging the world’s most powerful

supercomputers.

HPC2 BOOSTS MSU

SUPERCOMPUTING POWER

UNIVERSITY RECOGNIZES UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS

Mississippi State University recognized the 2013 Summer Research Program for Undergraduate Underrepresented Minority Students who participated in the summer 2013 Undergraduate Research Symposium. From left are Morgan Ford of Olive Branch, Ianna May of Indianola, MSU Provost and Executive Vice President Jerry Gilbert and Britney Mack of Edwards.

Dedicated Mississippi State undergradu-

ates from Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas,

Louisiana, Tennessee and abroad didn’t

take a break from their research during

the summer.

Instead, they explored questions relevant

to their majors, which culminated in honors

and recognition at the university’s summer

Undergraduate Research Symposium in

August. MSU’s Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society

sponsored gift cards for the winners, who

also received award certificates.

“Whatever you do, the experiences of

doing undergraduate research — wrestling

with interesting and important questions

— really have an impact on you for the rest

of your life,” said Seth F. Oppenheimer,

professor of mathematics and director of

undergraduate research for MSU’s Shackouls

Honors College. “It will make you much

more competent to judge issues in the world

and to understand how new knowledge

is discovered.”

“These posters and papers that were

presented here today suggest that you are

beginning on the path to discovery that

will take you to remarkable places,” said

Christopher A. Snyder, dean of Shackouls

Honors College and MSU history professor.

Students competed in one of four

categories: arts and humanities, biological

sciences and engineering, physical sciences

and engineering, and social sciences.

The best poster presentations were

recognized, and the top three projects in

biological sciences and engineering, and in

physical sciences and engineering received

awards. The arts and humanities track

had one winner and physical sciences and

engineering had two because those categories

had fewer participants, Oppenheimer said.


YOKOHAMA TIRE OPENS OFFICE IN COCHRAN RESEARCH PARK

One of the world’s leading premium tire manufacturing companies

recognized for its technology and innovation is locating in the Thad

Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park.

Yokohama Tire Corporation is opening an office in the state’s largest

research park that will serve as the company’s operational headquarters

while its new manufacturing plant in Clay County is under construction,

according to a Mississippi State University official.

“We are very pleased to welcome members of the Yokohama Tire

team to the Thad Cochran Research Park and Industry Partners Building,

and to develop a new pipeline of communication between us,” said Marc

McGee, director of the MSU Research and Technology Corporation, the

entity that manages the park.

The Research Park space will form the center for strategic and logistical

operations for Yokohama Tire while overseeing the development of its

manufacturing facility. It will house several business functions including

general management, human resources management, information

management and business planning.

The plant is expected to have a total investment of $300 million initially

and employ approximately 500 employees. Additional phases are expected

to create up to 2,000 jobs and up to $1.2 billion over the next decade.

According to Joey Deason, chief operating officer for the Golden

Triangle Development Link and vice president for Oktibbeha Economic

Development, “Yokohama’s presence in the Thad Cochran Park will

encourage and foster not only a relationship with the university, but also

with Starkville and Oktibbeha County. It will drive economic growth and

showcase the quality of life for the local community.”

David Shaw, MSU’s vice president for research and economic

development, said that the land-grant institution is looking forward to

working further with Yokohama Tire, its suppliers, economic developers

and elected officials as the project moves forward.

“Yokohama Tire’s decision to build in the Golden Triangle is a very

strong example of how a major research university is a significant economic

development asset,” he added.

The 272-acre park is a joint venture of the City of Starkville, Oktibbeha

County and the university, with the MSU RTC responsible for day-to-day

management. A recent expansion added an additional 45 acres complete

with roads, dual-fiber capabilities and utilities. The 38,000-square-foot

Industry Partners Building opened in 2010 and is among 10 buildings

in the park.

For additional information about locating or building in the park,

contact McGee at [email protected] or 662-325-9575.

Yokohama Tire Corporation, the North American manufacturing

and marketing arm of Tokyo, Japan-based The Yokohama Rubber Co.,

Ltd., is online at www.yokohamatire.com.

Joey Deason, left, chief operating officer for the Golden Triangle Development Link; Marc McGee, director of the Mississippi State University Research and Technology Corp.; and Alan Easome, senior director of operations-new plant development for Yokohama Tire Corp., pose for a photograph in front of Yokohama’s new office in the Cochran Research Park in August.

9RESEARCH FALL 2013


A leading Mississippi-based communication and technology solutions

provider will build a new $20 million, 22,400-square-foot data center in the

Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park.

C Spire Wireless officials announced their plans during an October

news conference at Mississippi State University’s High Performance

Computing Collaboratory, which is also located in the park.

“This is a great day,” said David Shaw, MSU’s vice president for research

and economic development.

The state-of-the-art facility will offer businesses a full suite of cloud

solutions to help them manage mission-critical data, infrastructure and

enterprise applications.

“Now, more than ever before, businesses need to intelligently manage

their data and critical operational processes to handle the explosive

growth of mobile, Internet and corporate-based data demands through

cloud-based solutions,” said Kevin Hankins, chief operations officer for

C Spire, citing recent trends that show data center IP traffic is continuing

to grow at an annual rate of 31 percent.

“Business is not going to the cloud. Business has gone to the cloud,”

he said.

Construction on the 6.5-acre site is scheduled to begin in November,

and is expected to take about a year to complete, according to Hankins.

The company has plans for two more phases.

Along with its location in a low-risk geographic zone, the center

boasts direct access to C Spire’s ring-protected fiber network and will

be managed 24 hours, seven days a week and 365 days a year by the

company’s locally-based IT staff.

“This project is an excellent example of how a university-led research

park can make a significant economic contribution to the communities it

serves, particularly in a rural state like Mississippi,” Shaw said, following

the announcement.

“We are very pleased by C Spire’s decision to build in the park,

and look forward to working with them further as this project moves

forward,” he said.

The 272-acre park is a joint venture of the City of Starkville, Oktibbeha

County and the university, with the MSU Research and Technology

Corporation responsible for day-to-day management. The park is home to

more than 1,500 employees, 10 buildings and a diverse lineup of tenants,

including private businesses, start-up companies, government offices and

research centers and institutes.

A recent expansion added an additional 45 acres complete with roads,

dual-fiber capabilities and utilities.

C SPIRE SELECTS RESEARCH PARK FOR DATA CENTER

David Shaw (right), vice president for research and economic development at Mississippi State University, joined local elected officials, economic developers and company executives in October for C Spire’s announcement that the Ridgeland-based company will build a state-of-the-art data center in the Cochran Research Park.


COLLEGE BOARD APPROVES THE MILL AT MSU DEVELOPMENT

The Mississippi Board of Trustees of State

Institutions of Higher Learning Oct. 17 approved

a series of interrelated agreements that finalize

plans for The Mill development, according to

Mississippi State University President Mark E.

Keenum.

“We have refused to settle for anything

that did not meet our highest expectations—

logistically, aesthetically or financially,” said

Keenum. “And we are confident that we have

it right and we’re grateful that the state College

Board shares our vision.”

The project will bring a conference center,

hotel and parking garage complex centered

around MSU’s historic E.E. Cooley Building. The

Mill development includes three main projects:

transforming the landmark former cotton mill

into a conference center with adjacent office

space, building an adjacent hotel and developing

mixed-use business parcels in the land adjacent

to the university’s old physical plant.

Plans call for MSU to sell some property to

the developer to become the site of a Marriott

Courtyard Hotel and one or more restaurants,

lease the Cooley Building to the developer to be

renovated as a conference center, and for MSU

to lease back some office space in the building

for university use.

MSU’s Facilities Management staff is already

moving out of the Cooley Building, which has

been their base of operations for many years. The

division will be housed in various temporary

locations until a replacement facility can be built

on Buckner Lane, near existing services such as

landscaping and transportation—actions which

the College Board also approved.

Keenum said: “Mississippi State has needed

a conference center capable of accommodating

large academic and professional meetings for

many years. The university also needs a more

dynamic gateway directly across the street from

this main entrance to campus, where we adjoin

the city of Starkville.

“The project as a whole will be a boon to our

ability to attract important academic conferences

and visitors, provide much needed office space,

and make us more appealing to prospective

students and faculty members,” said Keenum.

“It will also create closer town-gown relations

and give an economic boost to the area. And it

will preserve and protect one of the oldest and

most historic buildings on our campus.

“Efforts to bring this development to fruition

on this site have been under way for about 10

years,” said Keenum. “It has been a long and rocky

road, as you well know. But our staff, working

with the city, state and federal offices, the current

11RESEARCH FALL 2013


private partner and others, have been persistent.”

MSU purchased the John M. Stone Cotton

Mill in 1965 and renamed it after the school’s

former superintendent of utilities, E.E. Cooley.

The building was placed on the National Register

of Historic Places in 1975.

In August, the state College Board approved

a land-use agreement between MSU and the

city of Starkville for the project’s parking garage.

The prior agreement leased a 1.67-acre parcel

on which a 450-space parking garage will be

constructed to lease to the city for 10 years. The city

will use an $8 million Community Development

Block Grant from the Mississippi Development

Authority to construct the facility. At the end of

the lease, the garage will become MSU’s property.

The August agreement provided that MSU

and the city will equally share any profits generated

from the garage and obligated the university to

provide public parking space, including slots for

the planned Cooley Center’s conference and office

space and the incoming Marriot hotel.

In April, the Starkville Board of Aldermen

approved a 15-year, $3.25 million-maximum tax

increment financing agreement associated with

the project. The TIF utilizes 75 percent of ad

valorem and sales tax returns for debt payments.

Monies from the agreement will help pay for

various infrastructure projects associated with

The Mill at MSU.

BROWN NAMED NEW LAB DIRECTOR, STATE CHEMIST

An accomplished Mississippi State researcher

and administrator for the Mississippi State

Chemical Laboratory is taking the helm of

that state agency housed on the land-grant

institution’s campus.

Ashli Brown has been named State

Chemist and director of the MSCL, effective

Oct. 1 and pending formal approval by the

Mississippi Senate.

Previously, she served as the MSCL’s

director of research and agriculture forensics.

The lab provides critical support to Mississippi

agriculture — the state’s No. 1 industry,

generating approximately $7 billion in revenue in 2012, according to data from the

MSU Extension Service. Additionally, agriculture employs nearly 30 percent of the

state’s workforce directly or indirectly.

“The lab’s work affects Mississippians throughout the state every day,” Brown said.

Established in 1892 at the university — then Mississippi A&M College — the

MSCL is a state regulatory agency. Offices are located in the Hand Chemical Laboratory

Building.

Working with the Mississippi departments of Agriculture and Commerce, of

Health and of Marine Resources, the MSCL jointly develops, promulgates, modifies

and enforces regulations, standards and specifications of animal feeds, food, fertilizers,

gasoline, kerosene, diesel and antifreeze sold within the state’s borders. The agencies

also provide analytical data to ensure the quality, accurate labeling of these materials.

Other MSCL duties include research to promote the regulatory sciences, including

a fellows program in which MSU faculty and students may collaborate on projects of

mutual interest. (For more, visit www.mscl.msstate.edu/.)

Brown, a University of South Florida doctoral graduate, is a biochemist and

molecular biologist with a research and teaching focus on aflatoxin — a group of toxic

compounds produced by some molds that can contaminate stored food supplies like

animal feed and peanuts.

Her research interests include physical biochemistry, enzymology, protein kinases,

insect pheromones, and gas chromatography and mass spectrometry.

She is on the faculty of MSU’s Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology,

Entomology and Plant Pathology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences,

and is also a scientist in the university’s Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry

Experiment Station.

Ashli Brown


By creating a new energy curriculum for high

school students, the Research and Curriculum Unit at

Mississippi State is developing yet another collaboration

between education and industry.

The latest career pathway constitutes the 17th

developed by the university resource center, in

partnership with the Mississippi Department of

Education and Mississippi Energy Workforce

Consortium.

The curriculum was pilot tested in three public

school districts during the 2012-13 academic year —

Lamar and Lawrence counties and Pascagoula, said

LeAnn Miller, RCU instructional design specialist.

Mike Mulvihill, bureau director for the MDE’s

Office of Career and Technical Education, said RCU’s

role in writing the curriculum was just one facet of the

long-term partnership between the state department

and the university research unit.

“RCU does a lot of the research as to what the

national trends are and the best practices for teaching

students, as well as working with industries to write

the curriculum,” Mulvihill said. “RCU also does the

professional development for our teachers to make

sure they’re properly trained to teach the students.

They help in the assessment, too.

“They have the expertise and opportunity to do

that type of research and find the trends and best

practices. They get us the best coursework that we

can get,” he continued.

Other Mississippi school districts considering

adoption of the energy curriculum during the 2013-14

school year include Claiborne, DeSoto and Jefferson

counties, as well as Madison, Mulvihill said.

Entergy, Mississippi Power, Gulf Power, Strategic

Biomass Solutions, and Alstom are among the

participants that helped develop the curriculum.

Miller said Southern Power, the Southern Company’s

electric generation company, as well as the National

Center for Construction Education and Research

also provided valuable input.

RCU AT MSU DEVELOPS NEW HIGH SCHOOL CURRICULUM FOR ENERGY STUDY

MOFFATT TO SERVE AS RESEARCH ETHICS CONSULTANT FOR STUDENTS

Enhancing research opportunities for our undergraduate and graduate students is a very important

priority for Mississippi State, and the university is taking a number of steps to support faculty and student

researchers in their endeavors.

Recently, the MSU selected Bart Moffatt, assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion,

to serve as the new research ethics consultant for students. In this role, he is available to interact with any

undergraduate or graduate student with questions about research ethics.

Students may do so anonymously by using this email address: [email protected] -- or

they may interact directly with him by contacting him at [email protected] and setting up a consultation.



MISSISSIPPI STATE RESEARCHERS SECURE MAJOR NIH GRANT

Mississippi State University has been awarded a $10 million grant

for five years of support from the National Institutes of Health to further

research focusing on diseases that affect animal and human health.

NIH’s Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence, or COBRE, provides

competitive grants in support of multidisciplinary centers that strengthen

institutional biomedical research capacity. MSU researchers started the

planning process for competing for the grant in 2010. The research will

be conducted among three core centers at MSU: the College of Veterinary

Medicine, the Institute of Genomics, Biocomputing and Biotechnology,

and the Institute for Imaging and Analytical Technologies. The MSU-

CVM will administer the grant and research activities.

“It is an extremely competitive process,” said Stephen Pruett, MSU-

CVM’s head of basic sciences and principal investigator on the COBRE

grant. “Most of the applicants are human medical colleges, so we were

in the minority as a veterinary college. We have great leadership and a

talented group of researchers that helped us achieve this.”

The unique nature of the grant establishes a mentoring program for

a core group of researchers. The MSU researchers in this group include

Janet Donaldson, associate professor in biological sciences; Mariola

Edelmann, assistant research professor with the Institute of Genomics,

Biocomputing and Biotechnology; Bindu Nanduri and Keun Seok Seo,

both MSU-CVM assistant professors in basic sciences; and Henry Wan,

an MSU-CVM associate professor. Over the course of the five-year grant,

the researchers will work on projects that promote a greater understanding

of animal and human health. The success of the grant will be measured

by the researchers’ ability to get additional NIH-funded grants to further

research in infectious diseases that impact both animal and human health.

“Dr. Seo is leading the way in Staphylococcus aureus, or staph,

research. What he’s studying is leading to vaccines that could protect

cattle and humans from dangerous staph infections.” Pruett said. “Dr.

Donaldson is providing important research on how listeria behaves in

the gall bladder. Her discoveries are paving the way for new methods to

control or prevent dangerous listeria outbreaks.”

The researchers also will work collaboratively to design new infectious

disease research projects and compete for further NIH funding as a team.

“Mississippi State has a tremendous amount of expertise in

infectious disease,” said Greg Bohach, vice president for MSU’s Division

of Agriculture, Forestry, and Veterinary Medicine. “We are honored to

have NIH recognize this and provide the funding and the trust to take

our research to the next level. The talent and focus is here, and we will

continue to provide research that protects the safety of animals, humans,

and the food supply.”

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National

Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health

under Award Number P20GM103646. The content is solely the responsibility

of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the

National Institutes of Health.

For more information on NIH COBRE grants, visit http://www.

nigms.nih.gov/Training/IDeA/COBRE.htm.

Dr. Keun Seok Seo examines cultures of staph organisms in his laboratory at Mississippi State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.


AAHRPP ACCREDITS UNIVERSITY’S HUMAN-RESEARCH PROTECTIONS PROGRAM

Mississippi State is the first

university in the state to attain a

highly-sought endorsement from the

Association for the Accreditation of

Human Research Protection Programs.

In September the nonprofit

organization announced that MSU has

earned full accreditation for three years.

“This accreditation is very important to our research enterprise

because it ensures funding agencies and sponsors of our commitment to

the protection of human subjects and building public trust,” said David

Shaw, MSU’s vice president for research and economic development.

AAHRPP provides accreditation for U.S. and international

organizations that conduct biomedical, behavioral or social sciences

research involving human participants and can demonstrate that their

protections exceed the safeguards required by the U.S. government.

“AAHRPP accreditation is widely regarded as the mark of a quality

human research protection program worldwide,” said Marjorie A.

Speers, AAHRPP president and CEO.

According to an MSU official, the multi-year process to achieve

accreditation required extensive planning and preparation by faculty

and staff that culminated in a site visit over the summer.

“We were able to earn accreditation by working together as a

team,” said MSU Institutional Review Board Officer Jodi Roberts, who

coordinated the university’s application.

“We would like to thank all of the researchers who assisted in this

effort,” she said.

An Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects,

commonly shortened to IRB, is the method by which institutions facilitate

human subjects research and ensure that the rights and welfare of the

subjects are protected. It is a major component of an overall human

research protection program.

“AAHRPP accreditation illustrates our focus on the safety of

human subjects, regulatory compliance and high ethical standards,”

said Kacey Strickland, the director of the land-grant institution’s Office

of Research Compliance.

“Ongoing quality improvement and performance assessments are

priorities for our Human Resources Protection Programs” she said.

Mississippi State is classified as a “Very High Research Activity”

university by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

This designation represents the highest level of research activity for

doctorate-granting universities in the U.S. Mississippi State is the only

school in the state with the distinction, and one of only 108 nationwide.

For more, visit www.research.msstate.edu.

Sponsored Programs Administration at Mississippi State University is committed to helping faculty find the resources needed to support

research endeavors.

Recognizing that not all faculty members have departmental support for proposal development, SPA is working to provide this support as

needed.

Please let Jennifer Easley know if the SPA team can assist you with creating your proposal budget, completing Grants.Gov forms, or performing

other administrative tasks related to your funding proposals.

Contact her at [email protected] or 662-325-3751.

SPONSORED PROGRAMS ADMINISTRATION HERE TO HELP



KITECH TAPS MSU’S KING FOR ADVISORY BOARD

A South Korean institute

has asked a senior research

administrator at Mississippi State

University to provide counsel on

international collaborative issues.

The Korea Institute of In-

dustrial Technology, known as

KITECH, has appointed Roger

King to its international advisory

board, which has a focus on the

industrialization of advanced

technologies. Board members

include eminent scientists and engineers from around the world.

“It is an honor to assist KITECH, and I am looking forward to

working with institute officials and other board members,” said King,

who is director of the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems and Giles

Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at MSU.

“I believe we will be able to enhance international partnerships

with South Korea and the state of Mississippi, as well as expand MSU’s

relationship with KITECH,” he said.

In 2012, the land-grant institution and KITECH signed a memorandum

of understanding to support global manufacturers’ efforts, like Hyundai

and Kia, to develop products and train employees for their facilities in

the southeastern United States.

The agreement created the KITECH-CAVS Center for Root

Technologies. “Root technology” refers to several key technologies

of the manufacturing industry, including casting, molding, forming,

surface treatment, thermal treatment, welding/joining technologies

and related fields.

The partnership has fostered joint research projects, as well as

facilitated personnel exchanges, King said.

“We have two KITECH researchers working at CAVS right now,”

he said.

Hwi-jun Kim is working on experimentation and modeling of

compaction and extrusion of novel aluminum metal matrix composite,

while Jung-hwan Bang is working on fatigue analysis of lead-free

soldering printed circuit boards using finite elements.

In addition to a focus on root technology for industry, manufacturing

system technology and industry convergence technology are priorities

for KITECH, which has created an effective system to move research

from the lab into real-world situations that benefit companies, according

to King.

“Moving forward, I anticipate many more opportunities for our

institutions to work together — through technology transfer and

application for companies, for example,” King said.

Located in the Cochran Research Park, CAVS is a premier research

center within the Bagley College of Engineering. The research and

economic impact produced by the center and its extension office

in Canton has garnered prestigious national awards. For additional

information, visit www.cavs.msstate.edu.

Roger King

Eric Hill and Julie Lopez have joined the Office of Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer team at Mississippi State University.

Hill is now coordinating OETT’s entrepreneurship-related endeavors, and Lopez is the new licensing associate.

Innovation, entrepreneurship and taking ideas from inception into the marketplace are priorities on our campus, and OETT is playing a

vital role in these activities.

Learn more about OETT at www.oett.msstate.edu.

OETT WELCOMES HILL AND LOPEZ


Mississippi State’s land-grant tradition of service through learning

and research was recently recognized by a $25,000 National Endowment

for the Arts grant benefitting the city of Leland.

Officials with the university’s landscape architecture program and

John C. Stennis Institute of Government and Community Development

collaborated with counterparts in the Washington County municipality

and its Jim Henson Museum to apply for an “Our Town” grant.

Joan Shigekaw, NEA acting chair, said these

awards fund community projects designed

to improve quality of life through creative

placemaking. The grant will be used to develop

the Creative Park, to be located along the shores

of Deer Creek where the Muppets creator may

have first imagined Kermit the Frog.

Joe Fratesi, Stennis project director;

Jeremy Murdock, Stennis research associate;

and Taze Fulford, MSU associate professor

of landscape architecture, were instrumental

in securing the selective grant. Of the 59

awarded communities, Leland is the only

one in Mississippi and one of just seven first-

time grantees with populations under 5,000.

“Being the land-grant institution that we are, it is our mission and our

privilege to work with Leland and offer assistance in landscape architecture

and community planning,” Fratesi said. “That expertise, combined with

the institute’s ability to identify what resources the university can provide,

is just another good example of the university engaging the community.”

MSU, LELAND RECEIVE NEA GRANT FOR CREATIVE PARK

Art created as part of the T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability “EXPRESS Yourself !”

The future home of Leland’s Creative Park will be funded, in part, by a recent $25,000 federal grant resulting from collaboration between the city and Mississippi State University.



STATE ARTS COMMISSION SUPPORTS T.K. MARTIN CENTER WITH NEW GRANT

Mississippi State’s T.K. Martin Center is receiving another grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission to enable individuals with severe physical

disabilities to express themselves through art.

Officially known as the T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability, the university facility works to provide comprehensive, multi-disciplinary

evaluations to remove limitations through the application of assistive technology. Enabling individuals to participate in educational, vocational and

leisure activities to the fullest degree they choose is its primary mission.

As have others in previous years, this year’s arts commission award of $3,800 supports “EXPRESS Yourself!,” the Martin Center’s widely

recognized art project.

“The creative economy has never been more vibrant than it is today in the communities across Mississippi,” said Sallye Killebrew, MAC’s former

interim executive director.

Killebrew said her agency was honored to assist the Martin Center and other organizations “to continue their work of reinforcing the value of

the arts and the role they play in creative place-making and economic development.”

MSU RESEARCHERS SEEK TO DEVELOP NERVE AGENT ANTIDOTES

Ever since World War II, nerve agents have been a concern in modern

warfare and up until now, the only antidotes available acted after the agents

damaged the nervous system. However, new research at the Mississippi

State University College of Veterinary Medicine may lead to the creation

of an antidote that works before severe damage occurs.

Jan Chambers, director of the MSU-CVM Center for Environmental

Health Sciences, and her colleagues have grant funding through the

Department of Defense’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency to develop

nerve agent antidotes that can be used by DOD in cases of chemical warfare.

No actual nerve agents used in chemical warfare are being stored or used

at MSU; instead, the researchers are using compounds that resemble the

agents, so that they can safely conduct testing.

Current antidotes act by restoring function to the nervous system

after the nerve agent has already degraded it.

“There is the possibility that too much damage to the nervous system

occurs before the antidote can reverse the damage and save the victim’s

life,” Chambers, a Giles Distinguished Professor, said. “The antidote

compounds we are developing would enhance the ability of a blood

enzyme, called paraoxonase or PON, to degrade the nerve agents before

they enter the nervous system.”

The antidote, being developed with Howard Chambers, professor in

MSU’s Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology and

Plant Pathology and Steven Gwaltney, professor in MSU’s Department

of Chemistry, could save victims from the usual signs of nerve agent

poisoning which include tremors, seizures, and respiratory collapse.

“Many of us have seen some of the devastating effects of the nerve

agent, sarin, on television news reports on its recent use in Syria,” Chambers

said. “These are the toxic reactions we are trying to prevent.”

Because many insecticides work in the same way that nerve agents

do, the antidote being developed by the MSU research team may also be

used in cases of insecticide poisoning.

The compounds used in the research were first invented by Dr.

Howard Chambers and are being tested in the MSU-CVM Center for

Environmental Health Sciences laboratory. The laboratory has been

recognized for its safety and adherence to state and federal compliance

regulations.

Currently, the research team is working through the patent approval

process and is collecting more data.

“There is nothing currently available that acts in the same way as the

antidote compounds we are researching,” Chambers said. “The process

of making the compounds available for use will be a long one, but we

look forward to the next steps and further collaboration across MSU

and with other agencies.”


MSU RESEARCH: EFFECTIVE ARTS INTEGRATION IMPROVES TEST SCORES

Lori Neuenfeldt, coordinator of Mississippi State University’s Visual Arts Center Gallery and Outreach Programs, reinforces a lesson about animals with an arts activity. A new report by MSU’s Stennis Institute of Government and Community Development finds classroom arts integration can reduce or eliminate students’ educational achievement gaps.

Effective classroom arts integration can reduce or eliminate educational

achievement gaps for economically disadvantaged students, according

to a Mississippi State University research report.

In other words, when teachers reinforce academic concepts with the

arts, students learn more and score higher on standardized tests.

MSU’s John C. Stennis Institute of Government and Community

Development generated the report, which evaluated the impacts of the

Mississippi Whole Schools Initiative. The program supports teachers’

efforts to use the arts—composing, painting, drawing or sculpting; playing,

singing or listening to music; and dancing and dramatic performance—to

foster retention and learning.

Judith Philips, Stennis research associate, headed the development of

“Arts Integration and the Mississippi Arts Commission’s Whole Schools

Initiative: A Stennis Institute Study for Decision-Makers.” The report

initially was presented at the Mississippi Arts Commission’s 2013 Whole

Schools Initiative Summer Institute.

Philips said the research verifies that effective arts integration reinforces

classroom learning.

“Schools that effectively implement arts integration have either

significantly reduced or completely eliminated the educational achievement

gap for economically disadvantaged students,” she said. “This research

indicates that arts integration can achieve that objective in Mississippi

public schools.”



CAMPUS BLINDNESS RESEARCH CENTER RECEIVES ANOTHER NATIONAL GRANT

A major research grant to Mississippi State’s National Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision is expected to

have a national impact on services for persons with combined vision and hearing loss.

The university center recently received more than $300,000 to conduct and analyze three national surveys for the Helen Keller

National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults. The HKNC is located in Sands Point, N.Y.

Funded by the Helmsley Charitable Trust of New York, the project will continue through September 2015 and represents the

most recent partnership between the two entities.

The surveys will focus on the needs of adults 55 years of age and over with both vision and hearing losses, and the availability of

mental health and support services providers for the entire population of deaf-blind people in the U.S.

“The surveys will examine where the needs are in terms of training and what professionals need to know in order to work with

the population,” said research professor Michele McDonnall, NRTC’s interim director.

“This is a great opportunity for us to continue to work with the HKNC, as well as do some more research in the area of deaf-

blindness,” she added.

Established at MSU more than three decades ago, the research and training center is the only U.S. Department of Education-

funded program focused on employment outcomes of persons with blindness or low vision. Its professional staff regularly provides

technical assistance to comsumers, families and professionals throughout the country.

McDonnall said research projects over the decades have provided invaluable information used by professionals ranging from

direct-service practitioners to state and federal agency program administrators.

“We offer vision specialist graduate certificate training, annual K-12 teacher workshops and educational outreach to school

districts in North Mississippi,” she said, citing just a few of the services currently provided.

Authorized by a 1967 congressional act, the HKNC serves both deaf-blind youth and adults. The center also operates a national

residential and training facility at its Sands Point, N.Y., headquarters.

For more information about the NRTC and its work, contact McDonnall at 662-325-2001 or [email protected].

SEC VISITING FACULTY TRAVEL GRANTS AWARDED

After carefully reviewing 31 applications for the 2014 SEC Visiting Faculty Travel Grant Program, the Office of Research

and Economic Development recently joined the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost and the Division of

Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine to announce this year’s recipients from Mississippi State:

• Robert Crossler, assistant professor of management and information systems;

• Nick Fitzkee, assistant professor of chemistry;

• Daniel Petrolia, associate professor of agricultural economics; and,

• Morgan Varner, assistant professor of forestry.

Each will receive a $2,500 grant intended to enhance faculty collaborations that stimulate scholarly initiatives between

SEC universities.


BROWN, RESEARCH TEAM DISCOVER UNICELLULAR PROTIST

From Massachusetts to Mississippi, a unicellular protist is hinting

at answers about the evolution of multicellularity while raising a whole

new set of questions.

Matthew Brown, assistant professor of biological sciences at

Mississippi State University, recently led a research team that identified

the protist as a new organism and classified its genomics.

Jeffrey Silberman collected sediment specimens in Marstons Mills,

a village in Barnstable, Mass., and the University of Arkansas associate

professor isolated an organism he found. Since Brown had begun post-

doctoral work in genomics at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia,

Silberman offered his former UA doctoral student the opportunity to

name and classify it on the evolutionary tree of life.

Brown headed the investigation that discovered the unicellular

organism’s proteins and genes are similar to those found in multicellular

life-forms. The protist Pygsuia biforma belongs to a newly identified

group they named “Obazoa,” which is closely related to animals and fungi.

“We then looked for specific multicellular toolkit genes, and we found

genes that scientists had believed to be animal-specific,” Brown said.

“Integrins and the whole suite of proteins that work with integrins

were thought to be something innate to multicellularity and used

only for cell-to-cell communication.

“This discovery shows that these genes have been co-opted for a

different use. We don’t know what it does in unicellular organisms,

but we can now place the origin of genes that are associated with

multicellularity in unicellular organisms.”

Additionally, the anaerobic protist has mitochondria, energy

factories that produce adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. Brown said

ATP production typically requires oxygen, but the protist lives in

oxygen depleted envrionments. As a result, Pygsuia biforma raises

questions related to the presence and function of mitochondria in

anaerobic unicellular organisms.

These discoveries and new research questions they raise are

important because they offer new insights into the science of

evolution, Brown explained.

“By tracking the evolutionary history of these particular organisms,

we’re able to look at ancestral states of certain gene suites, and that’s

the really important thing — we need a better understanding of protist

diversity and protist genome evolution to understand how organisms

like animals evolved,” Brown said.

Evidently, the international scientific community agrees: The team’s

research paper detailing these discoveries, “Phylogenomics demonstrates

that breviate flagellates are related to opisthokonts and apusomonads,”

was recently published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the leading

United Kingdom biological research journal.

Because of Brown’s bioinformatics expertise in genetic and protein

sequencing, as well as his leadership role in documenting the protist’s

morphology, he was the paper’s lead author.

His work continues in the MSU biological sciences’ Evolutionary

Protistology Laboratory, also known on campus as Brown’s Lab. Work

there examines the evolution of eukaryotic lineages with comparative

genomics and developmental transcriptomics.

Learn more about the lab at http://mwb250.biology.msstate.edu.

Mississippi State University’s Matthew Brown, assistant professor of biological sciences, led a team that recently classified this newly discovered protist, Pygsuia biforma.



MISSISSIPPI STATE AMONG NATION’S TOP CYBER EDUCATORS

Mississippi State is among the nation’s elite institutions that are

preparing students for highly technical cyber security jobs, and the

university has a new designation from the National Security Agency

that will expand these opportunities.

In September, the NSA announced that MSU is one of four new

schools selected for its National Centers of Academic Excellence in

Cyber Operations Program, which was “designed to cultivate more

U.S. cyber professionals in an ever-changing global environment,”

according to the agency.

Steven LaFountain, an NSA technical leader, said legal and ethical

issues in cybersecurity are a required and critical part of the effort.

“In the application process and in all of its work with selected

schools, NSA emphasizes the importance of integrity and compliance,”

he stated in a release. “Cyber skills are increasingly important in national

defense, but it’s even more important to operate as responsible citizens

in the use of such skills.”

The certification comes after a rigorous, two-year application process

by faculty in the departments of computer science and engineering and

electrical and computer engineering.

David A. Dampier, a professor of computer science and engineering

at the land-grant institution, led the effort.

“MSU is among a relatively elite group of schools helping the nation

meet its need for highly-skilled cyber warriors,” he said.

The Air Force Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University

and Auburn University join MSU as CAE-Cyber Operations designees

for the 2013-14 academic year, the NSA said. Designations are for five

years, and schools across the country can compete to join each year.

Of note, Mississippi State also holds national CAE designations in

information assurance education and in information assurance research.

Mississippi State is the only institution of higher education in the state

to attain the three designations.

As a CAE for cyber operations, the university may now issue certificates

to graduates in the computer science master’s degree program who have

completed the necessary cyber operations courses, Dampier explained.

“This certification further enables us to teach skills that are used

by federal agencies engaged in cyber war — giving Mississippi State

students an added edge when competing for these jobs,” he said.

According to Dampier, students who include the cyber ops option

in their coursework will be exposed to a diverse range of cyber security

skills and in-depth study.

“Key skills will be the ability to conduct penetration tests of computer

networks, as well as reverse engineering software, including viruses,

Trojan horses and other forms of malware,” he said.

“These skills are in demand by government agencies, as well as private

contractors working on computer security-related projects,” he added.

In addition to Dampier, the MSU team which worked to attain the

designation were, from computer science and engineering, Cindy Bethel,

Wesley McGrew, Mahalingam Ramkumar, Ed Swan and Byron Williams;

and from electrical and computer engineering, Sherif Abdelwahed, Pan

Li, Tommy Morris and Robert Reese.

The university’s cyber security capabilities include three dedicated

research centers: the Center for Computer Security Research, the

National Forensics Training Center and the Critical Infrastructure

Protection Center.

Additionally, MSU’s cyber security capacity is enhanced by many

faculty holding U.S. government security clearances ranging from

secret to top secret. Many students in the program also maintain

active clearances.

Since 2001, MSU has been funded by both the National Science

Foundation and the NSA to produce security engineers for government

service under Cyber Corps scholarship programs, and has produced

more than 100 students that are destined for government service.


Allen, Peter J FWRC - Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture Agricultural Research Service $186,362

Allen, Thomas W Delta Research and Extension Center Mississippi Soybean Promotion Board $70,356

Allen, Thomas W Delta Research and Extension Center National Corn Growers Association $5,000

Avery, Jimmy L Aquaculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture $691,138

Baldwin, Brian S Plant and Soil Sciences U.S. Department of Energy $41,000

Barefield, Danny A Agricultural Economics U.S. Environmental Protection Agency $90,000

Barnes, H. Michael FWRC - Forest Products General Memoranda of Agreement* $9,400

Barnes, H. Michael FWRC - Forest Products Architectural Testing, Inc. $5,200

Beck, Mary M Poultry Science Agricultural Research Service $335,179

Belant, Jerrold L FWRC - Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks $72,355

Belant, Jerrold L Center for Resolving Human-Wildlife Conflict National Academy of Sciences $40,000

Berg, Matthew J Physics and Astronomy U.S. Department of Army Research Lab $50,000

Berg, Matthew J Physics and Astronomy U.S. Department of Army Research Lab $19,100

Berman, Mitchell E Psychology National Institutes of Health $47,931

Bethel, Cindy L Computer Science and Engineering U.S. Department of Army $43,821

Bhushan, Shanti Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems University of Iowa $21,250

Bi, Guihong Plant and Soil Sciences Agricultural Research Foundation $18,000

Bond, Jason A Delta Research and Extension Center Dow AgroSciences, LLC $4,500

Breen, Joseph J Stennis Institute of Government and Community Dev. DeSoto County Board of Supervisors $12,400

Bricka, Ray M Chemical Engineering National Institute of Food and Agriculture $130,000

Brown Johnson, Ashli E Mississippi State Chemical Lab U.S. Food and Drug Administration $244,267

Brown, Richard L Biochem, Molecular Bio, Entomology and Plant Pathology Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service $55,220



Brown, Ronald A ES-ASRED Association of Southern Region Extension Directors $337,000

Buehring, Normie W Northeast Miss. Branch Experiment Station General Memoranda of Agreement* $5,750

Buehring, Normie W Northeast Miss. Branch Experiment Station Dow AgroSciences, LLC $10,000


Buehring, Normie W Northeast Miss. Branch Experiment Station General Memoranda of Agreement* $345


Burger, Loren W Geosystems Research Institute Agricultural Research Service $325,298

Burgreen, Greg Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems ALung Technologies $1,983

Burrage, David D Coastal Research and Extension Center National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration $115,000

Burrage, David D Coastal Research and Extension Center National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration $23,987

Butler, James R CVM AHC Administration New Med, LLC $8,559

Byrd, John D Plant and Soil Sciences Mississippi Department of Transportation $806,749

Byrd, John D Plant and Soil Sciences General Memoranda of Agreement* $6,000

Byrd, John D Plant and Soil Sciences Bureau of Plant Industry $1,000



Capella, Julie L Student Support Services U.S. Department of Education $75,000

Capella, Julie L Student Support Services U.S. Department of Education $233,182

External Funding Awards: July, August & September 2013 Principal Investigator Department/Center/Institute Funding Source Amount



Carter, Rachael D Stennis Institute of Government and Community Dev. National Institute of Food and Agriculture $46,748

Carter, Rachael D Stennis Institute of Government and Community Dev. City of West Point $3,500

Catchot, Angus L Biochem, Molecular Bio, Entomology and Plant Pathology Monsanto Company $29,845

Catchot, Angus L Biochem, Molecular Bio, Entomology and Plant Pathology Monsanto Company $15,437

Catchot, Angus L Biochem, Molecular Bio, Entomology and Plant Pathology Cotton Incorporated $65,448

Catchot, Angus L Biochem, Molecular Bio, Entomology and Plant Pathology Dow AgroSciences, LLC $5,500

Chambers, Janice E Center for Environmental Health Sciences Defense Threat Reduction Agency $400,000

Chambers, Janice E Center for Environmental Health Sciences Dow AgroSciences, LLC $12,747

Chang, Kow-Ching Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion Agricultural Research Service $659,523

Cheng, Yang Aerospace Engineering National Science Foundation $300,000

Cirlot-New, Laura J T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability Mississippi Department of Education $10,849

Cirlot-New, Laura J T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability U.S. Department of Education $312,000

Cirlot-New, Laura J T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability Mississippi State Department of Health $110,977

Cirlot-New, Laura J T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability U.S. Department of Education $50,000

Cirlot-New, Laura J T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability Mississippi Department of Education $148,153

Cirlot-New, Laura J T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability Mississippi State Department of Health $95,138

Claggett, Shalyn R Institute for the Humanities National Endowment for the Humanities $3,000

Clay, Rudolf T Center for Computational Sciences U.S. Department of Energy $150,000

Clevinger, Donna L African American Studies Starkville Area Arts Council $300

Cox, Michael S Plant and Soil Sciences General Memoranda of Agreement* $4,500

Crenshaw, Mark A Animal and Dairy Science University of Georgia $22,000

Cross, Ginger W Social Science Research Center National Institutes of Health $251,722

Cross, Ginger W Social Science Research Center National Institutes of Health $79,709

Cunetto, Stephen H General Library National Endowment for the Arts $3,000

Dampier, David A Computer Science and Engineering U.S. Department of Defense $43,929

Dampier, David A Computer Science and Engineering National Science Foundation $1,071,220

Dampier, David A Computer Science and Engineering National Science Foundation $100,099

Dampier, David A Computer Science and Engineering National Science Foundation $105,343

Davis, Sumner D Southern Rural Development Center National Institute of Food and Agriculture $218,995

Demarais, Stephen FWRC - Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks $62,830

Denny, Geoffrey C Plant and Soil Sciences General Memoranda of Agreement* $3,000

Denny, Geoffrey C Plant and Soil Sciences University of Florida $4,000

Detwiler, Linda A CVM Associate Dean Research Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service $100,000

Doane, Stephanie M Institute for Imaging and Analytics Office of Naval Research $20,000

Dodds, Darrin M Plant and Soil Sciences General Memoranda of Agreement* $11,500

Dodds, Darrin M Plant and Soil Sciences Monsanto Company $18,225





Dodds, Darrin M Plant and Soil Sciences Dow AgroSciences, LLC $5,000









Dodds, Darrin Matthew Plant and Soil Sciences General Memoranda of Agreement* $2,500

Doude, Matthew C Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems TNT Motorsports $1,563

Doude, Matthew C Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems TNT Motorsports $2,930

Duncan, Judith G T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability Mississippi Arts Commission $3,800

Durst, Betty J Communications - Theatre Mississippi Arts Commission $3,800

Dutta, Dipangkar Physics and Astronomy U.S. Department of Energy $264,000

El Kadiri, Haitham Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems U.S. Department of Army $54,535

El-Adaway, Islam H Civil and Environmental Engineering Golden Pyramids Plaza $271,606

Evans, William B Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station Wal-Mart Foundation $42,901

Evans, William B Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station General Memoranda of Agreement* $3,220

Evans, William B Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station General Memoranda of Agreement* $1,330

Evans, William B Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station General Memoranda of Agreement* $315

Ezell, Andrew W FWRC - Forestry Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Units $10,000

Fratesi, Joseph N Stennis Institute of Government and Community Dev. National Endowment for the Arts $25,000

Frey, Brent R. Forestry Department U.S. Forest Service $5,000

Freyne, Seamus F Civil and Environmental Engineering National Science Foundation $9,987

Gammill, Teresa D Vice President for Research Southeastern Conference $10,000

Goddard, Jerome CVM Mammalian Task Force National Institutes of Health $417,708

Goddard, Jerome CVM Mammalian Task Force National Institutes of Health $7,586

Golden, Bobby R Delta Research and Extension Center Agricultural Research Service $133,167

Golden, Bobby R Delta Research and Extension Center Cotton Incorporated $22,340

Gordon, Jason S FWRC - Forestry Practicing Foresters Institute $1,992

Gore, Jeffrey Delta Research and Extension Center Dow AgroSciences, LLC $5,500

Gore, Jeffrey Delta Research and Extension Center Agricultural Research Service $50,000

Gude, Veera G Civil and Environmental Engineering U.S. Environmental Protection Agency $14,999

Hammi, Youssef Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems The University of Alabama $70,150

Hanna, Heather L Social Science Research Center Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Units $65,000

Hay, William A Institute for the Humanities Apgar Foundation, Inc. $18,000

Hay, William A Institute for the Humanities Earhart Foundation $19,063

Hill, Priscilla J Chemical Engineering National Science Foundation $200,000

Hood, Kristina B Psychology National Institutes of Health $20,000

Hopper, George Martin MAFES Administration National Institute of Food and Agriculture $1,018,248

Hopper, George Martin MAFES Administration National Institute of Food and Agriculture $3,510,984

Hopper, George Martin MAFES Administration National Institute of Food and Agriculture $63,961




Hopper, George Martin Dean/Director, Forest and Wildlife Research Center National Institute of Food and Agriculture $769,746

Howell, George E Center for Environmental Health Sciences National Institutes of Health $49,468

Jackson, Gary B MSU - Extension Service Administration National Institute of Food and Agriculture $6,496,267

Jackson, Gary B MSU - Extension Service Administration National Institute of Food and Agriculture $73,397



Jones, Ann C Stennis Institute of Government and Community Dev. Tunica County, Mississippi $11,000

Jones, Jeanne C FWRC - Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture St. Catherine’s Island Research Program $800

Jones, Paul D FWRC - Forest Products General Memoranda of Agreement* $2,500

Jordan, Julie B Research Curriculum Unit Mississippi Department of Education $2,150,000

Jordan, Julie B Research Curriculum Unit Mississippi Department of Education $150,000






Jordan, Julie B Research Curriculum Unit Mississippi Department of Education $1,500,000

Kaminski, Richard M FWRC - Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture Natural Resources Conservation Service $244,770

Kim, Tae Jo Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration $45,508

King, Roger L Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems U.S. Army Tank Automotive and Armaments Command $149,987

Kitchens, Shane C FWRC - Forest Products Architectural Testing, Inc. $2,525

Knight, Patricia R Coastal Research and Extension Center Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service $27,500

Knight, Patricia R Coastal Research and Extension Center Agricultural Research Service $627,756

Koenig, Keith Aerospace Engineering University of Mississippi $55,000

Koger, Clifford H Plant and Soil Sciences General Memoranda of Agreement* $8,000



Kroger, Robert FWRC - Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture Natural Resources Conservation Service $50,000

Lacy, Thomas E Aerospace Engineering National Aeronautics and Space Administration $30,000

Lacy, Thomas E Aerospace Engineering National Aeronautics and Space Administration $63,428

Larson, Erick J. Plant and Soil Sciences General Memoranda of Agreement* $4,000

Lawrence, Gary W Biochem, Molecular Bio, Entomology and Plant Pathology Monsanto Company $41,755

Layton, Maurice B Biochem, Molecular Bio, Entomology and Plant Pathology General Memoranda of Agreement* $1,050












Lee, Sarah B Computer Science and Engineering National Center for Women and Information Technology $3,750

LeJeune, Bonnie J Nat’l Research & Training Center on Blindness & Low Vision U.S. Department of Education $12,975

LeJeune, Bonnie J Nat’l Research & Training Center on Blindness & Low Vision U.S. Department of Education $100,000

Lemus, Rocky W Plant and Soil Sciences General Memoranda of Agreement* $6,005

Leopold, Bruce D Center for Resolving Human-Wildlife Conflict Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service $26,464

Leopold, Bruce D Center for Resolving Human-Wildlife Conflict Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service $44,000

Liao, Jun Ag and Bio Engineering American Heart Association $8,154

Liao, Jun Ag and Bio Engineering American Heart Association $74,346

Lindsey, Gail Early Childhood Institute Mississippi Center for Education Innovation $25,505

Linford, Robert L CVM AHC Administration Morris Animal Foundation $4,000

Loper, James R Extension Center for Tech Outreach Catch-A-Dream Foundation, Inc. $2,696

Lu, Shien Biochem, Molecular Bio, Entomology and Plant Pathology Bureau of Plant Industry $3,088

Luke, Edward A Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems National Aeronautics and Space Administration $20,000

Luke, Edward A Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems National Aeronautics and Space Administration $35,000

Luke, Edward A Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems CFD Research Corp. $20,000

Luke, Edward A Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems CFD Research Corp (CFDRC) $3,600

Ma, Wenchao Physics and Astronomy U.S. Department of Energy $147,000

Macoon, Bisoondat Brown Loam Branch Experiment Station South Dakota State University $17,000

Madsen, John D Geosystems Research Institute Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Foundation $20,000

Madsen, John D Geosystems Research Institute General Memoranda of Agreement* $5,000

Mago, Pedro J Mechanical Engineering U.S. Department of Energy $27,514

Mago, Pedro J Mechanical Engineering U.S. Department of Energy $39,676

Mahmoud, Barakat S Coastal Research and Extension Center National Institute of Food and Agriculture $38,061

Marcum, David L Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems U.S. Department of Defense $30,329

Marcum, David L Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems Boeing Company $25,000

Mathews, Rahel Social Science Research Center Mississippi State Department of Health $12,164

May, Monica F Early Childhood Institute Mississippi Department of Human Services $2,108,248

McCleon, Tawny E Counseling and Educational Psychology Louisville School District $17,351

McCleon, Tawny E Counseling and Educational Psychology Aberdeen School District $17,878

McCleon, Tawny E Counseling and Educational Psychology Aberdeen School District $17,878

McCleon, Tawny E Counseling and Educational Psychology West Point School District $16,472

McDonnall, Michele E Nat’l Research & Training Center on Blindness & Low Vision Helmsley Charitable Trust $348,576

McDonnall, Michele E Nat’l Research & Training Center on Blindness & Low Vision U.S. Department of Education $850,000

McGee, Glenn M Mississippi Writing and Thinking Institute Mississippi Department of Education $2,000

McGee, Glenn M Mississippi Writing and Thinking Institute Mississippi Department of Education $87,000

McGee, Glenn M Mississippi Writing and Thinking Institute U.S. Department of Education $5,600







McGee, Glenn M Mississippi Writing and Thinking Institute University of California-Berkeley, National Writing Project $3,000


Miranda, Leandro E Miss. Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service $71,251

Molen, G. Marshall Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems General Motors Research and Development $10,000

Moorhead, Robert J Northern Gulf Institute National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration $275,000

Moorhead, Robert J Northern Gulf Institute Naval Research Laboratory $10,000

Moorhead, Robert J Geosystems Research Institute University of Southern Mississippi $42,467




Moorhead, Robert J Northern Gulf Institute National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration $1,697,747















Morgan, George W Poultry Science General Memoranda of Agreement* $16,547

Morgan, Kimberly L Agricultural Economics National Institute of Food and Agriculture $35,170

Morris, Thomas H Electrical and Computer Engineering National Science Foundation $51,360

Morris, Thomas H Electrical and Computer Engineering Purdue University $40,586

Motoyama, Keiichi Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems Simufact-Americas, LLC $9,992

Musser, Fred Biochem, Molecular Bio, Entomology and Plant Pathology Agricultural Research Service $50,000

Novotny, Mark A Physics and Astronomy National Science Foundation $18,200

O’Mally, Jamie L Nat’l Research & Training Center on Blindness & Low Vision University of Illinois at Chicago $24,000

Orr, Alberta L Nat’l Research & Training Center on Blindness & Low Vision Commonwealth of Virginia, Dept. for the Blind and Visually Impaired $9,998

Owen, Sean M Research Curriculum Unit Mississippi Department of Education $489,928.15

Pace, Lanny W CVM MS Veterinary Diagnostic Lab Mississippi Board of Animal Health $99,337.60

Parisi, Domenico nSPARC Mississippi Department of Education $1,800,000




Parisi, Domenico nSPARC Mississippi Department of Human Services $70,000

Parisi, Domenico nSPARC Bossier Parish Community College $449,970

Peebles, Edgar D Poultry Science Agricultural Research Service $63,393

Perkes, David J Gulf Coast Community Design Center Biloxi Main Street $2,500

Perkes, David J Gulf Coast Community Design Center Moore Community House $10,319

Peterson, Daniel G Institute for Genomics, Biocomputing and Biotechnology U.S. Department of Defense $82,200

Peterson, Daniel G Institute for Genomics, Biocomputing and Biotechnology National Institutes of Health $60,000

Peterson, Daniel G Institute for Genomics, Biocomputing and Biotechnology Agricultural Research Service $202,995

Peterson, Daniel G Institute for Genomics, Biocomputing and Biotechnology Agricultural Research Service $242,995

Petrolia, Daniel R Agricultural Economics National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration $162,394

Petrolia, Daniel R Agricultural Economics National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration $74,999

Petrolia, Daniel R Agricultural Economics Agricultural Research Service $2,360

Petrolia, Daniel R Agricultural Economics Agricultural Research Service $22,640

Phillips, Jerry M Plant and Soil Sciences Agricultural Research Service $94,265

Phillips, Jerry M Plant and Soil Sciences Agricultural Research Service $35,000

Phillips, Judith G Stennis Institute of Government and Community Dev. Equity Plus, LLC. $120,319

Pittman, Sarah E Design Research Informatics Lab Gum Tree Fabrics $4,340

Posadas, Benedict C Coastal Research and Extension Center National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration $14,999

Posadas, Benedict C Coastal Research and Extension Center Mississippi Department of Marine Resources $59,829

Powers, Amanda C General Library Center for Research Libraries $3,125

Ragsdale, Aleta K Social Science Research Center Women’s Fund of Mississippi $30,000

Ray, Melvin C Vice President for Research Threat Systems Management Office (U.S. Army) $147,989

Reddy, Kambham R Plant and Soil Sciences Colorado State University $30,000

Reynolds, Daniel B Plant and Soil Sciences Monsanto Company $12,585


Reynolds, Daniel B Plant and Soil Sciences Agricultural Research Service $25,000


Rivera, J. D South Mississippi Branch Experiment Station General Memoranda of Agreement* $2,100

Robertson, Angela A Social Science Research Center National Institutes of Health $413,655

Rousseau, Randall J FWRC - Forestry South Dakota State University $32,841

Rupak, Gautam Physics and Astronomy National Science Foundation $104,399

Sabanadzovic, Sead Biochem, Molecular Bio, Entomology and Plant Pathology United Soybean Board $19,500

Schramm, Harold L Miss. Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit U.S. Geological Survey $9,031

Schramm, Harold L FWRC - Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture U.S. Geological Survey $44,450

Scott, Deborah P Division of Business Research U.S. Small Business Administration $29,378

Scott, Deborah P Division of Business Research U.S. Small Business Administration) $15,846

Seale, Roy D FWRC - Forest Products Drax Biomass International Inc. $60,911






Sescu, Adrian Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems National Aeronautics and Space Administration $34,999

Shankle, Mark W Pontotoc Ridge-Flatwoods Branch Experiment Station Monsanto Company $6,292

Shankle, Mark W Pontotoc Ridge-Flatwoods Branch Experiment Station General Memoranda of Agreement* $3,680



Shankle, Mark W Pontotoc Ridge-Flatwoods Branch Experiment Station General Memoranda of Agreement* $690


Sinclair, Hillary C Psychology Center for Open Science $2,000

Sinclair, Hillary C Psychology Psi Chi International Society in Psychology $2,000

Spencer, Barbara A Technology Resource Institute U.S. Economic Development Administration $128,592

Stewart, Barry R Plant and Soil Sciences General Memoranda of Agreement* $1,000

Strawderman, Lesley J Industrial and Systems Engineering National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health $49,215



Street, Joe E Delta Research and Extension Center General Memoranda of Agreement* $8,000





























Swan, John E Computer Science and Engineering National Science Foundation $68,909

Swan, John E Computer Science and Engineering National Science Foundation $101,530

Tagert, Mary L Ag and Bio Engineering Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality $100,000

Threadgill, Paula I Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion National Institute of Food and Agriculture $1,659,681

Tschopp, Mark A Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research $119,369

Varner, Julian M FWRC - Forestry U.S. Forest Service $143,158

Vilella, Francisco J Miss. Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit U.S. Geological Survey $28,301.88

Waggoner, Charles A Energy Institute National Aeronautics and Space Administration $24,994

Waggoner, Charles A Institute for Clean Energy Technology Lawrence Livermore National Lab $36,000

Wallace, Teddy P. Plant and Soil Sciences Agricultural Research Service $41,436

Wamsley, Kelley G Poultry Science Merial Select, Inc. $26,609

Wan, Xiufeng CVM Environmental Toxicology National Institutes of Health $425,359

Wang, Chuji Physics and Astronomy U.S. Department of Defense $158,190

Wang, Chuji Physics and Astronomy U.S. Department of Army $44,663

Wang, Guiming Center for Resolving Human-Wildlife Conflict Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service $30,800

Ward, Jason M History University of Pennsylvania $46,500

Willard, Scott T Biochem, Molecular Bio, Entomology and Plant Pathology General Memoranda of Agreement* $6,600









Wise, David J Thad Cochran Warmwater Aquaculture Agricultural Research Service $1,934,763

Wise, David J Thad Cochran Warmwater Aquaculture Agricultural Research Service $750,488

Woodrey, Mark S Coastal Research and Extension Center National Park Service $12,616

Zhai, Wei Poultry Science Finnsugar $18,294

Zhang, Jilei FWRC - Forest Products General Memoranda of Agreement* $980

Zhang, Jilei FWRC - Forest Products General Memoranda of Agreement* $3,822

Total $48,715,644

* As a result of the recent conversion from a legacy system to the university’s Banner financial system, Mississippi State now categorizes general memoranda of agreement (GMOAs) by like funding sources rather than specific to the sponsor (funding source).



The Office of Research and Economic Development at Mississippi State

University publishes Maroon Research with editorial and design support from

the Office of Public Affairs.

Contributors to the Fall 2013 issue include Eric Abbott, Leah Barbour, Megan

Bean, Bonnie Coblentz, Hayley Gilmore, Russ Houston, Harriet Laird, Keri Collins

Lewis, Sammy McDavid, Zach Rowland, Sid Salter, Karen Templeton, Tom

Thompson and Beth Wynn.

Please send your questions or comments to research editor Jim Laird at

[email protected].

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ContactOffice of Research and Economic DevelopmentMississippi State UniversityP.O. Box 6343Mississippi State, MS 39762

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