CARS initiated the National Conference on Agriculture & Natural Resource Conservation and Management in 2007 to bring scientists in agriculture and natural resource research together to exchange information as well as to disseminate findings of its own research. Proceedings of the conference are published in special volumes of the Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Restoration (www.jemrest.org). 

Agricultural Research

Active agricultural research projects in the College of Agriculture and Related Sciences include:

• Integrated pest management of insect pests in alfalfa

• Structured educational program to lock-in students to USDA food safety profession

• Effective setbacks for controlling nutrient runoff losses from land applied poultry litter

• Utilization of poultry litter as activated carbon sources

• Teaching analytical techniques to enhance forage, soil, and water quality sciences

• Evaluation of culinary herbs and essential oils plants as high cash crops for limited resource farmers

• Recruitment of minorities into plant systematics and related plant sciences

• Undergraduate research in molecular genetics and genomics

• Plant molecular genetics and genomics

• Fungi distribution on Delmarva

• Poultry production

• Small ruminants research

• Molecular genetics and genomics of disease resistance in the common bean (Phaseoles vulgaris)

Aquaculture Research and Demonstration

The Aquaculture research and demonstration facility is the only one of its kind in Delaware. Active aquaculture research and demonstration projects include:

• Developing sustainable aquaculture for coastal and tilapia systems. 

• Investigation for ameliorating steroidal estrogenic hormone contamination derived from concentrated animal operations in Delaware.

• Use of the eastern freshwater mussel (Elliptio complanata) in pond water management.

• Increasing economic and environmental sustainability of aquaculture production systems through aquatic plant culture (LNE05-224).

• Baitfish aquaculture in the Mid-Atlantic.

Natural Resources Research

CARS is well known for its research in natural resources and this has tremendously helped to attract high quality graduate students to the College. Active natural resource research projects include:

• Atlantic sturgeon in the Delaware River: contemporary population status and identification of spawning areas

• Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center - NOAA Educational Partnership Program

• Habitat use, depth selection, and the timing of residency for Sand tiger sharks (Carcharias taurus) in Delaware Bay

• Environmental Cooperative Science Center restoration projects at the Blackbird National Estuarine Research Reserve, DE.

• Habitat Restoration for Bats at the new Research and Conservation Center, Smyrna, Delaware

• Harmful algal roadblocks to oyster restoration-Prorocentrum minimum and Karlodinium micrum

• Community shift associated with shellfish aquaculture in two Mid- Atlantic estuaries (Indian River System and Delaware Bay)

• Nitrate reductase activity in mixed harmful algal populations from Delaware’s Inland Bays

• Oyster culture for community-based habitat restoration, water preservation and environmental conservation

• Migratory bird studies using a novel geolocator developed by the British Antartic Survey (BAS)

 Food, Nutrition and Dietetic Research

Food, nutrition and dietetic research are housed in the Department of Human Ecology. Active food, nutrition and dietetic research projects in the College of Agriculture and Related Sciences include: 

• Effect of Omega-3 fatty acid rich feed on lipid metabolism and expression of ApoB lipoprotein and microsomal transfer triglyceride protein genes in laying hen

• Developing and promoting recipes/products with low-glycemic index and high monounsaturated fatty acids as an intervention strategy to combat obesity and manage Type II diabetes

• Developing food safety activities for high school students to meet the changing demographics of the state of Delaware

• Preparing students for careers in nutrigenomics through integration of nutrition and molecular biology 

Textile and fashion merchandising research

Textile and Fashion Merchandising research also falls under the Department of Human Ecology.

Active research projects in the College of Agriculture and Related Sciences include:

• Consumer evaluation of African printed fabrics for traditional clothing

• Multi-channel retailing with an emphasis on the fashion industry

• Ecological, social, and psychological impacts of fashion business on individual's behaviors

• From Farm to the Runway – a novel program that integrates agriculture and fashion in the training of future New York Runway Models.

The new Center for Integrated Biological and Environmental Research (CIBER) is housed in the College of Agriculture and Related Sciences. It is funded by EPSCoR-RII-2 and includes a consortium of faculty from  DSU, Wesley College, UD and Delaware Technical and Community College (DTCC). Three major functions of the center include: (1) Identifying and securing funding opportunities; (2) Communicating the availability of and training on the use of research instrumentation and equipment across the network; and (3) Coordinating the use and maintenance of CIBER research facilities at DSU. 

The center will facilitate interdisciplinary collaborative research at DSU and the state of Delaware, including research faculty from Wesley, DTCC and UD. CIBER faculty and staff will also be involved in coordinating education and outreach activities for all stakeholders in the state of Delaware. Two new faculty positions at DSU in Biostatistics and Bioinformatics will be filled as part of the Center for Integrated Biological and Environmental Research .