Month: May 2022

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Smith Projects Aim to Secure the Animal-Based Food Supply in New England

A farm with a biosecurity sign at the entrance.

We have recently witnessed how a human epidemic like COVID-19 can impact animal protein supply chains. A highly contagious disease of food animals themselves could result in even more disruption of those supply chains. An example of such a disease is foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). An outbreak of FMD would directly impact all farmers with cattle, pigs, and small ruminants and indirectly affect all related segments of agriculture. Continue reading “Smith Projects Aim to Secure the Animal-Based Food Supply in New England”

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Students Explored Antimicrobial Resistance in Research Methods Course

Students in a laboratory culturing bacteria cells.

In Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Instructor Kari Hodge’s Bioprospecting: Drugs from Bugs class, students spent the semester exploring the many facets of the antimicrobial resistance crisis. The course, a part of the Small World Initiative, is a research methods lecture and laboratory course framed around identifying strains of bacteria that may produce novel antibiotic compounds. Continue reading “Students Explored Antimicrobial Resistance in Research Methods Course”

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The Vermont Big Tree Program

A black cherry tree is recognized as a Vermont Big Tree
The state champion black cherry, located in Rupert, is pictured here with owner, Madeline Leach and big tree enthusiast, Don Lewis.

When hiking in Vermont’s woods, have you ever been wowed by a larger than average tree? Or perhaps you have a mammoth specimen growing in your own backyard. If so, you may be looking at a champion tree, one worth adding to the state’s big tree database. Continue reading “The Vermont Big Tree Program”