Historical NIFA/CAES Grants
2019-2020 Grantees
Project
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
Your Title Goes Here
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
2018-2019 Grantees
Project
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
Your Title Goes Here
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
2017-2018 Grantees
Project
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
Your Title Goes Here
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
2016-2017 Grantees
Project
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
Your Title Goes Here
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
2015-2016 Grantees
Project
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
Your Title Goes Here
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
2014-2015 Grantees
Project
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
Your Title Goes Here
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
2013-2014 Grantees
COL00725 – Food System Resilience along the Front Range
Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Director:
Michael Carolan
Professor
(970) 491-5797
michael.carolan@colostate.edu
Department of Sociology
Non-Technical Summary
Food security and food system resilience are subjects the Principle Investigator has studied for well over a decade. In addition to being of great interest to him professionally these are also subjects of tremendous interest to Colorado and society at large. Indeed, in light of climate change, water scarcity, peak oil, peak soil, and the like these are arguably the key issues of the 21st century. Resilient food systems are those that operate within and across multiple scales. In colloquial language we can say these systems service regional (e.g., Front Range), national, and international markets. The PI has personally been involved in a number of research projects along the Front Range (Colorado) in recent years. These experiences have suggested that while there is a lot of excitement about the potential for regional food projects in Colorado barriers remain. We propose studying opportunities and barriers along the Front Range for these regional agrifood chains, which include looking at opportunities and barriers for the possible scaling “up” and “out” of these networks. In addition to providing safe, healthy and affordable food to communities, local and regional food systems also represent a strategy for enhancing community development and building community resiliency (especially in communities defined as food deserts). We hope to better understand through this research the barriers and opportunities that regional food networks present communities as strategies for development so that those barriers can be minimized and the opportunities exploited. To do this the research team will focus primarily on the Front Range between Denver and Fort Collins (Colorado). Data will be collecting from urban/exurban/rural producers, individuals from processing facilities and distribution hubs, city and state officials(e.g., city planners), consumers (purposively sampling for certain populations–e.g., those living in food deserts), and people responsible for making purchasing decisions for supermarkets/food co-ops, restaurants, and schools. The research team will also analyze websites, reports, and other public documents.
Goals / Objectives
Overarching Goals
- Propose options for more localized food systems along the Front Range (Colorado);
- Propose options for more resilience food systems along the Front Range (Colorado);
- Propose options that will minimize the prevalence of food deserts along the Front Range (Colorado) by way of more localized food systems.
Objectives to Achieve Goals
- Identify ‘barriers’ and ‘opportunities’ for regional food systems along the Front Range (Colorado);
- Study (latent) demand among “consumers” (broadly defined, to include buyers of food for schools, restaurants, grocery stores, etc.) along the Front Range for foods grown within the state (Colorado);
- Identify barriers and opportunities for improving food security and resilience along the Front Range (Colorado);
- Identify barriers and opportunities to minimize the prevalence of food deserts along the Front Range by way of more localized food systems (Colorado);
- Understand how food/agriculture projects are sources of “value” for communities (broadly defined, see e.g., community capitals frameworks of Emery and Flora [2006]).
Emery, M. and C.B. Flora. 2006. “Spiraling-Up: Mapping Community Transformation with Community Capitals Framework.” Community Development: Journal of the Community Development Society 37: 19-35. http://www.ncrcrd.iastate.edu/pubs/flora/spiralingup.htm” target=”new”.
Methods
This research will focus primarily on the Front Range between Denver and Fort Collins. We propose collecting data from urban/exurban/rural producers, individuals from processing facilities and distribution hubs, city and state officials (e.g., city planners), consumers (purposively sampling for certain populations–e.g., those living in food deserts), and people responsible for making purchasing decisions for supermarkets/food co-ops, restaurants, and schools. Someone from the research team will also collect data from public meetings concerning local and regional food efforts.
We will use purposive and snowball sampling methods to conduct between 100 and 125 personal interviews (recognizing that in order to maximize sampling variety there is a high likelihood new/different snowballs will need to be launched). We will also develop a consumer survey instrument, which would be purposively mailed to some 300 individuals. The research team will also analyze websites, reports, and other public documents. We also expect to collect data through participant observation.
There tends to be a spatial bias when studying “agriculture”: namely, agriculture is a distinctly rural phenomenon. Some of the PI’s research looking at urban and exurban agriculture along the Front Range has shown the dangers of this bias, as urban/exurban agriculture often comes with its own unique opportunities and constraints. We will take steps in our sampling to overcome this bias.
The above statements about the number of interviews to be conducted are estimates. In qualitative research, interviews are conducted until a threshold of “saturation” has been reached. Theoretical saturation is the phase of qualitative data analysis in which the researcher has continued sampling and analyzing data until no new data appear, no new themes emerge, and concepts and linkages between concepts that form the theory are verified and well-developed. At this point I can be argued that no new data are needed (see e.g., Glaser and Straus 2012 [1967] The Discovery of Grounded Theory. Rutgers, NJ: Transaction Publishers). Relatedly, there will be an iterative component to this research, whereby themes, concepts, and theoretical linkages will be shared with stakeholders/participants as a way of evaluating and “ground truthing” our analysis and findings.
The research project will be overseen by Dr. Michael Carolan, Professor and Chair, Sociology. To stretch the budget out as far as possible he will not claim any salary from the project, though he expects to put between 10 and 20 hours of work a week into it. The rest of the research team will include one full time PhD student and one part time PhD student. Both will be supervised by Dr. Carolan. We have also enrolled, in an advisory capacity, the Colorado State University Director of Extension for Denver County, Rusty Collins. His contacts and firsthand knowledge about existing local/regional food system projects will be invaluable to use as we work to identify stakeholders and to minimize overlap with efforts already underway.
Target Audience
Anyone that eats. Our aim is to improve the viability of more regional food systems along the Front Range of Colorado. We hope to especially address issues related to food insecurity for low income neighborhoods, which are commonly defined as food deserts, by improving food access to those areas by way of local/regional foods. We also hope to better understand through this research the opportunities and barriers that currently exist for producers and buyers, so that those barriers can be reduced and those opportunities exploited.
Products
In addition to the typical scholarly outputs (e.g., journal articles and perhaps a book) we expect to create outputs for more general consumption, perhaps using social media techniques such as YouTube videos, blogs, and Facebook. We will investigate what products would be most valuable to stakeholders during the data collection process and draw upon their recommendations when developing these outputs.
Expected Outcomes
- Increased viability for more regional food systems in Colorado
- Decrease in the number of food deserts along the Front Range (Colorado)
- Increased food security/resiliency along the Front Range (Colorado)
- Increased understanding of barriers and opportunities for regional food systems along the Front Range (Colorado)
Keywords: Local Food Systems, Regional Food Systems, Food Deserts, Food System Resilience, Urban Agriculture, Local Food
COL00726 – Ecohydrological Mechanisms and Consequences of Juniper Expansion into Rangelands in northwest Colorado
Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Director:
Troy Ocheltree
Assistant Professor
(970) 491-5658
troy.ocheltree@colostate.edu
Department of Forest, Rangeland & Watershed Stewardship
Non-Technical Summary
Many of the sagebrush steppe ecosystems of the western United States are being converted to juniper woodlands, causing huge changes to the ecosystem services provided by these ecosystems. The conversion of sagebrush steppe to juniper woodlands changes the amount and quality of habitat for wildlife, forage for grazing, carbon uptake and storage, and water availability and streamflow. Overgrazing and fire suppression are often implicated in juniper expansion but does not explain this phenomenon in all regions, suggesting that other mechanisms must be involved. Competition for water among plants is the dominant factor controlling vegetation found in different regions, but we currently don’t understand how competition for this limited resource may be involved in the expansion of juniper into sagebrush steppe. This research will investigate how the competition for water among species is contributing to the conversion of sagebrush steppe to juniper woodlands in northwest Colorado and across the western US. An advantage of providing a mechanistic understanding of ecological issues, like this project, is that the data often also be used to quantify and predict the impact of different management strategies. For this study, the data collected in this research will also be used to quantify the impact that juniper expansion will have on water availability in northwest Colorado and the western US, which affects forage production and streamflow in these regions.
In order to reveal how the competition for water contributes to the expansion of juniper we will utilize a suite of unique measurements made on individual plants to understand how the different species involved use water through space and time. Measurements of growth and water-use of the juniper (Juniperus osteosperma) and sagebrush (Artemesia tridentata) will be made to understand how much water is being used by these two species. We will also utilize a unique method that involves installing small probes into the stems of these species that can measure the rate and amount of water being used by entire plants. Although this can tell us the relative ability of the different species to extract water from the soil, it does not tell us if these two species are directly competing for water. If these species are using water from different depths in the soil, then they may be able to co-exist even in water-limited environments. To determine where these species are getting their water we will measure the stable isotopic composition of water in the plant tissue, which tells us the depth at which the plants are getting their water within the soil. The stable isotopic composition of water in the soil changes with depth, and so the water extracted from the plant tissue will tell use if the species are using primarily shallow or deep water. Finally, this data will be combined into a mathematical model describing how water moves through an ecosystem, which will allow us to estimate how the encroachment of juniper will affect how much water will be availability for the growth of other plants (besides juniper), which has a big effect on two major ecosystem services: 1) The productivity of forage for grazing operations and beef production, and 2) The amount of streamflow that will be available for fish and wildife, irrigation, and human consumption. This project will provide a better understand of why juniper is expanding into sagebrush steppe allow natural resource managers and land-owners to make more efficient and sustainable decisions about how to manage our resources.
Goals / Objectives
The major goals of this project are to identify how the competition for water is facilitating the expansion Juniperus osteospermainto sagebrush steppe ecosystems and evaluate the impact of juniper expansion on the hydrological cycle in these ecosystems. In order to identify how competition for water resources contributes to juniper expansion we will: 1) quantify the amount and spatial distribution of water extraction by J.osteosperma and Artemesia tridentata (the dominant species in the sagebrush steppe in NW Colorado), 2) determine the seasonal pattern of water use of J. osteosperma and A. tridentata, and 3) assess the drought tolerance of these two species in order to identify the lower soil-moisture threshold of survivability. The data collected to achieve the previous objectives can then be utilized to parameterize a land-surface model to assess how the water-use by J.osteosperma is directly impacting the hydrologic cycle in regions sensitive to juniper expansion.
Methods
The methods for this project will rely on ecophysiological techniques used to measure the growth and water-use of individual plants.
Efforts
We will establish 3 sites along a gradient of juniper density; from not juniper present to high density of young juniper so that we capture the front boundary of juniper encroachment. At each site we will make measurements on five individuals of; J.osteosperma, A. tridentata and a dominant grass species. On each individual we will measure the following:
- We will measure leaf-level photosynthesis and transpiration to understand the relationship between growth and water-use under different soil moisture conditions.
- We will measure whole-plant water-use using sap-flow sensors, which measure the total rate of water-flow through the plant stems to quantify and understand the total amount of water the different species are capable of extracting from the soil.
- Whole-plant water-use has been measured before, but rarely combined with an understanding of where plants are extracting water within the soil profile. By measuring the stable isotopic composition of water in plant tissue we can estimate where the depth at which plants are using water to investigate the amount of niche-partitioning or direct competition for water resources involved in the expansion of juniper.
- Finally, we will also utilize a unique analysis of physiological drought tolerance that quantifies the ability of plants to maintain the supply of water to leaves (“xylem vulnerability), which explains the ability of plants to grow and survive when water is limiting.
Evaluation
Using the measurements described in the ‘Efforts’ section we will be able to quantify the amount of sources of water used by the species involved in the juniper encroachment phenomenon. This will provide us with a better understanding of how directly the competition for water is involved in the encroachment of J. osteosperma into sagebrush steppe ecosystems. Furthermore, we will develop a simple model of water-resource competition amount species combined with a quantified estimate of drought tolerance in order to understand the conditions that would promote the competitive advantage of either a juniper dominant woodland or a sagebrush dominant shrubland. We will also use the data collected above to paraterize a land-surface model that can scale-up canopy level measurements of water-use to the landscape scale. By parameterizing this model across a gradient of juniper density we will be able to estimate the effect of different levels of juniper encroachment on the hydrologic cycle in these semi-arid ecosystems.
Target Audience
There are three target audiences that will benefit from this project: 1) Research scientists, 2) Natural resource managers for city, state, and federal agencies, and 3) land-owners that are experiencing or are in danger of experiencing juniper expansion. Understanding the competition for water resources between these two species will provide information to help understand plant-plant interactions to help understand what plant strategies are more competitive in water limited systems. Furthermore, species ranges are changing (ie. expanding and contracting) all around the globe and we currently have little information on the mechanisms involved in many of these changing ecosystems, so this research will help us better understand the mechanisms that may be involved in other semi-arid systems. By understanding the mechanisms involved in the range expansion of juniper, natural resource managers can make better decisions about implementing strategies to achieve the management goals. Finally, land-owners are concerned about how the expansion of juniper will affect the natural resources; our research will provide quantitative estimates of how water resources will be affected by the expansion of juniper onto their property.
Products
Activities – We will be collecting data in the field across a gradient of juniper expansion in Northwest Colorado; from sites where junipers are the dominant cover to sites not yet encroached upon by J. osteosperma. We will be measuring: 1) the water use of entire plant canopies using sap-flow sensors, 2) where plants are accessing water using water isotope analyses, and 3) quantifying the drought tolerance of these species by measuring the physiological capacity of these species to conduct waterwhen soil moisture is limiting (ie. cavitation resistance).
Products – We will publish our results in peer-reviewed journals that are relevant to the field (eg. Rangeland Ecology & Management). We will also produce model output of how juniper expansion will affect the hydrologic cycle under different environmental conditions (ie. wet vs. dry years) to help managers evaluate the impact of the management issue on water resources in these semi-arid ecosystems. Finally, we will meet with natural resource managers and extension in the region to get feedback throughout or project and to convey our results as they become available.
Expected Outcomes
We expect to quantify the soil moisture thresholds for when J. osteosperma can out compete A. tridentata for water resources, which will allow us to understand the mechanisms involved in the current juniper expansion phenomenon and predict the extent of expansion in the future as the frequency of drought may increase. By understanding where, when, and how much water the dominant species involved in juniper expansion extract from the soil profile we can provide quantitative estimates of how changes in vegetation structure will impact the limited water resources in northwest Colorado. Furthermore, by understanding the sensitivity of these two species to limited water resources across the year more targeted managing strategies can be established to achieve management goals in the face of these dynamic changes in ecosystem structure and function.
Keywords: Juniper expansion, sagebrush steppe, water resources, drought, juniper woodlands, northwest Colorado, plant ecophysiology
COL00217 – Multistate Agricultural Literacy Research
Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Director:
Michael Martin
Assistant Professor
(970) 491-6949
michael.j.martin@colostate.edu
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics
Non-Technical Summary:
Agriculture impacts the food, health, economy, environment, technology, and well-being of all. By 2050 the world’s population is projected to reach 9 billion people requiring agricultural production to double–with less land and water–while sustaining our planet. More food will have to be produced in the next 50 years than the past 10,000 years combined. A growing world population relies on agricultural systems to meet basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter. The U.S. agricultural sector annually accounts for 1% ($159 billion) of the $15.9 trillion U.S. GDP. While this percentage appears to be low, it should be noted that, as a country, the U.S. has the largest economy in the world (Central Intelligence Agency, 2013). The current 1% of the U.S. population working on farms is supported by nearly 21 million agricultural sector related U.S. workers, or about 15% of the total U.S. workforce (Goecker, Smith, Smith, & Goetz, 2010).
Annually, there are about 54,000 jobs in agriculture but only about 29,000 students are graduating in directly related agricultural degree programs, consequently creating a 45% gap. (Goecker, et al., 2010). With only 1% of the U.S. population actively engaged on farms and 15% in related careers, a majority of consumers–youths and adults–do not have a fundamental understanding of agriculture or how it impacts their lives. In addition, as agriculture has become more specialized, even those engaged in agriculture may know little about the resources and other inputs used to produce food, clothing, and shelter outside of their purview. In order to meet the challenges of the future, it is imperative that young people and adults become informed, “agriculturally literate” consumers, advocates, and policy makers regarding agricultural issues.
In 1988, the National Research Council of the National Academies appointed a committee of agricultural educators and researchers to determine the future direction of agricultural education. The committee published its findings in a report titled, Understanding Agriculture: New Directions for Education. In this report the committee stated that “Agriculture-broadly defined-is too important a topic to be taught only to the relatively small percentage of students considering careers in agriculture…”(National Research Council, 1988, p. 8). The committee also published these two important findings: 1) “Most Americans know very little about agriculture, its social and economic significance in the United States, and particularly its links to human health and environmental quality,” and 2) “Few systematic educational efforts are made to teach or otherwise develop agricultural literacy in students of any age. Although children are taught something about agriculture, the material tends to be fragmented, frequently outdated, usually only farm oriented, and often negative or condescending in tone” (p. 21). This committee recommended that “Beginning in kindergarten and continuing through twelfth grade, all students should receive some systematic instruction about agriculture” (p. 20). The committee envisioned that “an agriculturally literate person would understand the food and fiber system and this would include its history and its current economic, social and environmental significance to all Americans” (p. 8).
The objectives in this proposal outline work for five years. Upon completion, stakeholders will have agricultural knowledge data, and several program initiatives will have been evaluated. These results are necessary as a baseline to initiate decision-making that “moves the needle” toward an agriculturally literate society. It is noted, however, that while this work can be done through a multistate effort over the next five years, a long-term approach, as identified by phases over the next 15-20 years, will be necessary to measure long-term impacts.
Goals/Objectives:
- Phase I Objectives: 1) Assess agricultural knowledge
- Assess attitudes and perceptions concerning agriculture
- Evaluate existing agricultural literacy programs (identifying programs initiatives that relate to increases in agricultural literacy outlined in the Logic Model outcomes)
Methods:
Quantitative and qualitative research methods will be used to accomplish each of the Phase I objectives. Criterion reference instruments (developed from the National Agricultural Literacy Matrix) will be created to assess current knowledge associated with agricultural literacy priorities and educational standards (Phase I, Objective 1). Content of these questionnaires will be further validated by experts composed of key stakeholders representing agricultural businesses, commodity organizations, public relations firms, government agencies, and educators. The goal of this process will be to identify constructs and question items. Items will be developed for targeted populations with consideration given to reading level and other relevant factors. These instruments will be adaptable to various forms of data collection such as questionnaires, online tools, and interviews. Populations to be assessed will be defined by factors such as age, education, geographic location, career area, population density, and affiliation or familiarity with agriculture.
As data are analyzed, special attention will be focused upon differences between and among these groups. In addition, researchers will use these data to identify factors contributing to or inhibiting knowledge about agriculture. Quantitative measures including semantic differentials and items with Likert-type scale response choices will be used to assess attitudes and perceptions about agriculture (Phase I, Objective 2). Items for these assessments will be developed through a thorough review of relevant literature and consultation with researchers in agricultural education and agricultural communications.
Additional approaches for gathering information to assess attitudes and perceptions will include having subjects interpret and reflect upon visual images, analyze content of case studies, and participate in focus group forums.
Target Audience:
The audience is pre-K children through adults within a variety of states.
Products:
- Identify existing agricultural literacy instrumentation
- Review the Agricultural Literacy Logic Model outcomes for the development of instrumentation among identified group
- Design instruments and data collection strategies to achieve the research outcomes toward targeted groups–primarily K-20 and consumers
- Report findings from studies at milestone/research meetings
- Publish results in peer-reviewed journals
Expected Outcomes:
Provide evidence-based findings to stakeholders and agricultural literacy program leadership to improve program delivery and resources that when implemented will result in continual behavioral changes.
Keywords: agricultural literacy
COL00721 – Wildfire Impacts on Peak Flows and Sediment Delivery: Implications for Irrigation Infrastructure and Management
Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Director:
Peter Nelson
Assistant Professor
(970) 491-5247
peter.nelson@colostate.edu
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Non-Technical Summary:
Flooding, erosion, mass wasting, sedimentation and water quality impairment can all be major concerns after wildfire. Although considerable advances have been made in understanding post-fire runoff, erosion, and mass wasting at the plot to small watershed scale, many impacts of fires are felt further downstream through flooding and water quality problems. To improve understanding of wildfire effects at larger scales, we need studies that connect processes from precipitation to runoff generation, sediment erosion and transport, and water quality impairment and that connect across scales from hillslopes to watersheds. Such an understanding is increasingly important because it is anticipated that climate change will lead to more frequent and higher severity fires in the coming years.
We will conduct a case study of two watersheds in Northern Colorado that burned during the 2012 High Park Fire. Building on an existing monitoring network, we will establish nested monitoring of precipitation, runoff, erosion, channel change, and sediment delivery to quantify post-fire hydrologic and geomorphic response at scales from hillslopes to watersheds. The proposed case study will provide valuable insights on how regional climate patterns, topographic characteristics, and fire patterns interact to deliver peak flows and sediment downstream. On their own, these insights may help irrigation managers assess relative risks of fire on their operations and implement adaptive management strategies. Additionally, the multi-scale, multi-year dataset resulting from the proposed case study will provide a basis for developing a framework to assess the regional risk of wildfires on flooding, sediment production and delivery, and water quality impairment. Such a framework could be built into a tool for identifying the highest priority locations for pre-fire fuels treatments and post-fire restoration treatments. The field site and case study data will be incorporated into undergraduate and graduate science and engineering courses, and research results will be presented to the stakeholders through field tours and presentations at workshops and other meetings related to High Park Fire research and restoration.
Goals / Objectives:
The goal of the proposed work is to understand processes connecting burned upstream source areas with downstream sediment delivery, and is motivated by the following questions:
- How much sediment eroded from hillslopes after a wildfire is delivered to downstream locations?
- What controls these patterns of post-fire erosion, deposition, and sediment delivery?
- How long can we expect high peak flows and sediment loads to affect downstream infrastructure after a wildfire?
To answer these questions, we will conduct a case study with the following objectives:
- determine spatial and temporal patterns of erosion and deposition at scales from hillslopes to watersheds;
- relate these patterns of erosion and deposition to watershed topography, precipitation patterns, burn severity, and drainage network characteristics; and
- to determine how long elevated hillslope sediment production and downstream sediment delivery continue post-fire.
The results will help guide the most effective application of post-fire rehabilitation treatments, and users to better predict the downstream risks to agricultural and municipal water supply systems.
Methods:
The basic design is to compare runoff, sediment production, and sediment delivery from two tributary watersheds to the Cache la Poudre River that burned in the 2012 High Park Fire, Hill Gulch and Skin Gulch. Precipitation over the study area will be characterized using rain gages and NEXRAD radar data. Runoff will be monitored with stage recorders at different points in the channel network. Erosion from hillslopes will be monitored using an existing network of sediment fences. Erosion and deposition within the channel network will be characterized using repeat surveys of channel cross sections and longitudinal profiles combined with topographic differencing of LiDAR digital elevation data available through a related research effort. Water quality and sediment delivery will be monitored at the outlets of the study watersheds using turbidimeters and suspended sediment samplers.
Data analyses will examine how the three primary response variables (peak flows, sediment transport, and turbidity) vary overtime and space. Over time, the measurement record will be separated into flow events, and statistical analyses will evaluate how the forcing variables (precipitation and snow melt) and response variables relate to one another for the series of events recorded. The temporal analysis will also examine how frequency distributions of peak flow magnitudes, sediment transport, and turbidity change over time since the fire. Over space, spatial data on watershed characteristics (size, shape, soils, elevations, slopes, burn severity, vegetation cover, and hydraulic connectivity of hillslopes) will be compiled, and statistical analyses will evaluate how these characteristics relate to runoff generation, sediment yields, and turbidity. Combining the temporal and spatial analyses, we will compile data collected from multiple scales in each study watershed and construct sediment budgets that illustrate how magnitudes of hillslope erosion change over time and how these relate to storage and transport of sediment through the channel network.
This project will provide valuable research experience for a Ph.D. student. The field sites will be used as a teaching laboratory for undergraduate and graduate science and engineering courses. The results of the project will be presented to the research and management community through a dissertation, presentations at scientific conferences, and publications in international journals.
Target Audience:
- Undergraduate and graduate students in natural sciences and engineering (through formal classroom/field assignments and informal field tours);
- Regional forest and water supply managers at the USFS, NRCS, City of Fort Collins Utilities, City of Greeley, and Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District (through annual meetings, outreach programs, discussions and field tours);
- Land owners in the High Park Fire burn area (through outreach programs, informal discussions, and a public forum);
- Downstream water users affected by post-fire flooding and sedimentation (through outreach programs and a public forum).
Products:
Activities that will be achieved during the project include:
- Teaching: the field site and case study data will be used in undergraduate and graduate science and engineering courses. Students in CIVE 521 (Hydrometry) will use data collected during this project for applied laboratory projects. Kampf will present the project as a case-study on post-fire erosion and channel change in WR/GR 304 (Sustainable Watersheds). Students in WR416 (Land Use Hydrology) will visit the study area during a class field trip.
- Mentoring: A Ph.D. student will be responsible for conducting the case study and will receive mentoring throughout the project.
- Field work: The case study will include the collection and analysis of data describing the study sites’ topography, rainfall, runoff, and sediment production and delivery.
- Outreach: Public outreach will be an integral component of the project. The team maintains active communication with USFS, City of Fort Collins Utilities, and NRCS and will coordinate field visits and research plans with these groups and other stakeholders identified. Results will be presented to these and other stakeholder groups through field tours and presentations at workshops and other meetings related to High Park Fire research and restoration. Our team also collaborates with K-12 outreach programs developed at the Natural Resources Ecology Laboratory in collaboration with science teachers in residence at NREL. We will organize a public forum to present research findings to landowners and water users affected by the burn.
Products that will be achieved during the project include:
- Graduate a Ph.D. student in Civil and Environmental Engineering;
- The Ph.D. student’s dissertation;
- 2-3 presentations at international conferences, such as the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting;
- 2-4 articles published in international scientific journals, describing scientific outcomes as well as new methods that will be developed (e.g. LIDAR differencing, modeling sediment delivery at watershed scale).
Expected Outcomes:
A major outcome of this project will be the improved scientific understanding of how wildfire affects peak flows and sediment delivery at the watershed scale (> 5 km2). The research will contribute to process-level understanding of post-fire geomorphic change on hillslopes and longitudinally through channel networks, and it will develop new methods for connecting hillslope and channel processes to watershed-scale predictions of sediment delivery.
Our results will help inform and increase the efficiency of post-fire mitigation treatments, indicating which parts of the landscape are at most at risk to erosion/sedimentation/water quality impairment.
Engagement with the NRCS and City of Fort Collins Utilities will help ensure that findings can be actively used for future post-fire mitigation plans. Engagement with landowners and water users will help identify key user needs for information about post-fire risks.
Keywords: Wildfire, Runoff, Sediment, Erosion, Precipitation, Watershed, Water Quality, Geomorphic response, Hydrologic Response, Fire Effects, Sediment Transport, Sediment Production, Sediment Delivery, Post-Fire Runoff, Post-Fire Erosion, Turbidity, Water Quality Impairment
COL00723 – Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid: Using front-of-package labeling and consumer education to reduce children’s consumption of sugary drinks and unhealthy foods
Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Director:
Rachel Graham
Assistant Professor
(970) 491-5718
lucas-thompson.rachel@colostate.edu
Department of Human Development and Family Studies
Non-Technical Summary
One of the primary contributors to the recent spike in childhood obesity is unhealthful food choices, leading to excess consumption. Nutrition labels are intended to help consumers make healthful food choices, but recent research from our team and others suggests that nutrition information on food packages is neither seen nor well-understood by most consumers, particularly those at highest risk for obesity, thereby preventing individuals from making more healthful choices and reducing consumption. Therefore, to reduce these trends in childhood obesity, there is a critical need to develop strategies to help consumers – particularly parents and children – use nutrition labels effectively to make healthful food choices. Without these strategies, consumers will continue to use labels poorly or not at all and struggle to make healthful food choices, thereby failing to curtail increases in childhood obesity. Our objective in this application is to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a brief educational program to improve parents’ and children’s knowledge about how to use nutrition labels effectively, and to determine characteristics of parents and dyads that promote effective use of this education. Parent and child dyads will be randomly assigned to receive brief education about nutrition labels, or to not receive such education; they will then work together to choose foods to take home from a laboratory set up to resemble a grocery aisle. Most dyads will see food packaging with front-of-package nutrition labels; others will not. Eye-tracking glasses will be used to monitor parent and child attention during the shopping task, and also to later code for parent-child interaction behaviors. These methods will allow us to determine how front-of-package labels affect product choice, as well as whether a brief education program increases the healthfulness of foods and beverages selected by parents and children.
Goals / Objectives
Specific Aim #1: Evaluate the effects of front-of-package (FOP) labels on consumer food selections. We hypothesize that compared to those who view products with no labels, participants who view foods and beverages with star-based FOP labels will a) be better able to evaluate the healthfulness of foods and beverages, and b) choose more healthful products.
Specific Aim #2: Assess the impact of a brief educational program on consumer use of FOP labels and on consumer food and beverage selections. We hypothesize that participants who receive this education will be more likely to attend to the labels when later shopping for foods and beverages; as a result, we hypothesize that they will a) choose more healthful products, and b) be better able to evaluate the healthfulness of foods and beverages.
Specific Aim #3: Determine whether this educational program is most effective in influencing food choices for parent-child dyads in which parents display both warmth and structuring. We hypothesize that dyads with these characteristics will choose healthier foods and beverages and be better able to evaluate the healthfulness of food items, particularly if they have received education about effectively using nutrition labels to make healthful choices.
At the completion of this project, it is our expectation that we will have found evidence for a cost-effective and time-efficient educational program that helps parents and children make more-healthful food choices; once effectiveness has been established, we will disseminate this program to the local community. As a result, the completion of this project is expected to have a significant positive impact on the health and well-being of Colorado families.
Methods
Target Population, Sample, and Setting: Lower-income and racial/ethnic minority families will be targeted due to obesityrisk17,18. Colorado State University’s role as a land grant institution provides researchers opportunities to access varied populations through its statewide extension programs and offices in 60 of Colorado’s 64 counties. The mission of CSU Extension is to encourage the application of knowledge in response to local and national issues; we will utilize the relationships established through CSU Extension in our recruiting efforts. In addition, we are collaborating with a local organization that works with lower-income and racial/ethnic minority families, the Coalition for Activity and Nutrition to Defeat Obesity (CanDo). They will help us to target these families at greatest risk for obesity. Eligible families will have a child aged 5-10. Participant pairs (n =195) will come to CSU to participate in two back-to-back studies.
Research Strategy: Parent/child dyads will participate in two brief studies, described separately to reduce the influence of demand characteristics on participant behavior. Study 1 will be billed as a Marketing study seeking feedback on a variety of TV advertisements unfamiliar to participants (an FOP-label educational program will be created by the study team; also used will be other unfamiliar ads [e.g., product ads taken from other English-speaking countries]). Participants will be randomly assigned to one of three conditions (see Table 1).
After viewing each ad, participants will be asked to report how the ad impacted their attitudes and intentions through standardized questionnaires used in advertising research (e.g., The Perceived Sensation Value Scale34 and The Perceived Message Cognition Value Scale35). The use of these measures is not only common in testing advertising stimuli for their effectiveness, thus adding realism to this study, but can also be used to assess how well our target population comprehends and engages with the information provided in the educational program. Parents and children will view the ads separately on computers equipped with eye-tracking cameras (used to monitor visual attention, allowing us to determine which portions of the ads are most visually salient). The questions asked of parents and children after viewing the ads will address similar constructs, but will be modified for children, using fewer questions and understandable, age-appropriate vocabulary.
Study 2 will involve parent/child interaction tasks and build on our previous work. Study 2 will occur in a second lab, set up to resemble a grocery aisle filled with common foods and beverages. FOP labels will be added to all packages (for conditions 1and 2). Dyads will be given a budget of $20 and instructed to work together to select products to take home. Participants will wear eye-tracking glasses to allow us to determine if those in the educational condition look more frequently at the FOP labels; the recorded interactions will also be coded for parenting style and discussions around the FOP labels. The products selected will be recorded and evaluated in terms of healthfulness. Participants will then complete a post-test assessment of knowledge and purchasing intention. Next, parents and children will together complete a second interaction task where they will be provided with 10 foods and beverages and asked to work together to identify the 3 most healthful products. They will then pour their estimate of a single serving of each of the 3 chosen products into an appropriate container. This additional task will be included so that after measuring food and beverage choices in a naturalistic setting (when steps have been taken to reduce demand characteristics related to health), we can examine how effectively families can use health information when they are explicitly asked to do so.
An important gap in our previous work on parent-child behavior while grocery shopping is that parents/dyads were not informed that product healthfulness was of interest; therefore, it is impossible to determine if dyads chose unhealthful foods because they were unable to determine which foods were healthful, or if they did not value choosing healthful foods. Adding a task in which participants are explicitly asked to identify healthy options will clarify whether lack of knowledge or lack of interest is driving unhealthful choices. Disentangling these influences will help us to make policy recommendations that can most effectively increase healthy eating. Post-task questionnaire: To delay directing their attention to the health/nutrition focus of the study, parents will respond to health-related questions after completing the interaction tasks. The post-task questionnaire will assess parent/child overall health, parent perception of the importance of health and healthy eating, motivation to choose healthy products, and awareness of federal nutrition information programs and use of food labels (questions taken from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey36). Parents will complete a brief battery of measures that will be used to assess potential control/confounding variables, including: demographics, home environment and family resources37,38, family well-being39,purchasing behavior/intention for a selected list of foods and how much his/her child likes these foods, parenting style ingeneral40 and in relation to eating41; and dietary behaviors for the previous 30 days using the Five Factor Screener from the2005 NHIS Cancer Control Supplement42,43. In addition, parent and child height and weight will be assessed viastadiometer/calibrated scale.
Finally, before debriefing dyads about the aims of the research and the link between the two studies, the study team will talk with the participants about the relative healthfulness of the various products included in the rating task, and also provide feedback about portion sizes. Dyads will receive the foods and beverages they selected from the grocery aisle, a $20 gift card, and $10 for study-related travel compensation.
Table 1. Condition descriptions
| Condition | N | Education present (Study 1) |
FOP labels present (Study 2) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1: Education and Label | 65 | Yes | Yes |
| 2: Label Only | 65 | No | Yes |
| 3: Control (Neither) | 65 | No | No |
Target Audience
For the duration of our project, the target audience will be parent-child dyads in Northern Colorado and the surrounding areas. At the completion of the project, an additional target audience will be local and national stakeholders, advocates, and policy-makers.
Products
At the completion of this project, we expect that we will have conducted a study with parent-child dyads from the community to test our 3 specific aims; we will have created and experimentally tested a short, public service announcement explaining how to use nutrition labels to identify and select healthier foods, and we expect that we will have found evidence that it is cost-effective and time-efficient.
Expected Outcomes
- Increase in knowledge about the effects of front-of-package labels on consumer food selections
- Increase in knowledge about the impact of a brief educational program on consumer use of FOP labels and on consumer food selection
- Increase in knowledge about whether this educational program is most effective for parent-child dyads in which parents are both warm and structuring
- If we have found evidence that this educational program is effective, it will be disseminated into the local community, which we expect will lead to an increase in the healthy food choices made by parents and children
Keywords: Nutrition labeling, Front-of-package labeling, Healthfulness of food selection, Eye-tracking
COL00728 – Improving Cropping System Resilience through Diversification and Soil Conservation
Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Director:
Meagan Schipanski
Assistant Director
(970) 491-1320
meagan.schipanski@colostate.edu
Department of Soil and Crop Sciences
Non-Technical Summary
The overarching goal of this project is to improve the resilience of our agricultural systems. The main rationale is that current management systems in the Western Great Plains are vulnerable to soil degradation, the proliferation of herbicide resistant weeds, and more frequent droughts due to climate change. In addition, there is a growing demand for forage crops and interest and policy support for the integration of cover crops into dryland crop rotations. Through field-based and modeling experiments, this research will analyze how different management practices, particularly crop rotations, affect multiple ecosystem services. Through the integration of research from small plot to landscape scales, this research will expand the management toolbox for growers to improve long-term agricultural sustainability and resilience.
Goals / Objectives
- Develop cropping systems adapted to the Semi-Arid Western Plains that are productive, resilient in the face of climatic variability, and environmentally sustainable through:
- Quantifying the influence of different cropping systems on multiple ecosystem services.
- Apply cropping systems models to evaluate cropping system resilience in the face of future climate scenarios.
- Improve our understanding of plant-soil-microbe interactions that influence carbon and nitrogen cycling and water use in cropping systems by:
- Quantifying crop and crop rotation effects on soil carbon and nitrogen cycling and water use from rhizosphere to field scales.
- Applying long-term field data to improve carbon and nitrogen cycling and water use modules within existing cropping system models.
Methods:
This research will utilize long-term cropping systems experiments and datasets, on-farm research sites, research station sites, and modeling approaches. The long-term Dryland Agroecosystem Project (DAP) sites will be used to understand the impacts of crop rotation legacies on ecosystem services. In addition, new rotations will be initiated at DAP while maintaining the central base rotations, to maintain the relevance of those research sites to current grower interests in integrating forage and cover crops into dryland rotations. On-farm research will be established to evaluate the impacts of alternative rotations on profitability and soil quality through collaborations with innovative producers in the region.
This research will also utilize the long-term datasets from DAP and other long-term research sites for modeling efforts and to analyze relationships between crop rotations, soil C pools, climate variability, crop yields, and water use efficiency. In particular, soil C modules within RZWQM and Daycent and other cropping system models will be compared to identify the most robust approach to modeling soil C dynamics for future climate scenarios. This work will be carried out in collaboration with the USDA Agricultural Systems Research Unit. The interactions between crop growth, microbial activity, and soil C and N cycling will be quantified through collaborations with other USDA and CSU scientists. In particular, we will evaluate the impacts of deficit irrigation treatments on corn root production, root activity, and total soil respiration and nitrous oxide production. Stable isotopic methods will also be employed to track plant and soil C and N dynamics in plot-scale and greenhouse studies.
Products:
Products associated with this research will include conducting, analyzing, and publishing results from experiments; mentoring graduate and undergraduate students; organizing field days at research sites; and development and maintenance of a professional web page to communicate results.
Expected Outcomes:
By identifying the potential benefits and trade-offs of different crops and crop rotations, this research will provide additional management options for growers, thereby increasing the adoption of more resilient cropping systems. Expanding the number of crops and cover crops integrated within dryland rotations using an adaptive management approach has the potential to substantially improve multiple ecosystem services. Specifically, diversification of cropping systems has the potential to: 1) increase soil C; 2) reduce wind erosion; 3) improve cumulative water use efficiency; 4) reduce the risk of developing herbicide resistant weeds; 5) reduce N fertilizer requirements; and 6) improve cropping system productivity. Through collaborations with multi-disciplinary teams of researchers, this work will build on a 29-year legacy at long-term research sites that have had dramatic effects on the farming landscape, contributing to the conversion of 200,000 acres from wheat-fallow to more intensified crop rotations since 1985. Through the comprehensive integration of long-term and on-farm sites and modeling scenarios, this work will influence grower adoption of more diversified rotations if proven to be resilient. In developing successful management systems adapted to one of the more climatically vulnerable cropping systems in the U.S., this work will indicate the potential for rotational diversity to contribute to ecosystem service provisioning and climate change adaptation with applicability to other regions projected to experience more frequent droughts. By integrating field experiments with modeling estimates, this research will link rhizosphere C and N cycling and water use dynamics to their relative importance in agroecosystem and broader biogeochemical cycles.
Keywords: cropping systems, climate change, biodiversity, soil organic matter, stable isotopes, rhizosphere
2012-2013 Grantees
Project
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
Your Title Goes Here
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
2011-2012 Grantees
Project
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
Your Title Goes Here
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.