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Eastern Mennonite University

Harrisonburg, VA

$4,616,549

Total funding

8

Grants

Funding over time

peak $2M · FY2009–25

$2M$1.5M$1M$500K$0

'09

'10

'11

'12

'13

'14

'15

'16

'17

'18

'19

'20

'21

'22

'23

'24

'25

Funding mix

By agency

NSF$4,465,870 · 7

USDA$150,679 · 1

By mechanism

—$4,616,549 · 8

Investigators at Eastern Mennonite University

Investigator-initiated All funding

Investigatorsi

Rising Stars

First grant in the last 5 yrs

Not enough data

Emerging Leaders

6–10 yrs in

Not enough data

All-Time

Most funded here, all years

Not enough data

Largest grants

Interdisciplinary Pathways to STEM Success and Sustainability: A Place-Based Restoration Effort$1,998,114

· FY2025 · EDU

Preparing Secondary STEM Teachers to Improve STEM Learning in High-need Schools by Applying Restorative Justice in Education$977,942

· FY2021 · EDU

STEM Scholars Engaging in Local Problems$649,998

· FY2018 · EDU

Faculty-Led Institutional Transformation for Teaching Diverse Learners in STEM$299,967

· FY2016 · EDU

IRES Track I: Tephritid fruit fly Multidisciplinary Australian Research Collaboration for Biosecurity$298,707

· FY2019 · O/D

LITTLE FIRE ANT IS A SERIOUS INVASIVE PEST THROUGHOUT THE PANTROPICS. THE SPECIES IS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE 100 WORST INVASIVE SPECIES BY THE INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR THE CONSERVATION OF NATURE. IN THE US, LITTLE FIRE ANT (LFA) HAS INVADED HAWAII, GUAM, AND FLORIDA, AND HAS ALSO BEEN REPORTED IN GREENHOUSE OPERATIONS IN CALIFORNIA. THE IMPACTS OF LFA ON AGRICULTURE AND PUBLIC HEALTH ARE SEVERE. LFA HAS A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON CROP PRODUCTION BY TENDING PESTS SUCH AS APHIDS, SCALES, AND MEALYBUGS. DUE TO THE ANT'S PAINFUL AND IRRITATING STINGS, IT CAN CAUSE DECREASED HARVESTING AND PRODUCTION BY FARM-WORKERS, AS WELL AS REDUCE YIELD FROM LIVESTOCK. IN HAWAII AND GUAM, THE AGGRESSIVE NATURE OF LFA HAS EVEN DRIVEN SOME FARMERS TO ABANDON FARMLAND; THIS CAN HAVE SIGNIFICANT CULTURAL IMPACT ON SMALL FAMILY-RUN FARMS THAT HAVE BEEN FARMED BY THE SAME FAMILY FOR GENERATIONS. THE THREAT FROM LFA TO PETS AND PEOPLE IN RESIDENTIAL AREAS IS ALSO SIGNIFICANT: PETS ARE OFTEN BLINDED BY STINGS TO THE EYES, AND STANDING UNDER AN LFA-INFESTED TREE ON A WINDY DAY CAN RESULT IN STINGS FROM NUMEROUS OF THESE DIMINUTIVE HARD-TO-SEE ANTS, PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS FOR CHILDREN, THE ELDERLY, OR PEOPLE WITH STRONG ALLERGIC REACTIONS. ON THE ECONOMIC FRONT, THE ANT HAS ALSO CAUSED THE REJECTION OF AGRICULTURAL AND HORTICULTURAL COMMODITIES SHIPPED FROM HAWAII TO CALIFORNIA AND ELSEWHERE. ECONOMIC IMPACTS ON THE AGRICULTURE OF JUST HAWAII ISLAND ARE ESTIMATED TO BE $33-50 MILLION PER YEAR, AND NURSERY SALES FROM THE STATE ARE ESTIMATED TO DECLINE BY 50% DUE TO EXPORT RESTRICTIONS BY RECIPIENT MARKETS. WHILE CURRENTLY RESTRICTED TO POSSIBLE GREENHOUSE INFESTATIONS IN CALIFORNIA, IF LFA WERE TO BECOME ESTABLISHED IN OPEN-AIR AGRICULTURAL OPERATIONS IN CALIFORNIA, THE IMPACT ON AGRICULTURE THERE COULD BE QUITE SEVERE, PARTICULARLY DUE TO THE HIGH NUMBER OF SPECIALTY, EXPORTED, HIGH-VALUE, HAND-PICKED FRUIT AND VEGETABLE CROPS GROWN IN CALIFORNIA.ALTHOUGH LOCALIZED ERADICATION EFFORTS HAVE PROVENSUCCESSFUL ON OTHER ISLANDS, THEY ARE INTENSIVE AND DIFFICULT TO IMPLEMENT, PARTICULARLY ACROSS LARGER AREAS. FURTHERMORE, LFA'S HIGH INVASIVE-ABILITY MOLLIFY THESE CONTROL EFFORTS IN AREAS WHERE THE SPECIES IS ESTABLISHED AND CAN RE-INFEST TREATED AREAS. TO THIS END, THE GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH PROJECT IS TO IDENTIFY THE QUEEN PHEROMONE OF LFA. QUEEN PHEROMONES ARE USED BY ANT SPECIES TO SIGNAL THAT A FERTILE, REPRODUCTIVE QUEEN IS PRESENT, AND THUS THE WORKER ANTS DO NOT NEED TO REAR NEW QUEENS FROM LARVAE IN THE NEST. IF THIS PHEROMONE WERE TO BE APPLIED IN THE ABSENCE OF A LIVE QUEEN, IT WOULD OFFER A MEANS TO SHUTDOWN LFA REPRODUCTIVE CAPABILITY BY INHIBITING QUEEN PRODUCTION IN NESTS OF LFA.TO IDENTIFY THE QUEEN PHEROMONE OF LFA, WE WILL MAKE INCREMENTAL ALTERATIONS TO HOW EXPERIMENTAL NESTS OF LFA ARE EXPOSED TO QUEENS, TO FIRST DELINEATE HOW THE QUEEN PHEROMONE IS SPECIFICALLY BEING UTILIZED IN LFA NESTS, AND THEN TO DEMONSTRATE THAT THE SIGNAL FROM THE QUEEN CAN BE MANIPULATED VIA EXPOSURE TO JUST THE CHEMICAL PROFILE OF THE QUEEN. WE WILL THEN UTILIZE CHEMICAL ANALYSES TO IDENTIFY THE CHEMICAL STRUCTURE OF THE QUEEN PHEROMONE. DEPENDING ON THE COMPLEXITY OF THE STRUCTURE, THIS MAY BE A STRAIGHTFORWARD PROCESS OR A MORE COMPLEX ITERATIVE PROCESS, WHEREBY WE RULE OUT OR CONFIRM VARIOUS FUNCTIONAL GROUPS AND STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS BASED ON CONSCILIENT ANALYSES USING VARIOUS INSTRUMENTATION AND CHEMICAL DERIVATIZATION OF LFA QUEEN EXTRACTS. OUR COLLABORATING SYNTHETIC CHEMIST WILL THEN SYNTHESIZE THE COMPOUND FOR US SO THAT WE MAY TEST IT AND CONFIRM THAT THE IDENTIFIED COMPOUND(S), IN THE ABSENCE OF ALL OTHER POTENTIAL QUEEN SIGNALS, IS ACTIVE AND SUFFICIENT TO SHUTDOWN QUEEN PRODUCTION IN LFA NESTS, NEGATIVELY IMPACT THE COLONY'S ABILITY TO REPRODUCE.THE OVERARCHING GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP AN ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY, LOW-TOXICITY, LOW-COST (DUE TO SMALL OF ACTIVE MATERIAL REQUIRED TO ACHIEVE AN EFFECT) MANAGEMENT TOOL FOR CONTROLLING ESTABLISHED POPULATIONS OF LFA. OUR RESEARCH TEAM HAS SOME 40 COMBINED YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IDENTIFYING, TESTING, AND SYNTHESIZING INSECT PHEROMONES FOR USE IN CONTROL OF PESTS AND INVASIVE SPECIES. WE HAVE COLLABORATIONS WITH HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, BIG ISLAND INVASIVE SPECIES COMMITTEE, AND SEVERAL AGRICULTURAL AND HORTICULTURAL GROUPS IN HAWAII, WITH WHOSE COOPERATION WE COULD DEVELOP THIS PHEROMONE INTO A USEFUL AND PRACTICAL CONTROL METHOD OF LFA ONCE THE PHEROMONE HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED VIA THE PROPOSED RESEARCH PROJECT.THIS RESEARCH PROPOSAL ADDRESSES THE PEST AND BENEFICIAL SPECIES IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION SYSTEMS PRIORITY OF THE PLANT HEALTH AND PRODUCTION AND PLANT PRODUCTS PROGRAM AREA. AS WELL, THIS PROPOSAL ADDRESSES THE AFRI GOALS TO SUSTAIN THE ECONOMIC VIABILITY OF FARM OPERATIONS AND ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF FARMERS AND SOCIETY AS A WHOLE, AND THE AFRI EWD GOAL OF ADVANCING SCIENCE.$150,679

· FY2019 · National Institute of Food and Agriculture

Promoting learning through authentic and relevant research experiences in environmental monitoring and remediation across ten chemistry and biology laboratory courses$137,932

· FY2009 · EDU

MRI: Acquisition of a Fluorescence Stereomicroscope to Enhance Research and Teaching at Eastern Mennonite University.$103,210

· FY2018 · BIO