Nearly 2,000 researchers and students participated in the Association of 1890 Research Directors Symposium held March 28-31, 2026 in New Orleans. Themed “Innovations in Food, Health & Agriculture: Technological Advancements, Ecological Resilience & Economic Sustainability,” more than 300 oral, and 510 posters were presented.
The symposium is a gathering to showcase and share research findings in the food and agricultural sciences at 1890 land-grant institutions. This year’s submissions were presented in six areas: Plant Health and Production and Plant Products; Animal Health and Production and Animal Products; Family, Youth, Community and Economic Development; Food Safety, Nutrition, and Health; Bioenergy, Natural Resources and Environment, and Agricultural Systems and Technology.
Graduate students in UMES’ School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences who earned awards were:
- Isabella Beasley, first place oral presentation in the Bioenergy, Natural Resources and Environment Category for “Environmental Contaminants and Vector Behavior: PFAS Effects on Mosquito Ecology”.
- Lucy Njoroge, first place oral presentation in the Family, Youth, Community and Economic Development Category for “Comparative Performance of Neutral Networks and Traditional Models for Forecasting U.S. Cotton Price”.
- Erasmus Aduteye, tie for second place poster in the Food Safety, Nutrition and Health Category for “Effects of Edible Coating on Post-Harvest Quality of Day-Neutral Strawberry”.
Gail Stephens, agricultural communications, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, UMES Extension, gcstephens@umes.edu, 410-621-3850.
Photos courtesy of UMES President Heidi M. Anderson.
