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agInnovation Northeast Spring Meeting Minutes
March 25, 2025
University of Maryland
Central Maryland Research and Education Center – Clarksville Facility
Ellicott City, MD

In attendance:  Wendie Cohick (Chair-Rutgers), Jason Hubbart (Vice Chair-West Virginia), Eric Bishop von Wettberg (Officer at large-Vermont), Anton Bekkerman (Past Chair-New Hampshire), Puneet Srivastava (Maryland), Chris Smart (New York-Geneva), Blair Siegfried (Pennsylvania), Beth Gugino (Pennsylvania), Gretta Tritch Roman (Pennsylvania), Margaret Smith (New York-Ithaca), Rubie Mize (Maryland), Josh Kohut (New Jersey), Lindsay Triplett (Connecticut-New Haven), Lynne McLandsborough (Massachusetts), Vagner Benedito (Maryland Eastern Shore), Craig Beyrouty (Maryland), Alan Leslie (Maryland), Doug Steele (APLU), Bridget Krieger (Lewis Burke Associates), Rick Rhodes (agInnovation Northeast), David Leibovitz (agInnovation Northeast)​

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Meeting Admnistration

• The agenda for this meeting and minutes of the 12/12/24 agInnovation Northeast meeting were approved unanimously.

• agInnovation Awards 2025

  • Northeast Excellence in Leadership:  On behalf of the agInnovation Executive Committee, Wendie Cohick presented the Northeast Excellence in Leadership Award to Rick Rhodes, Executive Director, agInnovation Northeast.  The group enthusiastically congratulated Rick on this award.  A citation for the Northeast award was shared with the association, and Rick will be recognized nationally at the agInnovation Annual Meeting, September 15-18 in Milwaukee, WI.

  • Research Innovation Award of Excellence:  Heather Darby (UVM) was nominated by Eric Bishop von Wettberg as the Northeast winner, and the nomination was approved unanimously.  The OED will work with Eric to prepare Heather’s nomination for submission to the national award pool.

  • Excellence in Multistate Research Award:  The Northeast intends to submit NE2334 Genetic Bases for Resistance and Immunity to Avian Diseases for the 2025 National Excellence in Multistate Research Award.  This project was nominated last year and scored marginally below the winning proposal to ultimately finish second.  The region believes this is a successful, winning project and will work to refine the nomination for greater appeal to the agInnovation Science and Technology Committee.

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National Research Support Project 2025 Proposals

• Budget requests at-a-glance:

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• A representative for each current NRSP proposal joined the group for a brief presentation.  A copy of each presentation is archived on the agInnovation Northeast website (see Workroom > Agenda/Minutes.)

  • NRSP_temp4 Facilitating Registration of Pest Management Technology for Specialty Crops and Specialty Uses [IR4] (renewal) – Jerry Baron, IR-4 Executive Director

  • NRSP_temp9 National Animal Nutrition Program (renewal) – Phil Miller, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

  • NRSP_temp12 Building Collaborative Research and Extension Networks to Advance the Research & Application of Science with Urban Communities (new) – Bill Miller, University of Massachusetts Amherst

  • NRSP_temp13 Artificial Intelligence for Agricultural Autonomy (new) – Alex Thomasson, Mississippi State University

• Northeast Reflections on NRSP_temp4

  • Would an NRSP funding decrease significantly impact IR-4 activities?

  • The group is encouraged to walk away from promoting the multi-billion dollar annual leveraging of IR-4.

  • Why has NRSP4 not come under consideration for the NRSP sunset clause at all in its 60 years of activity?

  • The group has ignored past agInnovation recommendations to reduce reliance on NRSP funding and has increased its budget request for this cycle.

• Northeast Reflections on NRSP_temp9

  • General support for the project.  Directors did take note of the increased budget request over this cycle.

• Northeast Reflections on NRSP_temp12

  • What activities will this NRSP take on that aren’t already being done by existing multistate projects?

  • Could the center take on activities described in the proposal even in the absence of NRSP funding?

  • Should metrics of success be considered upfront rather than after the project is underway?

  • Activities seem focused more on Extension than research.

• Northeast Reflections on NRSP_temp13

  • Technologies named in the proposal as written appear to be too large-scale to be applicable in research throughout the Northeast region.

  • What is this NRSP going to do that isn’t already being done by existing multistate projects?

• agInnovation NE will frame recommendations to NRSP RC on each of the four proposals.

• NRSP-RC Meeting (Kansas City), May 20, 2025:  Blair Siegfried represents agInnovation Northeast on the NRSP RC and cannot attend its upcoming meeting.  Beth Gugino has agreed to attend, serving as Blair’s proxy.  Beth’s participation in the NRSP RC meeting was approved unanimously.

• NRSP additional discussion

  • Northeast Region takes over NRSP Review Committee in Fall 2025

  • Two “tracks” of NRSPs:  1.) Capacity/Core and 2.) New/Emerging initiatives (see NRSP Guidelines for expanded definitions)

  • NE institutions are smaller than in other regions, and funding amounts perceived nationally as “smaller” are impactful to our region.  Northeast directors are effective stewards of the funding and we will continue to act in this spirit with respect to the NRSP portfolio.

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CMREC Clarksville – Alan Leslie

• Center Director Alan Leslie gave a presentation on the CMREC property and new building, which opened in December 2024.

• Additional comments from Puneet Srivastava:

  • Maryland On-site Wastewater Association has used CMREC to hold demonstrations.

  • 900+ acres for cropland, 260 acres wooded (used for forestry extension program development).

  • CMREC houses a state-of-the-art weather station.

• Challenges at CMREC:  Balancing all the activities

  • Need to work on diversifying the farms, but the building helps to explore new possibilities.

  • No system in place for charging for research plots – the station has examined what that would look like, but it works as is for now.

  • Deer pose a great challenge along wooded property lines, areas along property boundaries are not farmed.

  • Commuting to and from home/campus is a challenge.  There is no housing at field stations – the state of Maryland considers its drive times between sites to be “same day.”

  • Smell of the dairy seldom affects neighboring residents.

  • Howard County is the seventh most affluent county in America.  The green space of CMREC is enjoyed and valued, but land is a prime site for real estate development.

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Work Session:  Innovation in the Field / Opportunities and Challenges Posed by Field Stations

• Opportunity:  Facilitating corporate interactions; building partnerships with corporate entities to enhance usefulness of our sites.

• Removing corporate-university barriers; e.g. legal and policy barriers (NDA, MTA).

• Public-private partnerships and also Public-nonprofit partnerships.

• Truly integrated research-extension units.

• UMass has extension educators, also has extension Professors who do more applied research.  A bridge between extension educators and tenure track faculty.

• Chris Smart asked the group about  “NASA Acres” (https://www.nasaacres.org/) – what if we had a group in the northeast Region examining agricultural impact and watershed management?  High interest from NASA in collaborating with Land-grant institutions.

  • Satellite / remote sensing / imaging technologies on regional research plots:  what inputs are causing what outputs?

  • NASA Acres hub is currently at Univ of Maryland.

  • The region is interested (WVU, UNH, UMD, Cornell).  Further discussion is expected among agInnovation Northeast.

• Challenge:  Need to improve connections and communications between branch stations and main campus faculty. 

• A Center provides a mechanism for uniformity in health/safety compliance and training.

• Faculty need to know where money comes from – treat capacity funds like grants

  • PSU has done this for faculty.

• Challenge:  Central Admin needs continuing education on capacity funds.

• agInnovation Northeast can aggregate business practices from our stations.

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Lewis/Burke-APLU Follow up (Bridget Krieger and Doug Steele)

• New NIFA Director Jaye Hamby

• Retirement of Chavonda Jacobs-Young

• Legislators of both parties were not aware of high-level personnel changes at NIFA.

• Undersecretary leadership at agencies is yet to fall into place.

• March 14:  Continuing resolution was extended for the year at FY24 levels.

• Bridget Krieger encouraged the group to contact her with questions, concerns, and/or updates.  (bridget@lewis-burke.com).

• FY26 appropriations:  a “Skinny budget” proposal is anticipated for voting in mid-April.  This still needs to be reviewed and approved by Congress.

• Grant RFAs will hopefully be released in May.

• Return to office enforcement is inconsistent and policy is unknown at NIFA.

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agInnovation Future discussion items

• Capacity Funds Whitepaper:  Compiling strategies for deployment of capacity funds under the terms and conditions of NIFA.

• Workload Planning comparison and best practices

• The contemporary ag experiment station

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The meeting adjourned at 5:00 pm Eastern Time.

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agInnovation Northeast Spring Meeting
March 26, 2025
University of Maryland
Central Maryland Research and Education Center – Clarksville Facility
Ellicott City, MD

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In attendance:  Wendie Cohick (Chair-New Jersey), Jason Hubbart (Vice Chair-West Virginia), Eric Bishop von Wettberg (Officer at large-Vermont), Anton Bekkerman (Past Chair-New Hampshire), Puneet Srivastava (Maryland), Chris Smart (New York-Geneva), Blair Siegfried (Pennsylvania), Beth Gugino (Pennsylvania), Gretta Tritch Roman (Pennsylvania), Margaret Smith (New York-Ithaca), Rubie Mize (Maryland), Josh Kohut (New Jersey), Lindsay Triplett (Connecticut-New Haven), Lynne McLandsborough (Massachusetts), Vagner Benedito (Maryland Eastern Shore), Rick Rhodes (agInnovation Northeast), David Leibovitz (agInnovation Northeast)

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Anticipating Change:  Responses to a Brave New World

• Rhode Island $66M USAID award cancelled, 11 associated grant-funded positions were terminated and personnel were laid off. 

• Penn State:  30 days severance is awarded to suddenly terminated employees; Cornell has paid out severance, URI has not paid severance.

• PSU is currently committed to ~$600k in subawards for Feed the Future (USAID) grants

• Messaging from Penn State administration reflects “keeping head down”; a reassurance that “Trust us, PSU is doing something”.

• Tight control from Government Affairs and legal offices on allowable messaging across the region.

• Rutgers is allowed to discuss services provided by the university to those affected by cuts; listening sessions, Zoom office hours are held with central administrators.  Currently drafting a bridging document for grad students and post-docs affected by cuts.

• agInnovation is positioned to take the lead on an appropriate re-framing of the “climate change” buzzword to ensure that the work does not change.

• UMD is holding a Climate Change symposium to connect faculty working in this space and share experiences.

• Inflation Reduction Act projects may be targeted in the future.

• Rutgers had a multi-year DOE project in offshore wind; DOE is communicating that the project will continue into next budget period.

• VPR messaging:

  • UMD recommends spending money as planned; contracts need to be honored, legal action will be taken otherwise.  Currently under a hiring freeze.  ICE policy at University of Maryland requires people not to speak to agents; call police or supervisory counsel if a visit happens.

  • URI froze overhead and cut USAID personnel but recommends continuing spending grant funds.  Overhead freeze has caused hesitancy among faculty to write grants.

  • UMass recommends spending money as planned, and encourages faculty to apply for grants.  Apply pressure to agencies, demonstrate commitment, apply.

  • UNH encourages the same as UMass, although faculty are reticent to spend time writing grants.  Working to strike a balance between solving problems and empathy.  “We get it, and here’s what we’re doing…”  UNH is also under a hiring pause.

  • WVU recommends staying the course with spending, encouraging people to submit proposals, avoid buzzwords in reporting/proposal writing (e.g., DEI, environmental justice).  Internal studies are ongoing to prepare for changes (e.g., What if we experienced a stoppage of capacity funds?)  Weekly meetings are held between Deans/Associates/Research Office/Provost/Legal.

  • Rutgers recommending continuing spending, but conversations in confidence with Finance say, “be careful.”

  • Cornell AES – J1 visa holders feel threatened.  Administrators and visa holders hold monthly meetings to discuss issues; Office of General Counsel is willing to write letters in defense of the visa holder.

  • UMES – there is a policy in place for what happens if ICE arrives on campus/if one is targeted by ICE?  Fulbright and J1 Visas have all been made aware.

  • Multiple institutions report that surveys from federal agencies are circulating, asking PIs for supplemental information that may not be relevant to the intent of the grant or the funding agency (e.g. does a project help national security? Is work compliant with Executive Orders?) – recommendation across the board is to not sign.

  • The uncertain future of academia affects graduate school applications at WVU.

  • UMass has rescinded financial offers to graduate students.

  • Graduate students are more expensive than post docs; PSU requires non-tenured faculty to mentor.

  • Rutgers grad students are unionized, stipends range from $41k-46k.

  • All: May need to reconsider our framing of faculty expectations (mentoring, publishing).

  • Cornell AgriTech - Summer undergraduate internship program is no longer allowed.  The program was funded by USDA REU and traditionally involves tribal students. 

  • Executive Branch is “taxing” endowments of targeted institutions, Cornell has been targeted.

  • Rutgers USDA Work stoppage – there is a person in a position of being paid but they are unable work and may need to be hired by Rutgers.

  • USDA Next Gen is asking institutions to commit to paying awards if funds end up frozen or cancelled.

  • PSU, Rutgers have an inbox for federally related issues that go to central administration units.  There is a dashboard to view affected people and projects at-a-glance.

  • UVM – targeted buzzwords are under scrutiny in response to Executive Orders, faculty are encouraged to continue writing grants.  Vermont is forming a grad student union ($27.5k-31k stipends under negotiation)

  • UMES – March 1st scare on 1890s scholarship program affected UMES but the scholarships were reinstated same day.  All activities at 1890s are inherently linked to DEI regardless of language used.  Center of Excellence in Climate; NOAA conference traditionally hosted there, NOAA employees could only attend in personal capacities.  “Climate change” pivot suggestion from UMES:  “adverse weather events”.

  • We are being forced to examine things that have been problems for a long time.  The public perception of academia needs to be seen in part as a failure of academia.  We have an opportunity to find our new voice.

  • All are encouraged to share campus/university experiences, climate, and impacts with agInnovation NE and APLU BAA government affairs consultant (Bridget Krieger, Lewis Burke Associates)

  • agInnovation NE will circulate a form for reporting impacts of federal changes to the region via SurveyMonkey or similar, feedback does not need to be submitted via email.  We will continue to aggregate and report to the region.

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Asset Mapping using Large Language Models (Sam Carton, University of New Hampshire) (presentation to posted on the agInnovation website at Workroom > Agenda/Minutes)

• Sam Carton has been using large language models to examine the northeast multistate portfolio using USDA capacity reporting data.  (~1,000 projects)

• Identifying who does what work, where, across the region?

• Dataset:  951 AES project descriptions, 15 Northeast stations, Title, project descriptions, several other fields

• Objectives:  19 key topics of interest, 3 broad categories

  • Develop resilient, sustainable and equitable food systems

  • Lead effective adaptation and mitigation for our changing climate

  • Promote environmental, human, animal, and community health and well-being

• Large Language Models (LLM):  “Text completion models” trained on internet-derived text to respond to queries in a realistic manner.

• Prompting approach:  “in-context learning” where no real training is required and the model is manipulated via “prompting”.

• Data validation process:  examine a random sample of decisions yielded by the model and score their how justification.

• May want to consider separating keywords that refer to “central” topics vs “tangential” topics, e.g. “sustainable agriculture” can be a tangential buzzword to many different project topics.

• This data sheds light on both potential collaborations, and areas of strength across the NE region.  A big help for telling our story, grounded in the NE agenda.  This tool could help us identify areas of overlap, as well as gaps in areas where we need to begin working.

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Northeast Agricultural Technology Corridor Initiative (Penn State) (presentation is posted on the agInnovation website Spring Meeting Materials page)

• Gretta Tritch Roman presented on the Northeast Agricultural Technology Corridor Initiative (click to view slides)

• PSU College of Ag has been assigned to coordinate “technology in agriculture and living systems”, a PA state initiative.

• State of PA considers Penn State to be the “ag group” for the state; industry groups working in robotics, AI are considered to be engineering.

• There is an opportunity for this to be a regional coordination effort beyond PA, across the Northeast region:  A corridor for agricultural technology that is specific to this region.

• Ag Tech Initiative was launched in Jan 2024 by PSU.  Key concepts for PSU:

  • Balancing production w/ environmental conservation.

  • How do research/education centers fit in?

  • How to engage w/ manufacturers?

• Strengths:  proximity -  to rural/urban areas, manufacturing, nonprofits, stakeholders, economic development groups

• Broad definition of ag technology – robotics, biotechnology, energy, food safety

• The ultimate goal would be to have a regional grant to support ag technology development in the northeast.

• Penn State is seeking input and participation from around the Northeast region

• Is this an opportunity for agInnovation NE to deploy funds for a planning grant or workshop?  Can we create a consortium?

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The meeting adjourned at 12:15 pm Eastern Time.