Awards in this section were selected by panels of faculty colleagues through a competitive proposal process where faculty and staff submitted a research idea, budget, and justification.
UW–Madison
Graduate student assistantships
- A collaborative initiative for continuous groundwater nitrate monitoring in western Wisconsin leveraging legacy well data and novel sensing technologies – Jingyi Huang, Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences; Jill Coleman-Wasik, Department of Plant and Earth Science (UW–River Falls). Student: Sharar Muhtasim
Research support
- Reducing nitrate leaching from dairy manure in corn silage systems – Xia Zhu-Barker, Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences. Student: Joshua Mirabella
Equipment
- Upgrades and repairs to the Kemper C2200 mounted forage harvester for research plots – Gregg Sanford, Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences
UW–Platteville
Faculty research fellowships
- Evaluating nitrogen availability from solid-liquid-separated and composted manure: phase two – Joseph Sanford, School of Agriculture
- Impact of biochar on composting dairy manure and soil health: a comparative study – Joseph Sanford, School of Agriculture
Equipment
- Expanded instrumentation for monitoring permanent pasture water quality and soil health – Dennis Busch, Pioneer Farm
- Enhancing manure management and agricultural research capacity through manure tanker equipment acquisition – Joseph Sanford, School of Agriculture
- Enhancing manure management and agricultural research capacity through investment in manure mesocosms – Joseph Sanford, School of Agriculture
UW–River Falls
Faculty research fellowships
- Understanding groundwater contamination and mitigation strategies in Wisconsin agriculture – Jill Coleman-Wasik, Department of Plant and Earth Science
Equipment
- Building water monitoring infrastructure at Mann Valley Farm – Bahareh Hassanpour, Department of Plant and Earth Science
- Obtaining a fraction collector for water sampling from soil leachate and flow-through reactors – Bahareh Hassanpour, Department of Plant and Earth Science
- Vertical tillage tool for Mann Valley Farm, research and teaching – Duane Thompson, Mann Valley Farm
UW–Madison
Graduate student assistantships
- Fluidized bed drying (FBD) vs. spray drying (SD) of liquid whey protein phospholipid concentrate (WPPC): oxidative shelf-life, in-vitro digestion, and therapeutic potential – Mark Richards, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences. Student: Crystal Qing
- Development of analytical modeling tools to assess changes to milk pricing under Federal Milk Marketing Orders – Victor Cabrera, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences. Student: Jack Myers
- Engineering beyond the brown midrib phenotype: Using tissue- and cell-type specific engineering to improve the agronomic traits of digestible brown midrib maize mutants – Rebecca Smith, Department of Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences. Student: Jane Wernow
UW–Platteville
Faculty research fellowships
- Lab to land: testing the efficacy of plant essential oils for the management of aphanomyces root rot of alfalfa in the field – Muthu Venkateshwaran, School of Agriculture
- Leveraging blockchain for data security in the dairy farm – phase 2 – Yanwei Wu, computer science and software engineering
Equipment
- Integrated data framework for Pioneer Farm: enhancing analytics and security – Xiaoguang Ma, electrical and computer engineering
UW–River Falls
Faculty research fellowships
- Feasibility assessment for establishing a choice and sensory evaluation lab (CSEL) at UW–River Falls – Md Azhar Uddin, Department of Agricultural Economics
- Further development of Dairy Forage Fractionation (DFF) equipment – Bob Zeng, Department of Agricultural Engineering Technology
Equipment
- Acquisition of a grinder-mixer to process high oleic soybeans – Duane Thompson, Mann Valley Farm
UW–Madison
Graduate student assistantships
- Genomic solutions to reduce fetal loss in dairy cattle – Francisco Peñagaricano, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences. Student: Agustín Chasco
- The antimicrobial dilemma: exploring the effects of prophylactic antimicrobials on microbial colonization and immune development in dairy calves – Lautaro Rostoll Cangiano, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences. Student: Trinidad Fernández Wallace
- Evaluating novel dietary strategies to enhance nitrogen utilization efficiency in dairy cows – Yun Jiang, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences. Student: Houhua Hu
Equipment
- Förster-Technik CalfRail System – Lautaro Rostoll Cangiano, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences.
UW–Platteville
Faculty research fellowships
- Increasing nutritional density of alfalfa through the application of locally-sourced effective microorganisms – Rich Crow, School of Agriculture
Equipment
- Demonstration feed mill – Pete Lammers, School of Agriculture
UW–River Falls
Faculty research fellowships
- Management and housing practices related to bulk tank milk butterfat and protein concentration in Wisconsin dairy herds – Maria Jose Fuenzalida, Department of Animal and Food Sciences
Equipment
- Ultracentrifuge enhances research capacity within Dairy Innovation Hub and teaching opportunities for UW-River Falls – Maria Jose Fuenzalida, Department of Animal and Food Sciences
UW–Madison
Graduate student assistantships
- Assessing the functionality of a promising new dairy ingredient (WPPC) on the health of post-menopausal women – Bradley Bolling, Department of Food Science. Student: Kevin Shih
UW–Platteville
Faculty research fellowships
- Improving the growth of alfalfa with plasma activated water: a potential eco-friendly pesticide – Zifan Wan, School of Agriculture
Equipment
- Enhancing plasma technology for food safety and sustainability via high-frequency power supply, advanced plasma reactor, and large-scale plasma-activated water system – Zifan Wan, School of Agriculture
UW–River Falls
No awards in this area in FY 26