Research Focus Areas
Active Agricultural research projects in the College of Agriculture, Science and Technology (CAST) include:
Agricultural Research
- Integrated pest management of insect pests in alfalfa
- Structured educational program to lock in students to USDA food safety profession
- Effective setbacks for controlling nutrient runoff losses from land applied poultry litter
- Utilization of poultry litter as activated carbon sources
- Teaching analytical techniques to enhance forage, soil, and water quality sciences
- Evaluation of culinary herbs and essential oils plants as high cash crops for limited resource farmers
- Recruitment of minorities into plant systematics and related plant sciences
- Undergraduate research in molecular genetics and genomics
- Plant molecular genetics and genomics
- Fungi distribution on Delmarva
- Poultry production
- Small ruminants research
- Molecular genetics and genomics of disease resistance in the common bean (Phaseoles vulgaris)
Center for Integrated Biological and Environmental Research (CIBER)
Aquaculture Research and Demonstration
The Aquaculture research and demonstration facility is the only one of its kind in Delaware. Active aquaculture research and demonstration projects include:
- Developing sustainable aquaculture for coastal and tilapia systems
- Investigation for ameliorating steroidal estrogenic hormone contamination derived from concentrated animal operations in Delaware.
- Use of the eastern freshwater mussel (Elliptio complanata) in pond water management.
- Increasing economic and environmental sustainability of aquaculture production systems through aquatic plant culture (LNE05-224).
- Baitfish aquaculture in the Mid-Atlantic.
BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH
Biomedical research at DSU, a collaborative and interdisciplinary endeavor, is primarily at the molecular, cellular and biochemical level and is focused on neuroscience, cancer biology and virology, biomedical imaging, and bioinformatics and computational biology.
Delaware IDEA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE)
Delaware Center for Neuroscience Research (COBRE)
COMPUTATIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND APPLICATIONS IN MATHEMATICS
Computational Intelligence is a growing field of interest at DSU. Recent work involves the development and analysis of algorithms, computational geometry, medical images, machine intelligence and video surveillance.
Applied Mathematics Research Center
Food, Nutrition and Dietetic Research
Food, nutrition and dietetic research is conducted in the Department of Human Ecology. Active projects include:
- Effect of Omega-3 fatty acid rich feed on lipid metabolism and expression of ApoB lipoprotein and microsomal transfer triglyceride protein genes in laying hen
- Developing and promoting recipes/products with low-glycemic index and high monounsaturated fatty acids as an intervention strategy to combat obesity and manage Type II diabetes
- Developing food safety activities for high school students to meet the changing demographics of the state of Delaware
- Preparing students for careers in nutrigenomics through integration of nutrition and molecular biology
MATERIAL SCIENCE AND RENEWABLE ENERGY
When molecular engineering and clever processing are synergistically coupled, it allows the chemist to tailor complex hybrid systems that intersect the fields of materials chemistry and renewable energy. This represents not only a new field of basic research but the development of novel advanced functional nanomaterials, which via their remarkable new properties and multifunctional nature, offer prospects for many new applications in the field of catalysis and nanotechnology.
- Center for Hydrogen Storage Research
- Center for Energy
Read About Our Chemistry Department
Natural Resources Research
Research in natural resources areas helps attract high quality graduate students to the college. Active projects include:
- Atlantic sturgeon in the Delaware River: contemporary population status and identification of spawning areas
- Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center - NOAA Educational Partnership Program
- Habitat use, depth selection, and the timing of residency for Sand tiger sharks(Carcharias taurus) in Delaware Bay
- Environmental Cooperative Science Center restoration projects at the Blackbird National Estuarine Research Reserve, DE.
- Habitat Restoration for Bats at the new Research and Conservation Center, Smyrna, Delaware
- Harmful algal roadblocks to oyster restoration-Prorocentrum minimum andKarlodinium micrum
- Community shift associated with shellfish aquaculture in two Mid- Atlantic estuaries (Indian River System and Delaware Bay)
- Nitrate reductase activity in mixed harmful algal populations from Delaware’s Inland Bays
- Oyster culture for community-based habitat restoration, water preservation and environmental conservation
- Migratory bird studies using a novel geolocator developed by the British Antartic Survey (BAS)
Textiles and Apparel Research
Textiles and Apparel research is conducted within the Department of Human Ecology. Active projects include:
- Consumer evaluation of African printed fabrics for traditional clothing
- Multi-channel retailing with an emphasis on the fashion industry
- Ecological, social, and psychological impacts of fashion business on individual’s behaviors
- From Farm to the Runway – a novel program that integrates agriculture and fashion in the training of future New York Runway Models.
OPTICAL SCIENCE CENTER FOR APPLIED RESEARCH (OSCAR)
The main goal of OSCAR is to promote multidisciplinary research and education in optics and related fields of physics, chemistry, engineering, computer science, mathematics and biology.
- Center for Research and Education in Optical Sciences and Applications (CREOSA)
- Optics for Space Technology and Applied Research Center O*STAR (O*STAR Center)
RESEARCH FUNDING AND COLLABORATIONS
Faculty in CAST have obtained research and educational funding through various agencies, such as those listed below, to support research projects and programs, establish centers and support student training. Developing partnerships with private and corporate sponsors, educational institutions, and federal and state agencies is central to sustaining viable research programs.
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Science Foundation (NSF)