TY - JOUR TI - Sustainable Agriculture Undergraduate Degree Programs: A Land-Grant University Mission AU - Jacobsen, Krista AU - Niewolny, Kim AU - Schroeder-Moreno, Michelle AU - Van Horn, Mark AU - Harmon, Alison AU - Chen Fanslow, Yolanda AU - Williams, Mark AU - Parr, Damian T2 - Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development AB - There has been considerable growth in the number undergraduate degree programs in sustainable agriculture (SA) in universities and colleges across the country in the past 25 years. As a subset of this national trend, land-grant universities (LGUs) are emerging as catalysts in innovative SA program development, in part due to the LGU tripartite mission of education, extension, and research. This mission compels LGUs to develop undergraduate degree offerings to engage student, faculty, and community stakeholders who are increasingly interested in SA. In this article, which is an outcome of a gathering of faculty, staff and students from SA programs at LGUs at a workshop prior to the 4th National Sustainable Agriculture Education Association Conference in August 2011, we discuss the justification for SA programming at LGUs, the emergence of SA major and minor degrees at 11 LGUs to date, the common successes and challenges of current SA programs, strategies for improving existing SA programming, and systematic approaches for expanding SA education impact across institutional lines. We also introduce several additional topic-based articles that resulted from workshop dialogue that appear in this issue of the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, including civic engagement efforts in SA education through community-university partnerships, a critical documentation of the implicit inclusion of values into SA education, and efforts to internationalize SA curriculum. DA - 2012/6/25/ PY - 2012/6/25/ DO - 10.5304/jafscd.2012.023.004 VL - 2 IS - 3 SP - 13–26 SN - 2152-0801 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2012.023.004 KW - experiential education KW - Higher Education Challenge Grant KW - interdisciplinary education KW - land-grant universities KW - sustainable agriculture education ER - TY - JOUR TI - Internationalizing Sustainable Agriculture Education AU - Schroeder-Moreno, Michelle AU - Clark, Susan AU - Byker, Carmen AU - Zhao, Xin T2 - Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development AB - Integration of international learning experiences into sustainable agriculture (SA) educational programs represents a unique and effective approach to help students improve their global awareness and citizenship, intercultural communication, problem-solving skills, and career development. While there are challenges to establishing international educational activities in emerging SA programs, the benefits of providing students with a global perspective to the worlds' food systems far exceed those challenges. This paper formalizes key considerations and diverse approaches for developing student-centered international educational opportunities for sustainable agriculture that have been assembled from literature research and from the collective experiences of the authors. A holistic approach is described, beginning with developing strong international partnerships built on reciprocity and understanding the diversity of international learning opportunities and development considerations; establishing learning outcomes and assessment; and appreciating current opportunities and challenges. While many of the experiences and examples come from land-grant universities (LGUs), enhancing a global perspective to all types of SA programs at various institutions is vital for preparing future food system leaders to advance sustainable agriculture in the global community. The information in this paper is valuable for SA educators interested in developing new international educational opportunities and also may stimulate further communication about shared pedagogical strategies related to international SA education. DA - 2012/6/25/ PY - 2012/6/25/ DO - 10.5304/jafscd.2012.023.007 VL - 6 SP - 55-68 J2 - JAFSCD OP - SN - 2152-0801 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2012.023.007 DB - Crossref KW - agroecology KW - curriculum KW - global education KW - international collaborations KW - land-grant universities KW - study abroad KW - sustainable agriculture ER - TY - JOUR TI - Educator and Institutional Entrepreneur: Cooperative Extension and the Building of Localized Food Systems AU - Dunning, Rebecca AU - Creamer, Nancy AU - Massey Lelekacs, Joanna AU - O'Sullivan, John AU - Thraves, Tes AU - Wymore, Teisha T2 - Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development AB - Cooperative Extension Service educators work within an established network of offices throughout the United States and have the potential to tap both structural and relationship networks to foster collaboration and catalyze institutional change in food systems. The prerequisites and processes to generate systemic change, however, challenge the established logic of information transfer that has dominated Extension Service practice. This paper considers the nature of Extension's engagement in food systems both conceptually and in practice, based on a two-year train-the-trainer professional development project in North Carolina designed to support the emergence of local food systems. Extension initiatives are examined in light of two social change models: diffusion of innovations, based on knowledge transfer and spatial diffusion; and institutional change, based on inter-organizational relationships and mutually held cultural understandings. We suggest that the work of food systems change is more usefully viewed through an institutional lens, with extension educators serving as "institutional entrepreneurs" to address and leverage the concerns of the communities in which they are embedded into lasting food system change. DA - 2012/11/6/ PY - 2012/11/6/ DO - 10.5304/jafscd.2012.031.010 SP - 99-112 J2 - JAFSCD OP - SN - 2152-0801 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2012.031.010 DB - Crossref KW - community engagement KW - community food systems KW - cooperative extension service KW - diffusion KW - institutional change KW - institutional entrepreneur KW - interviews KW - local food systems KW - networks KW - North Carolina ER - TY - JOUR TI - Local Food Systems for a Healthy Population AU - Creamer, N.G. AU - Dunning, R.D. T2 - North Carolina Medical Journal DA - 2012/// PY - 2012/// VL - 73 IS - 4 SP - 310–312 ER - TY - JOUR TI - Mycorrhizal-mediated nitrogen acquisition in switchgrass under elevated temperatures and N enrichment AU - Schroeder-Moreno, Michelle S. AU - Greaver, Tara L. AU - Wang, Shuxin AU - Hu, Shujin AU - Rufty, Thomas W. T2 - GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY BIOENERGY AB - Abstract Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi ( AMF ) can perform key roles in ecosystem functioning through improving host nutrient acquisition. Nitrogen ( N ) is an essential nutrient for plant growth, however, anthropogenic N loading (e.g. crop fertilization and deposition from combustion sources) is increasing so that N now threatens ecosystem sustainability around the world by causing terrestrial and aquatic eutrophication and acidification. It is important to better understand the capacity of AMF to directly uptake N from soils and transfer it to host plants because this process may increase N recycling and retention within ecosystems. In addition to understanding the role of AMF in the N cycle in the present day it is important to understand how AMF function may change as global change proceeds. Currently the net effects of N enrichment and elevated temperature predicted with global change on AMF are unknown. In this study, we examined the effects of N enrichment by simulated N ‐deposition loading, elevated temperatures expected by future global changes and their interactions on growth and AMF ‐mediated N acquisition of switchgrass ( P anicum virgatum var. A lamo), an important species for biofuel production. Switchgrass plants were grown in microcosm units that divided mycorrhizal roots from AMF hyphae and organic residues enriched with 15 N by compartments separated by an air gap to reduce N diffusion. While AMF did not enhance switchgrass biomass, mycorrhizas significantly increased 15 N in shoots and total shoot N . Neither N enrichment nor elevated temperatures influenced this mycorrhizal‐mediated N uptake and transfer. Results from this study can aid in developing sustainable bioethanol and switchgrass production practices that are less reliant on synthetic fertilizers and more dependent on internal N recycling from AMF . DA - 2012/5// PY - 2012/5// DO - 10.1111/j.1757-1707.2011.01128.x VL - 4 IS - 3 SP - 266-276 SN - 1757-1707 KW - 15N tracer KW - arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi KW - global change KW - hyphal N transport KW - N deposition KW - sustainable biofuel production ER - TY - JOUR TI - Overview and comparison of conservation tillage practices and organic farming in Europe and North America AU - Carr, P. M. AU - Mader, P. AU - Creamer, N. G. AU - Beeby, J. S. T2 - Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems DA - 2012/// PY - 2012/// VL - 27 IS - 1 SP - 2-6 ER -