For over three decades, CALS has used a portion of our capacity funds to fund research via an internal college competition. For the FY24 Hatch and multistate competition, 20 of the 36 submitted proposals were funded, for an overall funding rate of ~56%. The awardees represent PIs from nine of our 16 departments. Those proposals funded were most closely aligned with three of USDA’s national priorities as outlined below.

Important note about current and future Hatch funding levels: Including FY24, 113 projects are currently being supported by our capacity funds. Due to this high number of ongoing projects, the FY25 awards pool will be small, with around eight new awards. Furthermore, for the calendar year 2023, no end-date extensions or budget carryovers will be allowed and there will not be a FY24 capital-equipment call.

Sustainable Ag Systems and Production

Individual investigator

• Characterization of EPP1, a new plant regulator of plant-microbe symbioses, Jean-Michel Ane (Bacteriology)
• Improving reproductive management strategies for replacement dairy heifers, Paul Fricke (Animal and Dairy Sciences)
• Precision pest management of insecticide resistance, Sean Schoville (Entomology)
• Reprogramming natural product biosynthesis using directed evolution, Michael Thomas (Bacteriology)
• Black and white outside but green inside: bringing CALS into the global effort to reduce enteric methane emissions from dairy cattle through genetic selection, Kent Weigel (Animal and Dairy Sciences)
• In-season crop mapping using deep learning to support USDA NASS decision making, Zhou Zhang (Biological Systems Engineering)

Multi-disciplinary

• Diagnosis and treatment of mastitis in dairy sheep, Sarah Adcock (Animal and Dairy Sciences) and Hilario Mantovani (Animal and Dairy Sciences)
• Improving our mechanistic understanding of winter climate change on soil aggregation through examining the role of microbes across three disparate soil ecosystems in Wisconsin, Nicholas Balster (Soil Science), Anita Thompson (Biological Systems Engineering) and Zachary Freedman (Soil Science)
• Quantifying the dynamic impacts of drought on plant-pollinator interactions in Wisconsin agroecosystems, James Crall (Entomology) and Amy Trowbridge (Entomology)
• Effects of prepartal 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) on cow and calf welfare and performance during early lactation, Laura Hernandez (Animal and Dairy Sciences) and Sarah Adcock (Animal and Dairy Sciences)
• Improving crop yield estimates by adding geostationary satellite measurements to machine learning techniques Paul Stoy (Biological Systems Engineering), Mutlu Ozdogan (Forest and Wildlife Ecology) and Zhou Zhang (Biological Systems Engineering)

Energy and sustainability of natural resources

Individual investigator

• Drivers of cyanobacterial blooms across time and space in eutrophic Lake Mendota, Katherine McMahon (Bacteriology)
• A strong and stretchable cellulose film (CelloFilm) as a plastic alternative for packaging, Xuejun Pan (Biological Systems Engineering)
• Measuring the social benefits of nutrient pollution reductions in Wisconsin using integrated assessment, Daniel Phaneuf (Agricultural and Applied Economics)
• Black and white outside but green inside: bringing CALS into the global effort to reduce enteric methane emissions from dairy cattle through genetic selection, Kent Weigel (Animal and Dairy Sciences)
• Effects of repeated fire on physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of pyrogenic organic matter, Thea Whitman (Soil Science)

Multi-disciplinary

• Improving our mechanistic understanding of winter climate change on soil aggregation through examining the role of microbes across three disparate soil ecosystems in Wisconsin, Nicholas Balster (Soil Science), Anita Thompson (Biological Systems Engineering)and Zachary Freedman (Soil Science)
• Lignocellulosic nanomaterials-based flow-through electrochemical biosensors for food safety, Xuejun Pan (Biological Systems Engineering) and Sundaram Gunasekaran (Biological Systems Engineering)
• Mitigating Salmonella virulence and prevalence in broiler chickens during feed withdrawal using phage therapy, Steven Ricke (Animal and Dairy Sciences) and Vatsan Raman (Biochemistry)

Food accessibility, safety and nutrition

Individual investigator

• Genomic investigation of agricultural traits in a versatile wild yeast on the edge of domestication, Chris Hittinger (Genetics)
• Bacterial-fungal interactions microbial survival and contamination of dairy products, Nancy Keller (Plant Pathology)
• Black and white outside but green inside: bringing CALS into the global effort to reduce enteric methane emissions from dairy cattle through genetic selection, Kent Weigel (Animal and Dairy Sciences)

Multi-disciplinary

• Improving our mechanistic understanding of winter climate change on soil aggregation through examining the role of microbes across three disparate soil ecosystems in Wisconsin, Nicholas Balster (Soil Science), Anita Thompson (Biological Systems Engineering) and Zachary Freedman (Soil Science)
• The role of dietary cholesterol oxidation products in mediating host-microbe interactions in metabolic health and disease, Vanessa Leone (Animal and Dairy Sciences) and Mark Richards (Animal and Dairy Sciences)
• Lignocellulosic nanomaterials-based flow-through electrochemical biosensors for food safety, Xuejun Pan (Biological Systems Engineering) and Sundaram Gunasekaran (Biological Systems Engineering)