May 2025 Grants and Awards
Comparative Performance of Annual and Perennial Legumes as Under-Vine Cover Crops in Virginia Vineyards
Principal Investigator:
Andrew D. Harner
Assistant Professor
Alson H. Smith, Jr. Agricultural Research and Extension Center
Agriculture Experiment Station
Total Anticipated:
$44,638
Sponsor:
Virginia Wine Board
Optimizing Management of Adult SLF in Vineyards
Principal Investigator:
Andrew D. Harner
Assistant Professor
Alson H. Smith, Jr. Agricultural Research and Extension Center
Agriculture Experiment Station
Total Anticipated:
$59,373
Sponsor:
Virginia Wine Board
Supporting Innovation with On Farm Research
Principal Investigator:
Carrie C. Ortel
Assistant Professor and Extension Soybean Agronomist
Tidewater Agricultural Research and Extension Center
Agriculture Experiment Station
Total Anticipated:
$11,213
Sponsor:
Virginia Soybean Board
Peanut Variety Quality Evaluation - Virginia Peanut Growers Association Funding
Principal Investigator:
Jacob C. Forehand
Associate Extension Specialist
Tidewater Agricultural Research and Extension Center
Agriculture Experiment Station
Total Anticipated:
$40,000
Sponsor:
Virginia Peanut Board
Improve the Efficacy of Grape Downy Mildew Management in Virginia
Principal Investigator:
Mizuho Nita
Assistant Professor
Alson H. Smith, Jr. Agricultural Research and Extension Center
Agriculture Experiment Station
Total Anticipated:
$56,000
Sponsor:
Virginia Wine Board
Preparing for Pierce's Disease-Ready Future Vineyard Operations
Principal Investigator:
Mizuho Nita
Assistant Professor
Alson H. Smith, Jr. Agricultural Research and Extension Center
Agriculture Experiment Station
Total Anticipated:
$25,117
Sponsor:
Virginia Wine Board
Understanding the Impact of Planting Date and Variety Selection on Peanut Insect Pest Management
Principal Investigator:
Timothy B. Bryant
Assistant Professor
Tidewater Agricultural Research and Extension Center
Agriculture Experiment Station
Total Anticipated:
$19,653
Sponsor:
Virginia Peanut Growers Association Inc.
Uncovering the Effects of Nutrient Restriction on Follicular Fluid Environment in Beef Cattle
Principal Investigator:
Alan D. Ealy
Horace E. and Elizabeth F. Alphin Professor of Dairy Science
School of Animal Sciences
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Total Anticipated:
$16,000
Sponsor:
Virginia Cattle Industry Board
Extending the In Vitro Embryo Culture Period to Improve Pregnancy Rates Derived from In Vitro Produced Cattle Embryos
Principal Investigator:
Alan D. Ealy
Horace E. and Elizabeth F. Alphin Professor of Dairy Science
School of Animal Sciences
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Total Anticipated:
$11,250
Sponsor:
Virginia Agricultural Council
Harvest Maturity and Postharvest Storage of Southern Apples for Cider Production
Principal Investigator:
Amanda C. Stewart
Associate Professor
Department of Food Science and Technology
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Total Anticipated:
$59,797
Sponsor:
Virginia Wine Board
Amino Acid Profiling of Virginia-Grown Apples to Improve Cider Fermentation and Flavor
Principal Investigator:
Amanda C. Stewart
Associate Professor
Department of Food Science and Technology
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Total Anticipated:
$14,793
Sponsor:
Virginia Agricultural Council
Maintain Fungicide Resistance Testing Capabilities for Grape Diseases-2025-2026
Principal Investigator:
Antonius B. Baudoin
Associate Professor Emeritus
School of Plant and Environmental Sciences
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Total Anticipated:
$9,900
Sponsor:
Virginia Wine Board
AI-Driven Continuous Monitoring Systems for Dairy Cow Health Using Milker-Implantable Sensors
Principal Investigator:
Azahar Ali
Assistant Professor
School of Animal Sciences
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Total Anticipated:
$38,185
Sponsor:
Virginia Cattle Industry Board
Integrating Genomic and Multimodal Phenomic Prediction to Enhance Soybean Breeding Strategies
Principal Investigator:
Bo Zhang
Associate Professor
School of Plant and Environmental Sciences
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Total Anticipated:
$79,767
Sponsor:
Virginia Soybean Board
Development of Improved Soybean Varieties and Germplasm Adapted to Virginia
Principal Investigator:
Bo Zhang
Associate Professor
School of Plant and Environmental Sciences
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Total Anticipated:
$77,731
Sponsor:
Virginia Soybean Board
Enhancing Experiential Learning Opportunities for High School Students at the Virginia Governor's School for Agriculture
Principal Investigator:
David B. Milliken
Collegiate Assistant Professor
Department of Agriculture, Leadership and Community Education
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Total Anticipated:
$6,616
Sponsor:
Virginia Cattle Industry Board
Assessing Post Malolactic Fermentation Red Wine Phenolics in Three Virginia Wine Varieties Over Three Vintages
Principal Investigator:
Dennis Cladis
Assistant Professor
Department of Food Science and Technology
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Total Anticipated:
$47,323
Sponsor:
Virginia Wine Board
Virginia Department of Health Memorandums of Understanding Soils Training Contract
Principal Investigator:
Philip J. Brown
Extension Specialist
School of Plant and Environmental Sciences
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Total Anticipated:
$55,000
Sponsor:
Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Health
Relationship Between Genomic-Predicted Genetic Merit in Commercial Cattle and Subsequent Maternal and Terminal Performance
Principal Investigator:
Scott P. Greiner
Professor
School of Animal Sciences
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Total Anticipated:
$38,094
Sponsor:
Virginia Cattle Industry Board
Virginia Beef Cattle University 2025
Principal Investigator:
Scott P. Greiner
Professor
School of Animal Sciences
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Total Anticipated:
$50,000
Sponsor:
Virginia Cattle Industry Board
Virginia Beef Cattle Center of Excellence- Coordinator Position
Principal Investigator:
Scott P. Greiner
Professor
School of Animal Sciences
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Total Anticipated:
$34,524
Sponsor:
Virginia Cattle Industry Board
Mining Chemical Structure Property Relationships to Inform Polymer Discovery for Enhanced Fire Performance
Principal Investigator:
Brian Y. Lattimer
Professor and Department Head
Department of Mechanical Engineering
College of Engineering
Total Anticipated:
$551,773
Sponsor:
Office of Naval Research
Generalization of the Impact of Airborne Particulates on Different Sizes of Engines
Principal Investigator:
Chang Min Son
Rolls-Royce Commonwealth Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
College of Engineering
Total Anticipated:
$300,000
Sponsor:
Rolls Royce North American Technologies Inc
Electrified Aircraft and Model-Based Systems Engineering in Air Vehicle Design Using MathWorks Tools
Principal Investigator:
Darshan Sarojini
Assistant Professor
Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering
College of Engineering
Total Anticipated:
$8,930
Sponsor:
The MathWorks Inc.
Topological Nano-Antennas for Secure and Compact Wireless Communication
Principal Investigator:
Fariborz Lohrabi Pour
Research Assistant Professor
Department of Electrical and ComputerEngineering
College of Engineering
Total Anticipated:
$30,000
Sponsor:
Virginia Microelectronics Consortium
2025 Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts - Academic Linkage
Principal Investigator:
Kevin A. Shinpaugh
Collegiate Professor
Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering
College of Engineering
Total Anticipated:
$26,000
Sponsor:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration with the National Institute of Aerospace
Support for Beavers Charitable Trust Professor of Practice
Principal Investigator:
Mark A. Widdowson
Professor and Department Head
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
College of Engineering
Total Anticipated:
$300,000
Sponsor:
Virginia Department of Transportation
Groundwater Availability in Prince William County
Principal Investigator:
Mark A. Widdowson
Professor and Department Head
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
College of Engineering
Total Anticipated:
$150,000
Sponsor:
Prince William County Public Works
Collaborative Research: IMR: MM-1B: Privacy-Preserving Data Sharing for Mobile Internet Measurement and Traffic Analytics
Principal Investigator:
Rose Qingyang Hu
Professor and Department Head
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
College of Engineering
Total Anticipated:
$180,000
Sponsor:
National Science Foundation
Examining Higher Frequency Atmospheric Tides at Ionospheric Altitudes
Principal Investigator:
Scott L. England
Associate Professor
Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering
College of Engineering
Total Anticipated:
$100,000
Sponsor:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Goddard Space Flight Center
MATH-DT: Gradient-Enhanced Deep Gaussian Processes for Optimization of Diffusive High-Speed Unsteady Mixers
Principal Investigator:
Annie S. Booth
Assistant Professor
Department of Statistics
College of Science
Total Anticipated:
$498,290
Sponsor:
National Science Foundation
Postdoctoral Position on the Experimental Neutrino Detector (END) Project
Principal Investigator:
Patrick Huber
Professor
Department of Physics
College of Science
Total Anticipated:
$171,781
Sponsor:
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Unraveling Mesoscopic Dynamics and Adaptive Design Principles in Bioinspired Lipid Membranes
Principal Investigator:
Rana Ashkar
Assistant Professor AY
Department of Physics
College of Science
Total Anticipated:
$75,000
Sponsor:
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Validation of Techniques to Improve Breeding Soundness Evaluation of Rams
Principal Investigator:
Jamie L. Stewart
Assistant Professor
Veterinary Medical Research and Graduate Studies
College of Veterinary Medicine
Total Anticipated:
$15,785
Sponsor:
Virginia Agricultural Council
2025 Virginia 4-H/FFA Market Beef Ultrasound Carcass Contest
Principal Investigator:
John K. Benner
Extension Agent
Northwest District Cooperative Extension
Director of Cooperative Extension
Total Anticipated:
$3,000
Sponsor:
Virginia Cattle Industry Board
Does Implanting Nursing Calves Impact Feeder Cattle Grades?
Principal Investigator:
John K. Benner
Extension Agent
Northwest District Cooperative Extension
Director of Cooperative Extension
Total Anticipated:
$4,000
Sponsor:
Virginia Cattle Industry Board
2025 4-H Youth Watershed Education in Westmoreland and Richmond Counties
Principal Investigator:
Wendy R. Herdman
Extension Agent
Northeast District Cooperative Extension
Director of Cooperative Extension
Total Anticipated:
2025
Sponsor:
Chesapeake Bay Restoration Advisory Committee
The Neural Basis of Decision-Making in Mindfulness Meditation
Principal Investigator:
Read Montague
Professor
Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC
Total Anticipated:
$15,000
Sponsor:
University of Southern Denmark
Albemarle Annual Economic Outlook
Principal Investigator:
John D. Moore
Research Scientist
Institute for Policy and Governance
College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences
Total Anticipated:
$100,000
Sponsor:
Albemarle County
Exploratory System Optimization Model for Cold Chain Decision Support
Principal Investigator:
Eduardo Molina Montoya
Assistant Professor
Department of Sustainable Biomaterials
College of Natural Resources and Environment
Total Anticipated:
$25,000
Sponsor:
Empowered Startups Ltd.
National Advanced Silviculture Program 19 Module 4
Principal Investigator:
John F. Munsell
Professor
Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation
College of Natural Resources and Environment
Total Anticipated:
$160,324
Sponsor:
United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service