ARS: Making a Difference

NACOP Training WorkshopRising to the Challenge – Soaring to New Heights

August 18, 2010, Norman OKKate O’Hara

Making a Difference

Being Different …

Making a Difference

A Whole Lot of Science Goin’ On ARS Facts:

• 21 National Programs• 1,100+ projects • 2,000+ Ph.D.

researchers• 100+ laboratories

(national/international)

Presentation Time:

• 6 – 8 hours• 1.5 hours

• 30 minutes

• Topic choices must be made

Making a Difference

Any Time You Shop for ProduceYou are very likely buying a product of ARS research

Without it Wheat yields would not have

doubled Milk production per cow would not

have tripled You’d be paying much more for food

than you do today Your choices would be far more

limited

Federally funded agricultural research is so successful that $1.35 is returned to the taxpayer for every dollar spent on it.

Making a Difference

Or … Use

ethanol for gas

Need an IV solution

Pour salad dressing from a bottle

Making a Difference

Buy a loaf of bread

Drink a glass of orange juice or lactose-free milk

Use biodegradable packing or utensils

Or…

Making a Difference

Eat, read or drive a soybean

Or…

Say WHAT?

Biodiesel Printing inks Foods Lipstick Flooring Cleaners

Making a Difference

Four Regional Research Centers, strategically located to make a difference by finding new uses for crops.

Rising to the Challenge in the Past

SRRC

ERRC

NCAUR

WRRC

Making a Difference

Cotton: “The fabric of your life”

Flame-retardant finishes

Treatments for cotton textiles

Stretch cotton

Wash-and-wear cotton / wrinkle-free Freedom from the

tedium of the ironing board!!

Graphic credits: Woman ironing – blogs.ktk985.com / Pajamas – oldpatterns.com / Foot soldiers - news.bbc.co.uk

Making a Difference

“I do not have ADD, I just you ride your ironing board?”

Other kinds of freedom from the tedium.

Graphic credits: Board surfing woman - flatrock.org.nz / other – extremeironing.com

Making a Difference

Less Time in the Kitchen for Some…Early TV dinners

were praised more for the convenience

than the taste.

Graphic credits: TV dinner ad - adclassix.com / Frozen foods – ars.usda.gov

Cause of off-flavors and curdling

Sensitivity to storage temperature fluctuations

Quick blanching for improved texture and taste of fruits/vegetables

Improved nutritional value

Making a Difference

More Time in the Kitchen for Others.

“The Agricultural Research Service of the USDA has been one of our greatest sources of assistance and has unfailingly and generously answered all sorts of technical questions from food to plastic bowls.”

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Julia Child, et.al. first published 1961

Graphic credits: Julia & Julia - fyraften.nu / Julia Childs kitchen - therealestatebloggers.com / Cookbook cover - coverbrowser.com

Making a Difference

Americans Love Their Spuds(Peeling their spuds, not so much.)

New dehydration methods:

Development of potato flakes

New types of potato chips and other potato products

Graphic credits: Peeling potatoes – Life.com / Potato dishes – ars.usda.gov

Making a Difference

Opening the Era of Antibiotics

Graphic credits: ars.usda.gov / Merck ad - msd.com.ph / He will come home poster - clemson.edu

Collaborating between scientific disciplines,

institutions and countries

Finding the right microbe and the right method

Working 24/7: Enough penicillin to treat wounded Allied soldiers by June 6,

1944 – D Day

Making a Difference

Landmark Research Achievements

“Clearly represent seminal achievements in the history of chemistry.” – American Chemistry Society

National Chemical Historic Landmarks • Durable Press/Flame Resistant Cotton – New Orleans, LA• Frozen Foods – Albany CA• Dehydration Techniques – Wyndmoor, PA

International Chemical Historic Landmark • Development of Penicillin – Peoria IL

Four Regional Research Centers that continue to find new uses for crops and new ways to live sustainably

Making a Difference

Super Slurper

Absorbs 2000x its weight in water

Electrical conductor in batteries

Fuel filters Baby powders Wound dressings Disposable diapers

Making a Difference

… Revisited 30 Years Later

Targeted toward the turf, nursery, and home and garden markets, the technology is also found in Scotts “Water Smart” products

Making a Difference

Products for the Shelf

Low glycemic carbohydrate syrup

Xylitol sweetener

Wrinkle cream / sun screen

Sun butter from sunflowers

Making a Difference

Products for Business/Industry

Biodegradable hydraulic fluids and engine lubricants

Bug resistent burmuda grass -ideal for putting greens

Irradiation of red meat to kill bacteria that cause life -threatening illness

Making a Difference

Mycotoxin detection test kits for in-field use ensures safety of human food and animal feed

Injections of “good” bacteria into incubating eggs to combat Salmonella

Scientific Dairying: Higher yields from fewer cows

Products for the Farm

Making a Difference

Men Microbes @ Work

ARS Microbial Culture Collection

Nature’s “construction crew” Nearly 90,000 strains of

microbes maintained at NCAUR

Largest of its kind accessible to the public

Widely considered to be the most useful in the world

Making a Difference

The Right Microbe for the Job High throughput robotic

screening tests for the best microbe to do a job

Microbes and enzymes are bioengineered to do the customized work of breaking down and fermenting a particular feedstock, i.e. switchgrass

Scientists collaborate nationwide to identify the traits that make a feedstock usable

Making a Difference

But Do We Have A …

Graphic credits: Jetson Cartoon - occasionalsuperheroine.blogspot.com / info – Wikipedia.com

Food-a-Rac-a-Cycle?

The original Jetson’s cartoon was produced from 1962-1963 and its 24 episodes re-run for decades

It supposedly took place in 2062

Making a Difference

How can we ensure a safe food supply? How can we produce enough crops for both food

and fuel needs? Increase the nutritional value of our food and fight

childhood obesity? Adapt to a changing climate?

Rising to the Challenge of Our Future

Making a Difference

Some Listeria bacteria cause no problem – other Listeria has a high rate of hospitalization or fatality

DNA sequence-based assay identifies whether a Listeria strain is low risk or high risk

This assay has been adopted by Food Safety Inspection Service to make rapid determination

Safe Food

Graphic credits: packing plant - johnsondiversey.com

Making a Difference

Sustaining Food Crop Production

Wheat head scab A beneficial yeast offers a

“one-two punch” against the fungus that attacks the grain

Large scale production using liquid fermentation

Dried, shipped, reconstituted at the field to spray on crops

Making a Difference

Pennycress

Higher percentage of oil than soybeans

No food/fuel conflict

Grown in the off season = extra revenue for farmers

Developing a New Bioenergy Crop

Making a Difference

Healthy FoodsNatural fat replacers Oatrim can lower cholesterol and

mitigate blood-sugar levels Nutrim contains adds beneficial

insulin and glucagon response for diabetics and contributes antioxidant benefits

Z-Trim is used in school throughout the United States to meet nutritional requirements

Making a Difference

Children’s Nutrition Fresh apple slices are now

available at McDonalds, grocery stores like Traders Joe’s and the school lunch program

Making a Difference

Climate Change Affects Us All GRACEnet (Greenhouse Gas Reduction

through Agricultural Carbon Enhancement Network):

A project coordinated across 32 ARS locations to ◦ evaluate soil carbon status and

change in conventional and alternative agricultural systems

◦ determine the net greenhouse gas emissions from those systems

Making a Difference

Classroom Presentations Science Fair Mentoring/Judging Adopt – A – School Program Student Researcher Program Partners with CAT, Inc and

Bradley University Programs

Nurturing the Next Generation

Making a Difference

ARS Information Staff Resources

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/kids/Index.htm

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/np/shopcart/shopcartintro.html

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/

ARS Image Gallery

Making a Difference

Requires a challenge.

1. Become familiar with the ARS excellence from yourarea that has contributed to the “shopping cart of ourlife”.

2. Find your excellence and make a contribution tosuccess.

Rising to a Challenge …

Making a Difference

from ARS Hall of Fame Scientists 1. Be grateful. 2. Stay focused and true to your core interest. 3. When you have no role model, become the role model. 4. Don’t wait to be given what you need. If necessary, make it yourself. 5. Embrace hard work. 6. Network, network, network! From conferences to the break room;

stimulate your thinking, your creativity by interacting with those who are more. They will attract you to the top.

7. Catch the spirit of excellence. 8. Maintain diverse interests. You may be surprised how and when they

converge. 9. Never stop learning. Learn from everything. Apply what you learn. 10. Follow the Future.

10 Components of Success