VOLUME 22, ISSUE 13

11/01/2022

A MESSAGE FROM OUR DEAN

Greetings, Aggies and Friends of the ACES College

I would like to take this opportunity to bring to you a very detailed newsletter with more information about programs and projects that are taking place in the college. The week of October 20th we wrapped up our NMSU Homecoming, and it was a great opportunity to see familiar faces and alumni as well as celebrating all the awardees. As per usual, the breakfast that we had for our alumni awards was outstanding, a result of the great work of the staff in the Dean’s Office here in Gerald Thomas Hall.

Last week, we hosted a visit from Jakob Lindaas and Ashley Beyer, who are from the office of Senator Martin Heinrich. They visited the college to learn more about our programs and projects, such as the work on carbon management that is included in this issue of the newsletter. We also hosted Director Manuel Otero from the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) a couple of weeks ago. We are starting to work on preparations for the summit on sustainable agriculture for arid and semi-arid areas, which we hope will take place in September of 2023. This will be a major event of global impact for NMSU, due to the global impact of the individuals that will participate. We will keep you posted about this event as it approaches.

As we head into November, we wish you all an enjoyable time in the beautiful landscapes of New Mexico and beyond.

After signing the agreement between NMSU and IICA on 10/13/2022.
(left to right) Dr. Rolando A. Flores Galarza Dean & Chief Administrative Officer from the College of ACES, Chancellor of New Mexico State University Dr. Dan Arvizu, General Director of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) Dr. Manuel Otero

Rolando A. Flores Galarza

Dean & Chief Administrative Officer

4-H

Six CES Faculty Attend the National Association of Extension 4-H Youth Development Professionals Conference

Six CES Faculty recently attended the 76^th annual NAE4-HYDP conference held in Madison, WI. New Mexico 4-H Agents were recognized both regionally and nationally for their programming. Teams won national and regional awards in Excellence in Urban 4-H Programming, Excellence in Healthy Living Programming, and the National Communicator Award in Video Programming.

Regionally, teams won awards for Citizenship in 4-H Youth Development; Educational Technology; Excellence in Ag Literacy; Excellence in Shooting Sports; Jim Kahler Excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics; and Media Presentation Package, Promotional Package – Team, Promotional Package – Individual, Radio Program, and Social Media Package/Campaign – Team.

Ryan Craig (Roosevelt County CES) received the Achievement in Service Award, Brittany Sonntag (Bernalillo County CES) the Distinguished Service Award and Teresa Dean (Doña Ana County) the Meritorious Service Award.

For more information, contact Interim Extension Department Head Dr. Laura Bittner at lbittner@nmsu.edu

AWARD ANNOUNCEMENTS

Renewal of Herb Ward Award for 2022 with Research Success Over Past Three Years

The C. Herb Ward Family Endowed Interdisciplinary Chair in Environmental and Water Science was established by Dr. Herb and Barbara Ward in recognition of education he received from New Mexico State University. This chair award was designed to support faculty who are engaged in environmental science and engineering with an emphasis on water technology and science, and the award started in 2019.

This chair focuses on an interdisciplinary approach, since this is not a chair for a particular field but for a particular problem in which solutions must be worked on within a team approach. The ACES Dean Rolando Flores recently renewed this award for Dr. Pei Xu in Civil Engineering Department, based on research success over the past three years. Dr. Xu shares Dr. Ward’s passion for conducting cutting-edge research on energy and environmental systems. She leads fundamental and applied research on water quality, water reuse, membrane processes, photocatalysis, resources recovery from wastewater, and renewable energy-powered water treatment and desalination systems that could significantly improve the sustainability of water-energy-environment-food systems. The goal of her research is to address critical water and energy security in arid and semi-arid regions using non-traditional water supplies such as brackish water, produced water, desalination concentrate, and industrial and municipal wastewater.

Specifically, the endowed chair position has further strengthened Dr. Xu’s collaboration with researchers at the College of ACES, such as through a USDA-funded project on sustaining groundwater and irrigated agriculture in the Southwestern United States under a changing climate. Dr. Xu’s work is to develop low-cost, selective desalination technology to treat brackish water for sustainable agriculture.

Dr. Xu leads multiple million dollars’ worth of research efforts funded by federal, state, and industry sources. She serves as the research director of the New Mexico Produced Water Research Consortium (NMPWRC) and a lead cartographer of the National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI), funded by DOE on brackish water desalination. She was selected as a Leshner Fellow on Food and Water Security by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Please contact Pei Xu at pxu@nmsu.edu for more information.

AGGIES GO GLOBAL

2022 Yangling International Agri-Science Forum

The 2022 Yangling International Agri-Science Forum was organized virtually this year. A parallel session on “Carbon sequestration and soil fertility improvement" was organized by Northwest A& F University of China on September 16, 2022. Dr Wu Pute, President and professor at Northwest A&F University, invited the College of ACES to participate in the forum. Dr. Manoj Shukla, ACES Global Program Director, attended the session and gave a talk on carbon sequestration under different land use and management systems, along with other invited presenters from Cornell University and University of Alberta.

The College of ACES has long-standing collaborations with Northwest A&F University, and several ACES faculty have been invited to participate in the forum as well as teach during the summer or winter program of the University.

For more information, contact ACES Global Initiatives Program Coordinator Dr. Manoj Shukla at shuklamk@nmsu.edu

AGRICULTURE AND WATER

Water science, water economics, and water policy issues continue to rise in importance in New Mexico as well as internationally as elevated population, income growth, and climate change magnify scarcity, shortages, and injustices in water access. This work’s first contribution is to characterize a road forward for innovations that enable better integration of water science, water economics, and water policy. Meeting water’s sustainable justice goals calls for several research innovations.

A few of the advances called for in this work include deep uncertainty management, red team reviews, innovative water rights design, valuing water infrastructure, valuing natural water retention, incentivizing water conservation, improving financial performance of rural water systems, non-price scarcity signals, better remote sensing, transboundary water benefit sharing, and water valuation. The work’s second contribution is to present a prototype basin scale hydroeconomic analysis (HEA) as a framework for integrating these above innovations when they occur. Results of the HEA show that even with a 50% shortage in a river basin’s surface water supply, 93% of total economic benefits across economic sectors can be protected if an efficient water trading system is established to move water from lower to higher valued uses when shortages occur.

For more information, contact Distinguished Professor Dr. Frank Ward at fward@nmsu.edu

ANIMAL & RANGE SCIENCES

Mackenzie Smithyman placed runner-up in the 2022 Plains Nutrition Council spring meeting in San Antonio, TX on April 16, 2022. The title of her poster was “Effects of a supplemental water source and trace-mineral based electrolyte drinking solution on the performance and health of newly received feedlot calves.”

In addition, Mackenzie placed first at the National ASAS meeting in Oklahoma City, OK on June 27, 2022, with her poster entitled “Effects of a supplemental water source and trace-mineral based electrolyte drinking solution on intake and blood cell count of newly received feedlot calves.”

Mackenzie’s team was 2nd at the 2022 Feedlot Boot Camp in Canyon, TX on August 8 to 12, 2022. The weeklong program covers all aspects of feedlot nutrition and management. During the program, 2-person teams formulate management plans for 800-lb steers fed through to finishing. Mackenzie was recently elected as the Graduate Student Director for the Western Section – American Society of Animal Science. Her 2-year appointment includes service on the section’s executive committee. Mackenzie Smithyman started her PhD program under the direction of Drs. Glenn Duff and Clint Loest. She will be conducting research with newly arrived, highly stressed beef calves at the Clayton Livestock Research Center.

For more information, contact Department Head Dr. Shanna Ivey at sivey@nmsu.edu

CARBON MANAGEMENT

More carbon per drop: one solution for two major issues facing dry regions

By storing carbon, soil provides natural solutions to climate change. However, soil carbon sequestration on a large scale is complex because sequestration rates vary with climatic conditions, soil types, and agricultural management. Researchers often face challenges in identifying effective carbon sequestration practices for arid and semi-arid regions because the amount, frequency, and intensity of rainfall limit plant biomass production.

NMSU researchers proposed “More Carbon Per Drop” to enhance carbon sequestration in a water-limited environment. This approach emphasizes increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by enhancing water use efficiency and soil water storage. Agricultural strategies that increase the amount and diversity of carbon inputs, improve nutrient availability for crops, and minimize soil disturbance can simultaneously sequester soil carbon and enhance soil water storage. Strategies for enhancing SOC sequestration while increasing soil water storage can benefit farmers in arid and semi-arid regions because they have a net-zero or negative C footprint.

For more information on this approach, visit the full article https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17583004.2022.2117082 or contact Rajan Ghimire via email rghimire@nmsu.edu

COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE

As the New Mexico Cooperative Extension Service (CES) considers the most emergent challenges faced by our state, additional specialist positions will be critical to developing programs and providing resources to our communities. CES will be requesting funding from the NM Legislature to support four additional specialists.

A Water Conservation Specialist will provide leadership in science-based extension education programming for agricultural producers and other water users. An Energy Specialist will provide programming in renewable energy and energy efficiency in an unbiased manner. This position will cover residential, agricultural, and commercial energy areas of interest. An Agricultural and Natural Resources Policy Specialist will provide programming to aid stakeholders in the interpretation of federal, state and county statutes, regulation and policy regarding water, land management, the environment, agricultural production, and estate planning. A 4-H STEM Extension Specialist will foster quality science learning, promoting science literacy to youth and generate interest in and awareness of science-related education opportunities and careers.

For more information, contact Associate Director Bruce Hinrichs at bhinrinch@nmsu.edu

HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH

In recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month, New Mexico State University hosted NMSU Leads: Celebratory Symposium, Empowering Student Success at Hispanic-Serving Institutions through Regional and National Programs, which will feature NMSU’s leadership of programs that have cultivated undergraduate student achievement at HSIs in New Mexico and the country.

The event was held on Friday, Oct. 14 at Domenici Hall, Room 102.

“As one of the nation’s first Hispanic-serving institutions of higher education, NMSU has a rich tradition of supporting student success through externally funded programs with impact at the regional and national level,” said Elba Serrano, Regents professor and principal investigator for the National Science Foundation HSI National STEM Education Resource Hub at NMSU.

College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences Dean Rolando A. Flores Galarza moderated a session with speakers Martha Estrada, program director for the College Assistance Migrant Program, along with Marin representing TRIO programs and Serrano representing the NSF HSI National STEM Education Resource Hub.

For more information email vpeid@nmsu.edu or hsihub-admin@nmsu.edu.

INNOVATIVE MEDIA, RESEARCH AND EXTENSION

The popular educational games Game Over Gopher, Gate, Ratio Rumble, Pearl Diver and Monster Schoolbus are back online! Middle school math learners can play the full suite of games at mathsnacks.org.

In two NSF-funded projects since 2009, the Department of Innovative Media, Research and Extension and its Learning Games Lab have partnered with mathematicians and education researchers to create a series of games and animations addressing key math concepts for the middle grades. Math Snacks games and animations have been played more than 26 million times since 2011.

In January 2021, the original suite of Math Snacks games went offline, along with other Adobe Flash content on the web, when browsers stopped supporting the Flash plugin. The NMSU ACES team was already hard at work reprogramming the games for the modern web, including updating accessibility features. The five original games were redesigned and re-released one by one, starting with Monster Schoolbus and ending with Gate, re-released this month.

The Math Snacks suite also includes three pre-algebra games: Agrinautica, Curse Reverse, and Creature Caverns, produced as part of a 2015 NSF grant, as well as educational animations, comics, and teacher support materials.

For more information, contact Barbara Chamberlin at bchamber@nmsu.edu.

NMSU PROVOST SEARCH

NMSU has launched a national search for the university’s next provost and chief academic officer.The provost will report to the chancellor while overseeing the university's mission according to NMSU LEADS 2025 strategic plan. The campus community may nominate candidates.

More information, including a search profile, can be found here. Rolando A. Flores Galarza, dean of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, will serve as chair. Interim Provost Dorothy Campbell will serve as a senior adviser for the committee.

NMSU is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer committed to assembling a diverse, broadly trained faculty and staff. Women, minorities, people with disabilities, and veterans are strongly encouraged to apply.

PLANT & ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Plant & Environmental and Water Science Student Becomes a Professor

This fall Dr. Naima Khan is teaching classes and starting a tenure track position as Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University – Commerce. Naima came to NMSU from Bangladesh in 2013 to pursue a MS in Water Science & Management (WSM), and she worked with Dr. Kenneth "KC" Carroll (Plant and Environmental Science Dept.) on chemical analysis of volatile organics in produced water from fractured shale formations within the Permian Basin. Upon completion of her MS, Naima continued until 2018 to complete her PhD in WSM, also with Dr. Carroll.

For her dissertation, she examined 1) aqueous cyclodextrin inclusion complex binding of 1,4-dioxane, chlorinated co-contaminants, and ozone; 2) cyclodextrin-enhanced 1,4-dioxane treatment kinetics; and 3) a new natural attenuation method for contaminant remediation reagent delivery assessment, which was a series of papers that developed the subsurface water treatment for the contaminant 1,4-dioxane. Dr. Khan continued at NMSU for a postdoc (focused on per and polyfluoroalkyl substances [PFAS] in water and soils), and then worked briefly for the NM Environment Department before moving to her new position at TAMU – Commerce. Among many awards and accomplishments while at NMSU, Naima received the Outstanding Graduate Student Paper Award both the PhD and MS levels through the Plant and Environmental Sciences Dept. in 2018 and 2016.

We are proud of Dr. Khan and look forward to watching her career develop further in the future.

Please contact Kenneth C. Carroll at kccarr@nmsu.edu for more information.

SCHOOL OF HOTEL, RESTAURANT AND TOURISM MANAGEMENT

The School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management Takes Students Places

The School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management is dedicated to being a department that “will take you places.” Beyond our mission to provide an educational foundation, we believe in the value of what travel can teach us about culture, the global nature of this industry, and what internship and employment opportunities are available.

Each year we take students to the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago and the Hotel Experience in NYC. They can enroll in our study abroad to Florence, Italy each summer. Just this month, six students attended the Latino Hotel Association Show in Dallas, sponsored by LHA CEO Lynette Montoya, from Santa Fe, and working with two HRTM alumni that attended the show last year and now help organized the conference. Seven students just returned from the National Society of Minorities in Hospitality conference in Miami, which included sessions with industry leaders and a job fair.

Please contact, Dr. Jean Hertzman at jhertzma@nmsu.edu for more information.

Dr. Betsy Stringam, students and alumni at the LHA Conference

HRTM faculty, staff, and students at our booth at the National Restaurant Association Show

HRTM faculty, staff, and students at our booth at The Hotel Experience

OBITUARY

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Bobby Joe Rankin of Las Cruces, New Mexico, born in Wills Point, Texas, who passed away on October 13, 2022, at the age of 90, leaving to mourn family and friends. Leave a sympathy message to the family on the memorial page of Bobby Joe Rankin to pay them a last tribute.

He was predeceased by his parents, Joe Maxie (JK) and Mattie Lou Rankin (Harris); his wife Margie Ann Bond; and his sisters, Lue Jean Beck and Elizabeth Charlyne Sledge. He is survived by his daughters, Trina Davis (Bruce) of Springer, NM and Amy Rankin (Doug Pickett) of Taos, NM; and his grandsons, Benjamin Rankin Davis (Rachel) and John Damon Davis. He is also survived by friends and family.

A funeral service was held on Friday, October 21st 2022 at 11:30 AM at the Springer Methodist Church.

Should anyone like to make a memorial donation, Bobby requested they be made to: NMSU Foundation – Bobby Rankin Judging Team Endowed Fund (PO Box 3590, Las Cruces NM 88005), First Presbyterian Church of Las Cruces (200 E. Boutz Rd, Las Cruces 88005), The Ranches (NM Boys and Girls Ranch Foundation – theranches.org), or Cattlegrowers Foundation, Inc.(cattlegrowersfoundation.org).

COLLEGE OF ACES MAGAZINE – FALL 2022 ISSUE

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SUSTAINABLE SOUTHWEST BEEF CAP NEWSLETTER

To view the Sustainable Southwest Beef CAP Newsletter click on the link below: Newsletters | Southwest Beef

ACES NEWSLETTERS

To view previous ACES Newsletters click on the following link: Newsletter | New Mexico State University - BE BOLD. Shape the Future. (nmsu.edu)

OPEN POSITIONS

For available vacant positions in the College of ACES, please visit New Mexico State University Applicant Portal | Home (nmsu.edu)

The College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences is an engine for economic and community development in New Mexico, improving the lives of New Mexicans through academic, research, and Extension programs.