USDA-NIFA Awards $750,000 to CDA REU Program
The Center for Digital Agriculture at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is being awarded $750,000 by the USDA-NIFA Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduates (REEU) program for a proposal titled “Digital Applications of Technology in Agriculture for Sustainable, Multidisciplinary, Accessible, Resilient, and Translatable (DATA SMART) Systems.” The funding, awarded over five years, will extend the services and opportunities offered through the CDA Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program.
CDA REU is a 10-week summer experience aimed at encouraging students to consider research careers focused on applications within agriculture, life sciences, and other biological science–related industries. This program seeks to attract students from non-PhD-granting institutions and community colleges to engage with research, extension, and educational opportunities. The CDA REU program is a joint effort funded by multiple research grants, including a previous NSF REU Site Award. This new USDA-NIFA REEU award ensures the program can continue for another 5 years.
Over the five-year period, 8 to 10 students per summer will work with a faculty mentor on a research project as well as attend professional development and enrichment seminars. Participants will also have a grad mentor to guide them throughout their experience.
The new award is overseen by Angela Green-Miller and Mohammed Kamruzzaman, professors in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences and The Grainger College of Engineering, along with CDA Managing Director Christina Tucker and Christopher Anderson of Dominican University.
The program will be housed and managed at the U. of I., with partners from Dominican University, who will use their network from the former NSF-funded Promotion of Underrepresented Minorities in Academic STEM (PUMA-STEM) Alliance program to help recruit for the CDA REU program.