Project proposals welcome for 2025 Agricultural and Food Sciences Endowment Fund

Feb 13, 2025

The Endowment Fund Committee of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences is once again seeking proposals from students, alumni, academics and support staff of the Faculty for special projects requiring funding.

The Endowment Fund, generously supported by students, alumni, staff and friends of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, aims to promote excellence through support for a wide variety of worthy projects and programs consistent with the academic goals of the Faculty. The interest generated by this fund is used to provide teaching and other resources.

Funds are available for a variety of projects, from teaching equipment and projects to student competitions and field trips. The fund has also been allocated for visiting scientists and lecturers, conferences and workshops, and library acquisitions.

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Video: Root Exudates, Soil Biology, and How Plants Recruit Microbes | Field Talk Friday

Field Talk Friday | Dr. John Murphy | Root Exudates, Soil Biology, and How Plants Recruit Microbes

Most of us spend our time managing what we can see above ground—plant height, leaf color, stand counts, and yield potential. But the deeper you dig into agronomy, the more you realize that some of the most important processes driving crop performance are happening just millimeters below the surface.

In this episode of Field Talk Friday, Dr. John Murphy continues the soil biology series by diving into one of the most fascinating topics in modern agronomy: root exudates and the role they play in shaping the microbial world around plant roots.

Roots are not passive structures simply pulling nutrients out of the soil. They are active participants in the underground ecosystem. Plants constantly release compounds into the soil—sugars, amino acids, organic acids, and other molecules—that act as both energy sources and signals for soil microbes.