Issue #9 December 2022/January 2023

CESTA Students Summer of Innovation 

A group of computer science and mathematics students in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science made a two-day field trip on October 19th and 20th to the Tata Innovation Center located in the New York City. The center is part of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). TCS Pace Port hub in New York helps its clients in the US to co-create the roadmap for their business transformation journeys. Central State University has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with TCS for supporting the students and faculty members through workshops, faculty development programs, student internships and field trips. The field trip to TCS Pace Port hub was led by CSU professors, Dr. Emdad Ahmed, an Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Dr. Mengxiao Sun, an Assistant Professor of Mathematics, and Ms. Lisa Dunn, Career Specialist from the Office of Career Services.

by Tiara Bullock


The Central State University John W. Garland College of Engineering, Science, Technology, and Agriculture (JWGCESTA) interns are full of passion and creativity. On October 19, 2022, twenty students from JWGCESTA presented their summer research to Central State faculty and staff.


Between May and August of 2022, the students participated in summer internships with various companies including Montgomery County Environmental Services, Land-Grant Research Program, The Dorothy Jeanius Steam Camp of Chicago, Oregon State University, Cornell University, and many others. Through the presentations, the students demonstrated how passion-filled the field of science can be and the creativity needed to dream big and accomplish their academic goals.  


Mayaa Greene, a junior, majoring in Exercise Science minoring in Nutrition, interned with Cornell University as a Food Science Summer Scholar. Greene is adding diversity to a field where roughly only five percent of jobs are held by people of color and roughly only one percent are held by black women. “I feel like agriculture as a whole is second nature to black people,” said Greene. “Because African-American descendants were for so long the backbone and foundation for a lot of agricultural businesses to boom.”  


According to National Geographic, the term “plantation” arose as settlements in the southern United States, originally linked with colonial expansion, came to revolve around the production of agriculture. Slaves were used in innovating the land which according to Greene supports the Central State slogan, Innovation is in our DNA! 

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JOHN W. GARLAND COLLEGE OF SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY, AND AGRICULTURE AWARDED NEARLY $90,000 TO FUND DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION IN TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT


The Central State University John W. Garland College of Science, Engineering, Technology, and Agriculture (JWGCESTA) was recently awarded nearly $90,000 in funding and in-kind gifts to bolster efforts to embed diversity, equity, and inclusion in technology development.  


Eighteen universities and colleges, including Central State, will share $2.3 million from the Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN). Grants will be used to fund interdisciplinary teaching, career pipeline development, experiential learning, and network building to advance social and racial justice, climate action, cybersecurity, data equity, and human rights.    


The announcement was made at the 2022 Public Interest Tech University Network (PIT-UN) Convening, hosted by City University of New York, on Oct. 28-29.   

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CENTRAL STATE UNIVERSITY 1890 LAND-GRANT ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AND RESEARCH SCIENTIST JOINS NATIONWIDE CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING



Brandy Phipps, Ph.D., Central State University Assistant Professor and Project Leader for a recent historic $10 Million grant, joined notable leaders such as Senators Cory Booker and John Cornyn to discuss the need to invest in Sustainable Nutrition Science!


Our Health, Our Planet, Our Future: The Urgent Need to Invest in Sustainable Nutrition Science congressional briefing, hosted by the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy and the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), was held via a live virtual teleconference on January 26, 2022 from 10:00 – 11:00 a.m.


The briefing, which explored findings from a recent UCS report titled, From Silos to Systems, found that federal investments in sustainable nutrition science—research and education at the intersection of food production, climate, environment, and nutrition—are insufficient to address national burdens of diet-related disease, climate change, and environmental degradation.


The panel brought the perspectives of leading scientists, farmers, and public health professionals from around the country, who spoke to the critical importance of sustainable nutrition science in their research and practice, and who offered recommendations that can help support healthy communities across the country. Speakers included Senator Cory Booker-Chair, Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics, and Research; Senator John Cornyn, Chair, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness; and Central State University (CSU) John W. Garland College of Engineering, Science, Technology and Agriculture (JWGCESTA), Assistant Professor of Research Brandy E. Phipps, Ph.D.


Among Dr. Phipps’ many notable accomplishments at CSU was a recent $10 million award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to fund the Sustainable Agriculture Systems (SAS) project. The historic project partners the expertise and efforts of all three types of LandGrant Institutions – including College of Menominee Nation (1994 Land-Grant), Kentucky State University (1890 Land-Grant), and University of Delaware, University of Kentucky, and Mississippi State University (1862 Land-Grants).

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Dr. Phipps also provided [Witness] Testimony before the United States House Agriculture Committee, Subcommittee on Biotechnology,Horticulture, and Research, Washington D.C. (2022, July 28) on An Examination of the USDA’s Hemp Production Program. Watch

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Jayla Marvin

Publications and Awards


Pratibha Gupta, Ph.D., Research Associate Professor, Food Nutrition and Health A.R.D.P

Nutritional Biochemistry ,Nutrigenomics Expertise/Extension State Specialist, Family and Consumer Science Diabetes Empowerment Education Program (DEEP) certified-was recently published in the

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. The article, titled Impact of Virtual Heartfulness Meditation Program on Stress, Quality of Sleep, and Psychological Wellbeing during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed-Method Study was co-written by Kunal Desai 1,* , Pratibha Gupta 2 , Priti Parikh 3 and Alpa Desai.


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The John W. Garland College of Engineering, Science, Technology & Agriculture's (JWGCESTA) Bee Lab recently received a new grant titled "Interdisciplinary Studies in Science, Education, Communication and Technology: Expanding the IBC INSSECT NETwork to strengthen Diversity in STEM" from the Sloan Foundation as Sloan Grant #G-2022-19547.


The lab is managed by Hongmei Li-Byarlay, Ph.D., Research Associate Professor of Entomology / Project Director for Pollinator Health/Agricultural Research Development Program/Department of Agricultural and Life Science.


The lead institution is Penn State University. Other partnership institutions are Chowan University and the University of Maryland East Shore.


The Sloan Foundation seeks proposals for original initiatives led by outstanding individuals or teams.


JWGCESTA Receives Google Award-

As part of #Google's growing efforts to support excellent research in academia, Google awarded #CentralStateUniversity an unrestricted gift of $10,000 to the John W. Garland College of Engineering, Science, Technology, & Agriculture, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science towards the "TensorFlow Award for Machine Learning Courses”.


Associate Professor Dr. Hongmei Li-Byarlay and bee lab research student Jayla Marvin won the "Public Health Entomology for All" travel award. Jayla presented her bee research titled "Viral prevalence load on small carpenter bee among three different landscapes" at the Entomological Society of America/ Entomological Society of Canada/Entomological Society of British Columbia in Vancouver earlier this year.

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Quarterly Newsletter

Winter Illumination


The CSU Seed to Bloom Botanical and Community Garden is shining a bit brighter tonight!


The Winter Illumination kicked off the holiday season with the seasonal lights being debuted today---with special seasonal music.


Enjoy as you drive down US 42 between Xenia and Cedarville.


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Upcoming Events

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Line Dancing for Beginners

LOCATION

Central State University-Xenia YMCA-334 Progress Road

DATE AND TIME

12/12/22 3:00pm - 05/22/23 3:00pm US/Eastern
Exercise while learning to dance! For more information call Jodi Black at 937-376-6090 or email sblack@centralstate.edu.
I'll Be There!
Maybe
I Can't Make It