http://www.usda.gov/2008/03/0064.xml
Release No. 0064.08
Contact:
Jennifer Martin (202)720-8188
Keith Williams (202)720-4623
USDA AWARDS MORE THAN $4 MILLION IN WEEDY AND INVASIVE SPECIES GRANTS
WASHINGTON, March 3, 2008 - Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer announced today that USDA is awarding $4.6 million to 13 universities and research labs to develop ecologically and economically rational strategies for management, control and elimination of weedy and invasive species, which cause more than $100 billion is losses each year.
The awards are administered by USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) through the National Research Initiative (NRI) Biology of Weedy and Invasive Species in Agroecosystems competitive grants program. This grant program has awarded more than $20 million in grants over the past five years.
This year, projects support integrated and basic research projects, equipment purchases, conference symposia and network development. Funded projects include research at Pennsylvania State University to establish and demonstrate effective biological control of the Canada thistle. Research at Oregon State University will develop and implement ecologically-based cropping systems that suppress summer annual weed populations in vegetable row crops. University of Wisconsin researchers will work to predict invasion of exotic species and their impact on tree regeneration and native plant diversity in Wisconsin lowland forests.
The fiscal year 2007 grants were awarded to:
Recipient State Grant Amount
University of Arkansas AR $45,000
Chapman University CA $124,955
USDA Forest Service - Rocky Mountain Research Station CO $389,179
University of Florida FL $387,327
University of Illinois IL $124,655
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center MD $287,509
USDA Agricultural Research Service MD $10,000
Mississippi State University MS $100,300
New Mexico State University NM $223,351
Miami University OH $376,940
Ohio State University OH $499,959
Oregon State University OR $487,344
Pennsylvania State University PA $500,000
Pennsylvania State University PA $324,495
University of Tennessee TN $10,000
Utah State University UT $382,896
University of Wisconsin WI $326,100
CSREES' NRI program is the largest peer-reviewed, competitive grants program at USDA. NRI supports research, extension and education grants that address key problems of national, regional and multi-state importance in sustaining all components of agriculture.
Through federal funding and leadership for research, education and extension programs, CSREES focuses on investing in science and solving critical issues impacting people's daily lives and the nation's future. For more information, visit www.csrees.usda.gov .
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