Here is this week’s news of grants or gifts to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.
Grambling State University and the City of Grambling, Louisiana, have secured $1.5 million in federal funding to support the Grambling Community Grid and Infrastructure Improvement project. The initiative aims to strengthen and modernize energy infrastructure serving both the HBCU and its surrounding community, which will greatly improve coordination and shared utility capacity in the event of severe weather, natural disasters, and other emergencies that could disrupt essential services.
Zaira Estrada-Reyes, research associate professor in the College of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources at Prairie View A&M University in Texas, received more than $65,000 in funding from the 1890 Univerisities Foundation through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Integrated Pest Management Center for a new project investigating how heat stress impacts Navajo-Churro sheep. Along with a team of undergraduate students at the HBCU, Dr. Estrada-Reyes aims to identify biological markers that can help determine which animals are more tolerant to heat stress. The findings could lead to improved livestock management practices and more sustainable agricultural solutions.
Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina received a $500,000 gift from the Cannon Family Charitable Trust to expand the HBCU’s graduate education and experiential learning opportunities. The donation includes $125,000 to help students prepare for graduate and professional school entrance exams and $375,000 to establish a summer internship program providing students with work experiences at nonprofit organizations and companies with community service-focused initiatives.
Stylianos Fakas, associate professor of food biotechnology at Alabama A&M University, secured a $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to establish the HBCU’s first research program using CRISPR, a gene-editing technology that allows scientists to make precise changes to DNA. For the program, students will study Yarrowia lipolytica, a naturally occurring yeast capable of producing oils that can be used in food products and renewable fuels. By identifying and modifying genes involved in oil production, the research team hopes to better understand how cells regulate lipid metabolism while improving oil production for food and energy applications.
