Research Grants

Undergraduate Research Grants

Each year, the College of Agriculture offers competitive undergraduate research grants to support the engagement of undergraduate students in faculty-mentored research. Research can be in any area of study in the College of Agriculture, but projects must be under the direction of a College of Agriculture faculty member. Multidisciplinary projects are encouraged. Student investigators should take the lead on proposals with guidance from faculty advisors. Multiple proposals with the same faculty advisor(s) must be independent projects. Faculty mentors may submit a maximum of two proposals. Where applicable, reports from previously funded College of Agriculture undergraduate research grants must be attached, including verification of participation in a College of Agriculture or LSU sponsored poster competition. Grants will be administered in the department/school with the assistance of cost center managers (CCMs). The number of grants awarded will depend on the availability of funds in Millard Perkins Endowment.

There are two award types:

Level 1

The College of Agriculture’s Millard Perkins Endowment funds Level 1 awards and is limited to a maximum of $3,000 per grant. Students must have a minimum 2.5 GPA to apply for Level 1 funding. Funds may be used for supplies, operating services, and travel (i.e., any non-personnel expenses). Funds may not be used for salaries or wages for College of Agriculture students. Students may receive academic credit under appropriate research or special topic courses within a unit.

Level 2

The LSU AgCenter will provide additional support to those undergraduate researchers receiving awards. These students can earn a maximum of $4,000 at an hourly wage and schedule, including summer employment, agreed upon by the student and faculty mentor(s). In order to qualify for this support, undergraduate researchers must be a College of Agriculture student, have a minimum LSU GPA of 3.00 with at least 30 hours of earned degree credit and meet the LSU AgCenter hiring eligibility requirements. This is not a requirement to participate in the College of Agriculture’s competitive grant program and students can choose only to receive the research funding without employment (Level 1). Selection of successful candidates to receive LSU AgCenter Level 2 funding will occur separately (using the same nomination materials) after the College of Agriculture has completed its process.

2025-26 Grant Application Information

Proposals will be evaluated and ranked by a faculty committee. Funding amounts are determined by this ranking. Key dates are listed below:

Application Opens: January 1, 2025
Application Deadline: February 1, 2025 (submit electronically to Jonathan Thomas at [email protected])
Award Notification: March 1, 2025
Grant Funding Period: March 15, 2025 to March 15, 2026

Title Page - 1 page
1. Title
2. Beginning and ending date
3. Type of Award: Level 1; Level 2; Levels 1 & 2
4. Student Investigator(s) Names and Signature(s)
5. Faculty Supervisor(s) Name, Department, and Signature(s)
6. Department Head Signature
Project Description - 3 pages maximum
1. Introduction
2. Objectives
3. Procedures/Methodology
4. Timeline of project
5. Significance
References Cited - 1 page
Proposed Budget* (with narrative) - 1 page
*Level 2: additional budget page and narrative, description of work for student wages
Student Resume(s)* - 1 page/student
*Level 2: must include undergraduate researcher(s)’ current LSU GPA and degree credit hours earned
Previous Support - For each person involved in the proposed project, list previous College of Agriculture undergraduate research grants received in the last five years and attach copies of the final reports from these grants.

*For Level 2 funding, be sure to include the required information in Parts IV & V above.

Final Report - a full report of results, including proposed presentations, publications and possible patents must be submitted to the Jonathan Thomas (Student Services Coordinator) [email protected], within 30 days of the completion of the research (ending date of grant).
Financial Statement - a complete financial statement must also be submitted with the final report.
Poster - a large format, laminated poster of the project is strongly encouraged
- Poster details will be provided at a later date. Level 1 funds may be used for poster printing costs.
Researcher participation in pre & post-research promotional video interviews for College of Agriculture is required.
- Video footage will be collected and edited by College of Agriculture staff, researcher must have availability to coordinate filming. (Approximately 2 hours total)
Researcher participation at a spring event is required (e.g., College of Ag Open House during Spring Invitational or LSU Discover Day). (1-2 hour time commitment)
- Details about the event will be provided in January of the award year.

VIEW LIST OF FACUlTY ADVISORS

College of Ag Research Grant Recipients

Name	Major	Title	Faculty Advisor
Ashton Dalton	Animal Sciences	Comparison of the efficiency of electroporation and microinjection delivery of CRISPR mediated gene editing tools in bovine zygotes.	Kenneth Bondioloi
Daniel DeButts	Natural Resource Ecology and Management	Significance of different soil types on Pinus taeda and Pinus palustris volatile production	Todd Johnson
Madeleine Gess	Natural Resource Ecology & Management	Red bellied woodpeckers as a selective predator of wood duck eggs in mixed-species clutches	Kevin Ringelman
Jennifer Haase	Natural Resource Ecology & Management	Investigating Co-occurrences between Freshwater Mussel and Host Fish Species	Garrett Hopper
Owen Nassif	Natural Resource Ecology & Management	Testing whole-plant hydraulic conductance as a phenotyping tool for loblolly pine	Brett Wolfe
Daniel Ordeneaux	Nutrition and Food Sciences	Air-fried crispy bell peppers as a healthy snack: Development and evaluation of physicochemical properties, consumer acceptance, product-elicited emotion, and purchase intent	Witoon Prinyawiwatkul
Martha Rigney	Textiles, Apparel, and Merchandising	Enhancing accessibility and digital foot of the LSU Textile & Costume Museum	Michael Mamp
Carlos Sandoval	Business Administration	Unraveling precision farming's profit harvest in the bayou state	Raghav Goyal

Name	Major	Title	Faculty Advisor
Corinne Bosch	Nutrition and Food Sciences	Dietary Restrictions and Accommodations and the Effects on College Students at LSU	Erin Mckinley  / Kritee Niroula
Payton Floyed	Plant and Soil Sciences	Influence of Environmental Conditions on Shelter Tube Construction in the Formosan Subterranean Termite	Qian Sun
Myriel Green	Animal Sciences	Investigation of Menadione as a Wood Preservative Against Subterranean Termites	Qian Sun
Allison Hamilton	Biological Sciences	Functional Characterization of the beta-1,6-glucan Synthase Gene, KRE11,in Magnaporthe oryzae	Ely Oliveira-Garcia
Jack Rogers	Natural Resource Ecology and Management	Avian Niche Partitioning of Rice and Crawfish Agriculture In Southwestern Louisiana	Kevin Ringelman
Alondra Torres	Animal Sciences	Comparing Transfection Efficiency of Different Methods in Two Cell Types Through GFP	Richard Cooper
Aris Williams	Plant and Soil Systems	Organic and Synthetic Nitrogen Rates Impact Processing Quality of Louisiana-grown Tea	Yan Chen
Ashton Dalton	Animal Sciences	Sucrose Acetate Isobutyrate for Delivery of a Single Intramuscular Injection of Follicle Stimulating Hormone for Follicular Stimulation in Beef Cattle	Kenneth Bondioli
Samuel Elliot	Marine Biology	The Effects of Fungal Endophytes on the Growth of Phragmites australis	Vinson Doyle
Lucinda Thorburn	Animal Sciences	Changes in follicular fluid hormones and metabolome in response to intraovarian injection of prolactin in the anestrous mare	Erin Oberhaus
Brennan Ruppert	Plant and Soil Systems	Morphometric cultivar evaluation of greenhouse grown Cannabis sativa (CBD) for essential oil production	Babitha Jampala, Heather Kirk-Ballard, and Samiel des Bordes

Name	Major	Title	Faculty Advisor
Lauren Hamilton	Natural Resource Ecology and Management	Stabilization Analysis of Soilless Substrate for Sustainable Horticulture Applications	Qinglin Wu
Jonathan Simak	Natural Resource Ecology and Management	Current water quality conditions in LSU University Lake as affected by urban environment	Yi-jun Xu
Samantha Bertrand	Textiles, Apparel and Merchandising	The Application of Experimental Pattern making to Increase Utilization and Creative Potential of American Alligator Leather	Casey Stannard
Susan Lindrew	Textiles, Apparel and Merchandising	The Application of Experimental Pattern making to Increase Utilization and Creative Potential of American Alligator Leather	Casey Stannard
Gabrielle Bellelo	Plant Pathology and Crop Physiology	Within-field variability of spore counts of Cercospora cf. flagellairs, the cause of Cercospora leaf blight of soybean	Casey Stannard
Thomas Murphrey	Nutrition and Food Sciences	Examining if the Eating and Food Literacy Behavior Questionnaire has the Capacity to Distinguish Between University Students Assumed to have High and Low Food Literacy (With and Without Formal Nutrition-Related Training)	Georgianna Tuuri
Mackenzie Trotter	Natural Resource Ecology and Management	Examination of the Welfare and Stabilization of LSU’s Population of Community Cats	Michael Kaller
Nicholas Musso	Nutrition and Food Sciences	Reduction of Waste/Byproduct from Catfish Processing: Development and Evaluation of Sensory Liking, Product- Elicited Emotion, and Purchase Intent of Flavored Catfish Crackling (Skin)	Witoon Prinyawiwatkul

Name	Major	Title	Faculty Advisor
Barre Lucy	Animal Sciences	Goat as novel model for characterizing male fertility following paternal cannabis exposure	Kenneth R. Bondioli
Bonin Caroline	Animal Sciences	Optimizing the delivery of a DNA-based vaccine for protection against Anaplasma marginale	Richard Cooper
Corsino Robert	Nutrition and Food Sciences	Antimicrobial Evaluation of Enhanced Fish Gelatin Combined with Essential Oils	Evelyn Watts
Gremillion Michelle	Natural Resource Ecology and Management	Quantifying Cytochalasin Metabolites in 75 Isolates of Xylaria necrophora, a Fungus Responsible for Taproot Decline of Soybean in the Southern United States	Vinson Doyle
Laville Hannah	Natural Resource Ecology and Management	How plant damage influences the dispersal and colonization of the salvinia weevil? Implications for biological control	Rodrigo Diaz
Little Javen	Plant and Soil Systems	Influence of Terroir on the Chemical Profile of Louisiana-Grown Tea	Yan Chen
Marshall Heidi	Natural Resource Ecology and Management	Using remote sensing to study drought tolerance in bottomland hardwood forests	Brett T. Wolfe
Miranda Katie	Natural Resource Ecology and Management	Ecology Of Black-Bellied Whistling-Ducks (Dendrocygna autumnalis) In Louisiana	Kevin Ringelman
Ngo Kieu	Biological Sciences	Analyzing the influence of menadione on the feeding and tunneling behavior of the Formosan subterranean termite	Qian Sun
Spillman Allison	Agriculture & Extension Education	The Factors Influencing Minority Students' Enrollment In The LSU College Of Agriculture	Richie Roberts/Annabelle Lang
Steudlein Harrison	Plant and Soil Systems	Effects of N Rate and Application Timing on Processing Quality of Louisiana-grown Green Tea	Yan Chen

Undergraduate Research Projects

Exploring bone die techniques to improve the visibility of microstructures

Animal sciences meets biological engineering through Ashton Dalton’s undergraduate research project.

Tagging Wood Duck Ducklings

Katie Miranda, natural ecology and management major, is working with populations of wood duck ducklings.

Measuring drought tolerance in bottomland hardwood forests

Heidi Marshall is a natural resource ecology and management wildlife major studying drought tolerance in bottomland forests by measuring cuticular conductance in 20 different plant species.

Avant-garde alligators: research in sustainable fashion

Susan Lindrew, a senior majoring in textiles, apparel and merchandising, has been working on a research project on experimental patternmaking to use the typically discarded portions of alligator hides in fashion.

Kali Elftman standing in front of tree containing ball moss

What is ball moss and how is killing other plants?

Kali Elftman is a natural resource and ecology management major researching how to control the growth of ball moss on LSU’s campus.

Michelle Germillion, a natural resource ecology and management major

Taproot decline of soybean is caused by Xylaria necrophora

Michelle Germillion is a natural resource ecology and management major studying the taproot decline of soybeans caused by Xylaria Necrophora.

LSU Discover

Each semester, LSU Discover funds at least 10 undergraduate student research projects. Students from any major are welcome to apply. With an LSU Discover Undergraduate Research Project Grant, currently enrolled, full-time LSU undergraduate students can receive funding for hourly wages, supplies, and travel related to an undergraduate research or creative project.

More about LSU DISCOVER