USU Engineering Professor Receives $780,000 USDA Grant for New Instrument-Driven Learning Program

Utah State University Professor Anhong Zhou has been awarded a major grant designed to help youth get more excited about agriculture and careers in food production.

The funding from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture will help Zhou and his colleagues develop new learning technologies to increase youth understanding of agricultural processes and careers through hands-on experiences using instrument-driven learning. The duration of the project is May 1, 2026, to April 30, 2029.

Zhou, a biological engineering professor at Utah State, will collaborate on the project with the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the USU Extension 4-H program to develop curriculum and kits for educators to use in local programs.

“We are enthusiastic about this opportunity for multiple departments and colleges from USU to work together in developing this hands-on agricultural STEM training program for the benefit of youth throughout Utah,” said Christopher Fox, associate dean of research for the College of Engineering.

Through non-formal education, students in 11th and 12th grade can participate in one of four agricultural tracks: dairy product processing, animal care and common disease, plant physiology and monitoring, and bio-assay and biosensors.

Students interested in diving deeper can participate in weeklong intensive certificate programs, use specialized university labs and instruments and participate in outreach programs to introduce agriculture topics to youth in their communities.

“We have long collaborated with the Utah office of STEM education to help Utah students grow food hydroponically,” said Bruce Bugbee, director of the USU Crop Physiology Laboratory and co-project director. “This new funding brings students to campus for hands-on training.”

Prateek Sharma, associate professor from the Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Sciences, will work as a co-project director to develop hands-on learning modules to train K-12 students in dairy product processing.

Students in grades K-8 can participate through afterschool and traditional 4-H clubs.

“We are excited that this proposal was funded in collaboration with Deborah Ivie, Extension faculty; Lendel Narine, program evaluator; and Joshua Dallin, executive director of the Bastian Agricultural Center,” said David Francis, director of the USU Extension 4-H Program.

Community and industrial partners have also committed to collaborating with Utah State to provide hands-on experiences for high school students participating in the program.

“This project brings together a multidisciplinary team to educate Utah’s youth about emerging technologies in agriculture and food systems,” said Zhou, the project’s principal investigator. “This serves the land-grant university mission of preparing students to meet the evolving needs of industry.”