Natalie Pulido presents her thesis work, “Effect of Standard Post-harvest Interventions on the Survival and Re-growth of Antibiotic-resistant Bacteria on Fresh Produce”.
Natalie Pulido presents her thesis work
Natalie Pulido presents her thesis work, “Effect of Standard Post-harvest Interventions on the Survival and Re-growth of Antibiotic-resistant Bacteria on Fresh Produce”. Natalie was our first graduate student to successfully complete her work as part of our project objectives. This study was performed to determine the survival of antibiotic-resistant bacteria on raw, peeled, carrots after washing with commonly used chemical sanitizers. Natalie’s important work is a step towards developing science-based policy towards tackling the serious threat of antibiotic resistance. Congratulations to Natalie!
American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America and Soil Science Society of America 2016 International Annual Meeting
Hanh Le, a student of Dr. Xia, recently attended the American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), and Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) 2016 International Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. She gave a presentation entitled “Effects of Manure Land Application Technologies and Timing on Environmental Fate of Four Antibiotics Commonly Used in Dairy Production”. Her presentation was awarded 2nd place for best student oral presentation award of SSSA Soils and Environmental Quality Division. Congratulations, Hanh!
Advisory Board Meeting
The Core Project Team, students, and post-docs met with Advisory Board members for our second annual meeting. Dr. Amy Pruden provided a brief overview on project progress, followed by presentations by team members on progress with each of the project objectives. The Advisory Board provided excellent targeted feedback related to data analyses and interpretation, and next steps with outreach and education efforts. It was an wonderful time of interaction and engagement, culminating in a delicious meal at a local Blacksburg restaurant.
Dumitru Branisteanu wins Employee of the Month award
From VT CALS Insights: 
Dumitru’s hard work, laughs, and engineering ‘magic’ have contributed to the success of many research efforts in our department, but he has been particularly instrumental in assisting students and faculty this year on a large interdisciplinary Farm to For effort funded by USDA-NIFA.”
Read the entire story here.
Water Reuse Symposium
Amy Pruden participated in the Water Reuse Symposium, participating in a panel discussion on the topic of Water Reclamation and Antibiotic Resistance: Where are we now?. The conference took place September 11-14 in Tampa FL.
International Water Association Microbial Ecology and Water Engineering Conference
Amy Pruden delivered a keynote lecture at the International Water Association Microbial Ecology and Water Engineering Conference. She discussed the microbial ecological processes that may either enhance or reduce the spread of antibiotic resistance genes during waste management, water treatment, and distribution. Antimicrobial Resistance in Wastewater Treatment Plants: A Call to Action. International Water Association Specialty Group on Microbial Ecology and Water Engineering. Sept. 4-6, Copenhagen, Denmark (2016- forthcoming).
252nd ACS National Meeting
Post-doctoral researcher Chaoqi Chen traveled to Philadelphia, PA, to present “Fate and Transformation of Veterinary Antibiotics in Soils”.
International Association for Food Protection
Several project team members attended the 2016 IAFP Annual Meeting in St. Louis, Missouri. Giselle Guron (below) presented her poster, titled, “Assessing the potential for antibiotic resistant bacteria to carry over from soil amendments to vegetable surfaces.
American Society for Microbiology Microbe2016 Annual Meeting
Christine Pankow presented her poster on the fate of antibiotic resistant bacteria in soil following manure versus compost application.
Robe
rt K. Williams presented his poster on the effect of composting method and antibiotic residue in manure on the fate of E. coli and antibiotic resistant genes in cattle manures.