August 18, 2010 Seasonal employees are a valuable resource for helping scientists meet the goals and milestones outlined in research plans. AFSRC employs several highly motivated college and high school students each summer. One summer worker, Amanda, is cheerfully preparing pots for greenhouse transplanting of cloned medicinal plants being tested for their antioxidant and anti-parasitic activity in vitro and in vivo for small ruminants.  The research is being conducted by Dr. Jorge Ferreira (Research Horticulturist) for the Non-traditional Plant Resources for Grazing Ruminants in Appalachia project.
	August 12, 2010 Barry Harter, AFSRC Biological Science Technician, teaches Dr. Theophilus Mutui, Moi University, Kenya, the extraction steps to isolate secondary metabolites and antioxidants from plants.  Dr. Mutui visited AFSRC to learn cutting edge natural product extraction and analytical technologies from Dr. Jorge Ferreira (Horticulturist). His trip was sponsored by a grant from the International Atomic Energy Agency (Austria).  Plant extracts produced by the accelerated solvent extraction system are rich in bioactive secondary metabolites and antioxidant flavonoids that may have potential for use as anthelmintics/dewormers to help control parasites and other microorganisms in grazing livestock.
	August 6, 2010 Cryptosporidium is an increasingly important parasitic protozoan often spread in the environment with cattle manure. AFSRC scientists studied the seasonal distribution of Cryptosporidium in soils and on forage in beef cattle grazed paddocks and winter-grazed hay paddocks in central Appalachia. The results of the study were recently published in the scientific journal Foodborne Pathogens and Disease and impact the Appalachian Region’s ability to sustain small farms and rural communities, protect water quality and food safety, and help assure food security.
	May 11, 2010 AFSRC scientists are designing environmentally benign grazing management practices, which capitalize on the dynamics of herbage growth in complex terrain. Sheep are grazing spring forage growth in one of AFSRC’s silvopasture research paddocks. Results of this research directly impact the Appalachian Region’s ability to sustain small farms and rural communities, protect water quality and food safety, and help assure food security.
	March 17, 2010 AFSRC scientists are collaborating with West Virginia State University and partnering with the city of Beckley, WV to design soils constructed from local materials do use as filtration material in bio-filtration systems for treating stormwater runoff. This experimental bio-filtration system, also referred to as a rain garden, is situated next to a municipal park, exhibition mine, and youth museum in Beckley where stakeholders and the public can be educated about the stormwater management system.
	February 22, 2010 Winter in the Appalachian region can be hard on livestock and livestock farmers. The 2009-2010 winter has been especially difficult and has challenged AFSRC support staff charged with maintenance of remote research facilities and livestock.
	February 18, 2010 Barry Harter, Biological Science Technician, is extracting feces of sheep that were given artemisinin (an antimalarial produced by Artemisia annua) to test the compound's anthelmintic effects. This research is part of a program to develop integrated parasite control strategies, which are crucial for sustainability of meat goat and sheep production. The project involving artemisinin as an anthelmintic is an international collaboration involving the AFSRC (through Dr. Jorge Ferreira) with EMBRAPA, Pecuária Sudeste, São Carlos, SP, Brazil.
	February 9, 2010 AFSRC scientists are evaluating some species of temperate bamboo to see if they can provide winter forage for livestock, such as goats, contribute to the production of bioenergy, or sequester C in below ground roots and stems. This research has important implications for national research priority areas including bioenergy, food security, climate change, and agricultural sustainability.
	January 25, 2010 Laura Cooper, Biological Science Technician, prepares pots of forage grass used in a study of the effects of canopy structure and land slope on the dispersal of fecal bacteria by rainsplash.

AFSRC Picture Gallery, 2011

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