Research Support Services
Linda Mooney
Supervisory Project Manager
linda.w.mooney@ars.usda.gov
Debbie Creel
Support Services Assistant
debbie.j.creel@ars.usda.gov
Beltsville Area Research Support Services
Beltsville Agricultural Research Center
Bldg 209
Beltsville, Maryland, 20705-2325
301-504-9243
Research Support Services provides responsive research support to the Beltsville Area scientific community through excellent plant and animal care, forage and crop production, feed preparation, utilizing sustainable management programs that preserve local ecosystems.
The Multispecies Unit maintains populations of swine, poultry, beef cattle and laboratory animals to support research for the Biotechnology and Germplasm Laboratory, Bovine Functional Genomics Laboratory, Food Technology and Safety Laboratory, and Growth Biology Laboratory. These laboratories perform research on topics such as food safety, animal/bird nutrition, reproduction, genetic improvement and animal health.
The Dairy Unit maintains a dairy herd to support dairy research for the Animal and Natural Resources Institute (ANRI) Laboratories that work with dairy cattle which include the Animal Manure and By-Products, Animal Parasitic Diseases, Biotechnology and Germplasm, Bovine Functional Genomics, and Environmental Microbial Safety Laboratories. These laboratories perform a wide range of research related to dairy cattle including waste management, mastitis control, genetic improvement, animal health and reproduction.
The Feed and Forage Production Unit is responsible for producing the forage and feed for the livestock population at BARC. They support the research of the Sustainable Agriculture and Systems Laboratory in the Farming Production Site and the Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory in the OPE3 site.
The Plant Research Unit is responsible for the research plots on the North, South, and Linkage Farms in support of the Vegetable, Fruit, Insect Biocontrol, Soybean Genomics and Improvement, Chemicals Affecting Insect Behavior Laboratories of the Plant Sciences Institute (PSI); the Sustainable Agriculture and Systems, Hydrology and Remote Sensing and Environmental Quality Laboratories of the ANRI; the Floral and Nursery Plants Research Unit of the U.S. National Arboretum (USNA); and the Phytonutrients Laboratory of the Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center (BHNRC). The Unit also provides greenhouse technical support to research programs at BARC.
The Animal Parasitology Unit maintains an animal population of beef cattle, sheep, goats, poultry, swine, and laboratory animals to support the ANRI Laboratories of Animal Parasitic Diseases, Environmental Microbial Safety, Bovine Functional Genomics Laboratory, and the Beltsville Human Nutrition Center. These laboratories perform research on such issues as food safety, human nutrition, animal nutrition, animal health, reproduction and development.
