FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The 2018 edition of Discovery, the undergraduate student research journal of the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, is available online at scholarworks.uark.edu/discoverymag.

Journal articles detail the students' research conducted under the guidance of University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and other research faculty mentors. Students who have received a Bumpers College Undergraduate Research Grant are expected to submit papers based on their projects.

The nine articles in this issue were written by undergraduate student authors representing six departments and one program in the School of Human Environmental Sciences working with 16 mentors from Bumpers College and the UA System Division of Agriculture.

This issue represents many firsts for the journal:

• First double-cover issue featuring research that is the result of a collaboration between the Departments of Horticulture and Food Science.
• First web-only edition of the journal with added features such as Research at a Glance and more color.
• First year operating journal management and submissions from new website housed under ScholarWorks@UARK, the institutional repository for the University of Arkansas. This allows Bumpers undergraduate research to reach a broader, worldwide audience.

Photo by Brendan Krause; Cover Design by Gail Halleck

The issue covers a varied array of topics representing diverse fields of study and cross-disciplinary collaborations within Bumpers College:

• Development of a healthy and nutritional snack chip from germinated rice and germinated green gram (a combination that will have the eight essential amino acids in right proportions) for health and wellness.
• Evaluation of consumer sensory and compositional attributes of Arkansas-grown fresh-market blackberries.
• Relationships of pre-partum goat milk calcium concentrations to kidding date and colostrum quality as it relates to kidding weight.
• Assessment of agricultural information needs and food access in the Stann Creek district of Belize.
• Importance of portfolio building for students with creative majors.

• Determining the impact of teat order on feed consumption in swine from birth to nursery.
• Characterization of short-grain rice cultivars grown in Japan, California and Arkansas.
• Ripeness attributes of Arkansas-grown peaches and nectarines at harvest and during postharvest storage.
• Soil organic carbon and mineralization rates at the Woolsey Wet Prairie mitigation site in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Deacue Fields, Dean of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, says "Our students are preparing for successful careers, conducting impactful research and sharing knowledge. The Discovery undergraduate research journal highlights the efforts of just a few of our talented students and the research they have completed. Many of our outstanding faculty work with them to produce what you see here."

Wayne Mackay, Department Head for both Horticulture and Food Science said of the research featured on this issue's cover, "These studies highlight the intersection of horticulture and food science and the broad range of experiences that come from interdisciplinary research. Collaborations such as these give students a broad view of cultivar improvement leading to a greater understanding of the food system."

Gail Halleck, a publications editor in the Division of Agriculture Communication Services unit, is the journal's managing editor. For information about submitting manuscripts for the 2019 edition, please email the managing editor at ghalleck@uark.edu

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture.

About the Division of Agriculture: The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture's mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation's historic land grant education system.

The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on five system campuses. 

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs to all eligible persons without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.