Highlights of 2025 Graduate Student Research Seed Grants
AMP strives to improve agroecosystems and their impact on society. One way our program does that is by investing in the future. The Graduate Student Research Seed Grant Program was designed by AMP to enable Ohio State graduate students to conduct research initiatives that support AMP's mission and purpose. Each student is awarded with up to $5,000 to help conduct their research.
For the first year of the program, three projects were funded. Awardees Luz Mercado Callau and Meg Edwards have finished their funded projects succesfully. (A third awarded project is still under way.)
Luz Mercado Callau’s project was centered around how different cattle ranching management practices in a Bolivian savanna are affecting the bird communities there.
Due to the distance between OSU and Luz’s study site, she faced many logistical challenges. Transportation was difficult during flood season, which restricted road access throughout her research. With the help of her AMP grant, Luz was able to coordinate a small aircraft that could get her to and from her study site safely.
One of Luz’s favorite parts of her research is the scenery and wildlife that she gets to encounter.
“Doing surveys in such a natural and relatively well-preserved landscape is just very exciting every morning that I have to go to my sampling points and survey birds. You don’t know which type of fauna you’re going to see,” said Luz.
Luz’s research will help cattle ranchers in that area make more knowledgeable management decisions that will help protect the bird communities in the Bolivian savanna. Luz is advised by Jo Peacock in the School of Environment and Natural Resources.
Meg Edwards’ research project is focused on agroforestry practices and motivations for people to adopt agroforestry practices on their own land.
“Agroforestry is really an umbrella term that refers to a bunch of different agricultural practices that involve combining trees and tree crops with other agricultural production,” said Edwards.
According to Meg, no matter the size of your farm or property, you can utilize agroforestry, whether it be planting trees to provide shade from your field or garden, or by raising animals or growing shade crops under an existing forest. Meg found that agroforestry brings a lot of economic and agronomic growth and benefits to farmers.
Meg’s research found many resources for people looking to get involved with agroforestry. Meg’s advice for starting is “you just have to do it. Especially with planting trees. It's always better to start now or five years ago.”
A final step in Meg’s project was preparing a list of Agroforestory Resources which can be found at the AMP Website: https://amp.osu.edu/education/agroforestry-resources-hub
You can also read more about the Graduate Student Research Seed Grant Program application process or our funded projects for 2026. Proposals are due February 1.