The NHAES project is the foundational funding resource for individuals interested in conducting research as part of the Station. There are three types of programs within which researchers may choose to submit their proposals. Hatch and Hatch-Multistate projects are associated with issues relating to agriculture and food systems. McIntire-Stennis projects are associated with issues relating to forests, forestry, and related wildlife. All proposals go through an internal peer-review process to ensure that the submitted projects meet the missions of each program type, describe a rigorous and appropriate research plan that can address local issues and lead to peer-reviewed publications, and develop an engagement plan that will enable the researcher to disseminate the science to relevant stakeholders.
The Administrative Manual for Hatch funding specifies that “The scope of agricultural research which may be conducted under the Hatch Act … includes research on all aspects of agriculture, including: soil and water conservation and use; plant and animal production, protection, and health; processing, distributing, safety, marketing, and utilization of food and agricultural products; forestry, including range management and range products, multiple use of forest and rangelands, and urban forestry; aquaculture; home economics and family life; human nutrition; rural and community development; sustainable agriculture; molecular biology; and biotechnology. Research may be conducted on problems of local, state, regional, or national concern.”
Further, recent directives from USDA-NIFA specify “every Hatch research project must have clear and documented relevance as part of the project to agricultural science. Thus, in your project initiations, relevance to agricultural science needs to be evident or explicit.”
The Hatch program is our largest source of research support funding, with more than three times the direct research support expenditures (not counting those of the farms/facilities, staff, etc.) than for the McIntire-Stennis program.
Hatch-Multistate projects are an important option and may be folded into standard Hatch proposals. Faculty participation in Hatch-Multistate Research Projects is an excellent way to enhance collaboration with disciplinary peers from other states, and is also a requirement of the NHAES’s acceptance of USDA Hatch funds. These funds can only be used for cooperative research involving two or more State Agricultural Experiment Stations (SAES). The formal multistate research program facilitates collaborative research on high-priority topics among the SAES in partnership with the USDA, other research institutions and agencies, and the Cooperative Extension Service. Opportunities and problem solving activities that concern more than one state, but which are beyond the scope of a single SAES, can thereby be approached in a more efficient and comprehensive manner.
Of particular potential interest to faculty participants should be the opportunity, which arises during annual meetings of the multistate project, to work with, learn about, and get to know national peers who have explicit interest in similar topical areas. Many of these colleagues will likely populate competitive grant review panels and serve in other important roles related to UNH faculty career activities or as potential professional references (e.g., tenure and promotion), etc. Therefore there is significant professional value and opportunity in developing relationships and routinely sharing research activities and results with scientific peer networks through these multistate research projects.
Use the National Information Management and Support System to search or browse across active Hatch-Multistate projects.
The scope of research which may be conducted under the McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Act includes investigations relating to the reforestation and management of land for the production of timber and other related products of the forest; management of forest and related watershed lands to improve conditions of water flow and to protect resources against floods and erosion; management of forest and related rangeland for production of forage for domestic livestock and game as well as improvement of food and habitat for wildlife; management of forest lands for outdoor recreation and the protection of the forest and its resources against fire, insects, diseases, or other destructive agents; utilization of wood and other forest products; development of sound policies for the management of forest lands and the harvesting and marketing of forest products; and such other studies as may be necessary to obtain the fullest and most effective use of forest resources.
Examples of the research areas covered by McIntire-Stennis funds include: ecological restoration; catastrophe management; valuing and trading ecological services; energy conservation; biomass energy and bio-based materials development, forest fragmentation, carbon sequestration and climate change; and ways of fostering healthy forests and a globally competitive forest resources sector. In addition, high priority issues include science of integration (ecosystem or landscape approaches, including interdisciplinary multistate projects); forest ecosystem services; human attitudes and behaviors; conflict, uncertainty, and decision-making; technological advancements (biotechnology, nanotechnology, and geospatial technology), productivity, and forest applications; and urban ecosystems.
