Projects and Programs on the CANR Campus Grounds
Our campus has more than 85 tilled crop acres on the Newark Farm. In addition to growing forage for our livestock, experimental plots are established for research on critical issues facing crop production on the Delmarva and worldwide such as the rice paddies, which are used for arsenic in rice research.
Thirty paddies have been created at the University of Delaware's new Rice Investigation, Communication and Education (RICE) Facility, an outdoor research education laboratory located on the farm. The paddies were installed through a prestigious five-year $465,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Award and two U.S. Department of Agriculture NIFA awards received by Angelia Seyfferth, who is an associate professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. It was the first such award given to a College of Agriculture and Natural Resources' professor. The new laboratory allows for research that more closely resembles field conditions, allowing researchers to look at plants outdoors rather than solely in an indoor laboratory setting.
There are six wetlands were created with native plantings to protect our watershed and create habitat. These features are valuable for onsite research and teaching related to water quality, soils, ecology, and horticulture. The UD apiary is home to 22 hives with millions of honey bees providing pollination services to the surrounding fields and gardens. The resident honeybees are an active part of the teaching, research and outreach programs and also provide the highly sought after Dare to Bee honey. Two woodlands — the Webb and Main Ecology Woods — focus on the effects of habitat fragmentation on wildlife and ecosystem services provided by small, urban forests.
UD Fresh to You gardens are student-managed using organic practices, the space includes four season-extending high tunnels. Produce from the garden is sold to local restaurants, our own campus restaurant, Vita Nova, and at two farm stands in Newark, Delaware. But more importantly - UD Fresh to You donates to the community. For years, we have coordinated with multiple food insecurity projects on and around campus.
Now, UD Fresh to You has partnered with the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center at Christiana Hospital to provide farm fresh produce to those in need. The Helen F. Graham Cancer Center is a state-of-the-art facility that serves the majority of cancer patients that reside in Delaware. At least 100 pounds of produce are donated weekly to be distributed to cancer patients, their families and Christiana Care visitors.