AMPing Up Agriculture: Ferguson College departments come together for youth microbiome research
Friday, December 19, 2025
Media Contact: Sophia Fahleson | Digital Communications Specialist | 405-744-7063 | sophia.fahleson@okstate.edu
Microscopic communities can be found on everything we see — in the rumen of cattle, the roots of wheat, and even the secretions of a rare beetle.
A new Oklahoma State University program is giving Oklahoma students a front-row seat to the hidden world of microbes and microorganisms, which shape the world of agriculture.
The Agriculture Microbiome Program provides an opportunity for ninth and 10th grade students and STEM teachers to learn how big an impact the smallest organisms can make.
The program is a collaboration among multiple departments within the Ferguson College of Agriculture: Agricultural Education, Communications and Leadership; Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Entomology and Plant Pathology; Natural Resource Ecology and Management; Animal and Food Sciences; OSU Extension; and 4-H Youth Development.
A microbiome is a collection of microorganisms — including bacteria, fungi and other microbes — found in a particular environment or area, said John Gustafson, AMP program co-director. Gustafson is also the biochemistry and molecular biology department head and a professor.
“Right now, fundamentally, it’s a new science, microbiome science, and we’re all learning it as we go,” Gustafson said.
Students are coming to college with less science experience, resulting in a lack of STEM understanding overall, said Christopher Eck, AMP co-director and agricultural education associate professor.
STEM, or science, technology, engineering and mathematics, refers to the interconnected academic disciplines and career fields available among them, Eck said.
AMP was originally created with the intent to bridge the communication gap between scientific research and community understanding, Gustafson said. The program provides students with a valuable opportunity to learn about agricultural microbiome sciences at an early stage in their development, he said.
Gustafson and Eck received a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Agricultural Non-Formal Education grant, providing funding for the project through August 2027.
The project began with just the co-founders but soon grew to a collaboration among multiple programs, Gustafson said.
“We got some fantastic people from multiple departments within the Ferguson College of Agriculture and Extension,” Gustafson said. “You have to when you consider the number of disciplines that are represented under the Agriculture Microbiome Program.”
Microbiome research is important because it can be used to help everyone be more purposeful in what they do in agricultural production, Eck said. This research can help producers make informed decisions on fertilizer application, pesticide application, feed additives, feedstuffs and more as work progresses in cultivating each microbiome, he added.
“AMP really fits within everything that we try to do at OSU, developing more agriculturally literate people, communicating the impact of agriculture and educating people,” Eck said. “So, all those things really come together for this program.”
For the 2025 cohort, AMP had more than 80 applicants with 20 students and five STEM teachers selected to participate, he said.
To help students learn the importance of microbes in the world and agriculture, the curriculum included virtual modules and hands-on labs.
Students conducted microbiome research with wheat and cattle, which are integral to Oklahoma agriculture. They also conducted research with the American burying beetle.
“The American burying beetle is unique in that it actually returns nutrients to the soil,” Gustafson said. “So it plays an ecological role with agriculture and soil fertility.”
The American burying beetle has a preservative property in its anal and oral secretions, and its microbiome is not as well characterized when compared to cattle and wheat, said Ashley Mattison, AMP science content lead and a biochemistry and molecular biology assistant professor.
“This was a really huge opportunity for the students to be involved in front-edge research because this is something that we are delving into for the first time and really characterizing what exists,” Mattison said.
The three components — cattle, wheat and the American burying beetle — together showcased the life cycle from the wheat to the cow to the burying beetle as a decomposer, she said.
Wanting AMP participants to get authentic research, students and the STEM teachers were able to collect samples, culture them, and isolate and sequence the DNA, Mattison said.
“I wanted students to be able to say at the end, ‘This was the microbe I identified,’” she said.
Students were exposed to high-throughput sequencing for DNA, Gustafson said. Students also learned pipetting and microscope skills, with an emphasis on safety, throughout the camp, he said.
“We are really fortunate here in the Ferguson College of Agriculture that we do have the variety of departments that we see,” Eck said. “We’re also really fortunate in the facilities that we have.”
AMP participants used spaces in the new Agricultural Hall and the cutting-edge laboratories in the Noble Research Center, Eck said. Participants went to wheat fields to collect samples and to see a cannulated cow on campus, he said.
A cannulated cow refers to a cow that has a surgical porthole, known as a cannula, surgically implanted in its side to provide direct access to its rumen. The rumen is one of the four stomach compartments found in ruminants, such as the cow.
“They got to actually stick their hand in a rumen and take out a sample,” Eck said. “A lot of places that just isn’t feasible.”
Providing these hands-on experiential learning opportunities was important, Mattison said.
“I think giving them the chance and empowering students to get that information out there is really fun,” Mattison said. “We get to see them grow so much, where they come in and they don’t even know what a microbe is, and then they get to learn and present it to their communities.”
AMP included an Extension and outreach component, where student participants developed a 10- to 15-minute presentation to be presented in their home communities after their week on campus, Eck said. Data from the 2025 cohort shows more than 280 people have been reached through the presentations, he said.
Isabella Abit, 2025 AMP participant and an eighth grader, said she recognized AMP’s impact in growing her confidence in her scientific abilities, due to the hands-on experiences.
“I gained a lot of respect for science and scientists in general,” Abit said. “I didn’t realize how much microbiomes and microorganisms affect environments. Every single time I see something now I’m like, ‘Oh! There must be so many microbiomes in that,’ or ‘I must be touching so many microbes right now.’”
STEM teachers also got an opportunity to learn as they participated in the same labs and activities as the students and supported students working on presentations, Eck said. Having STEM teachers involved is beneficial as another source of support for student participants, especially when the students go back home, he said.
“I am very appreciative because the camp was phenomenal,” said Brooke Treadwell, 2025 AMP STEM teacher. Treadwell is also an Oologah, Oklahoma second grade teacher and 4-H Extension leader.
Treadwell said she now feels encouraged to share her passion for science though teaching and 4-H.
AMP leaders are currently working to improve the program based on the data collected throughout the 2025 cohort, Eck said.
“For the 2026 cohort, we’ll have 20 new students and five new STEM teachers,” Eck said.
There will also be a new fun twist for AMP 2026 as two students from AMP 2025 will be brought back to serve as student mentors, he said.
Both Abit and Treadwell recommend other students and STEM teachers apply and participate in AMP.
“Don’t be scared,” Abit said. “Take a step forward.”
Treadwell said: “The possibilities are endless, from medicine to entomology. Do it. Don’t hesitate. It’s worth it.”
In the end, it comes down to making sure the public is educated to be good producers, consumers and teachers of agriculture, Eck said. AMP is starting to accomplish these goals, is replicable, and available for other programs or universities to use as well, he said.
“There’s only so many people that are going to go into the agricultural industry, but agriculture impacts everybody,” Eck said.
Story by: Joslyn Gonzalez | Cowboy Journal