Excellence in Research

Advances in Research

In any industry, the purpose of research teams is to enhance the quality of life and production in their environments by increasing knowledge and understanding in order to make a difference. WTAMU's internationally recognized faculty members lead University research projects that result in the highest level of student enegagement and education. Hours of data collection and nights spent calculating, writing, and editing information culminate into a postgraduate degree that prepares WT graduates for career opportunities in their chosen fields of study and community service. Innovation and research make our environments and our world a better place.

The Caviness Meat Science and Innovation Center

The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents accepted a significant gift of $2 million from Caviness Beef Packers, then approved the name of the University’s new state of the art meat lab as the Caviness Meat Science and Innovation Center in June 2018. This work is an excellent example of collaboration between West Texas A&M University and a local family beef processing business. The partnership provides continued research opportunities for WTAMU faculty and students in the meat science programs.

Beef Carcass and Research Center

Beef Carcass and Research Center (BCRC) established in 1992, housed in The Caviness Meat Science and Innovation Center, serves the US beef industry by collecting beef harvest and grading data and is responsible for the NCBA Cattlemen's Carcass Data Service

USDA Cattle and Carcass Grading Correlation Center

WTAMU is one of three regional USDA Cattle Carcass Grading Correlation Centers, also housed in The Caviness Meat Science and Innovation Center. The center will educate and train stakeholders in the region in the grading of feeder cattle, fed cattle and beef carcasses

Semi-Arid Agricultural Systems Institute

The Semi-Arid Agricultural Systems Institute, formerly known as Dryland Agriculture Institute, is currently led by prominent researcher, Dr. Craig Bednarz. The joint partnership with Texas A&M AgriLife Research allows Dr. Bednarz to lead research, instruction and service programs of the Institute by addressing challenges faced by semi-arid agriculture systems in the Texas Panhandle and surrounding area.

The institute researches and develops technologies to implement solutions for improving the sustainability of dryland agriculture in the light of depleting water resources for irrigated agriculture.

Read more about Dr. Bednarz leading the Institute.

Veterinary Education Research Outreach (VERO) Center

Established in 2009, VERO is the partnership between the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine
& Biomedical Sciences (CVMBS) and the West Texas A&M University (WT) Paul Engler College of
Agriculture & Natural Sciences to bring Veterinary Education, Research, & Outreach to the Texas Panhandle.

Center for Advancing Food Animal Production

In the 86th legislature session in 2019 and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott allocated $4 million for a two-year period to establish a new Center for Advancing Food Animal Production in the Texas Panhandle at the West Texas A&M University (WTAMU). Of the total legislative appropriated funds, $2 million was designated for WT’s Paul Engler College of Agriculture & Natural Sciences, and an additional $2 million was set aside for the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine’s Veterinary Education, Research & Outreach (VERO) program.

The state funded initiative for the Center for Advancing Food Animal Production will provide the resources necessary for additional teaching and research faculty, graduate assistantships, and staff of WTAMU and the TAMU System partners to increase veterinary specializations in the large animal industry as well as complement existing and expanding programs in agricultural business and economics, animal nutrition, animal health, pre-and post-harvest food science/food safety, pre-veterinary medicine and environmental sciences. Funding for this center will allow WT and VERO to add seven new faculty members, ten graduate research assistants and six support staff positions to their programs.

Subject Matter/Areas of Research Excellence

Food Animal Production, Nutrition and Health

Meat Science, Genomics, and Quality/Safety

Integrated Resource Management (Plant, Soil, Grazing)

Waste Management and Environmental Sciences

Ogallala Aquifer, Irrigation, and Regional Economy

International Agriculture and Development

Biology, Microbiology and Human Health

Wildlife Biology, Ecology, and Zoology

Atmosphere, Climate and Environmental Sciences

Study into Extreme Heat at Palo Duro Canyon Being Conducted by WT Students

Earth Sciences and Geology

Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Human Health

Dr. Tao’s research program addresses NIFA’s Air Quality of Renewable Energy, Natural Resources, and Environment Program. The research program’s objectives include developing optical fiber chemical sensor (OFCS) network technologies for in situ, real-time, long-term continuous monitoring of air pollutant distribution in concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO), providing baseline CAFO air pollutant emission data obtained from the sensor network technologies. Dr. Tao's work on methods for detecting microbial pathogens in food safety inspection involves long-time enrichment processes due to the limited sensitivity of detection technologies. The long waiting-time feature adds a high cost to agricultural products related to storage/freezing and causes deterioration of food quality. This research program's objective is to develop an immunomagnetic separation (IMS)-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-liquid core waveguide (LC W) spectrometric method for field applications of quick detecting Salmonella bacteria in food products. The detection technique integrates advanced biotechnologies and highly sensitive LCW spectroscopy recently developed from Dr. Tao’s research work. He is also involved in developing a bioaffinity optical fiber microarray (BAOFMA) technique for the simultaneous detection of multiple pathogens in food safety inspections.

Drs. Khan and Yarbrough are researching to develop improved targeted liposomal-based chemotherapeutics to treat various types of cancer and study cancer cell responsiveness to various chemotherapeutics using an in vitro assay that effectively mimics the tumor microenvironment. The team also looks into the clinical use of liposomal-based drugs to treat solid tumors such as breast cancer.
- They are also looking into the use of CO2 as a raw material that holds potential as an avenue to emissions reduction and development of sustainable industrial processes and toward designing of single-site Zinc, Cobalt(III), & Chromium(III) catalysts which facilitate the use of CO2 in the synthesis of commercially significant thermoplastics.

Dr. Flynn explores opportunities in researching a variety of areas, including yeast metabolism, chemotherapeutics, polymer development and sensor development. He is also involved in pursuing research in fermentation sciences, online chemistry education, natural product development and amino acid metabolism. Our College cares about STEM education and has recently obtained an S-STEM grant from the National Science Foundation to support majors in Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Sciences, Physics and Wildlife Biology. The grant provides scholarship support to students to pursue one of these majors while being provided peer mentoring, faculty mentors and college success coaching.

Physics and Astronomy

Resources for Researchers

Funding Opportunities:
- External and Internal
Proposal Development
Sponsored Research Services
Other Collaborators/Research Partners