Auburn university is an 1862 land-grant institution that serves the citizens of alabama through its instructional, research, and extension programs

The alabama agricultural experiment station (aaes) at auburn university was established in 1883 to conduct scientific research that would advance alabama's agricultural and forestry industries. Aaes operations are supported with funding from the USDA national institute of food and agriculture (nifa) hatch program and the state of alabama. The specific purpose for hatch multistate funds is to facilitate collaborative research among several institutions in multiple states. The world and the state of alabama are facing major challenges with population shifts, food, water, energy, agricultural and environmental sustainability, rural prosperity and resilience, biosecurity, natural resources, climate change, and economic development in all sectors, as well as human health and wellbeing and related issues. In order to address issues related to these major local, national, and international challenges, integrative and collaborative programs have been designed to address most of these challenges. All planned programs are developed within the context of research and community engagement with relevance to all residents of alabama who may benefit from the local knowledge base or service. We are cognizant of the necessity to continue to address nifa priorities, which are priorities for alabama residents as well. Our programs will focus on critical issues related to 1) community development, 2) family, home, and 4-h and youth development, 3) food systems and food safety, 4) global food security and hunger, 5) human nutrition, wellbeing, health and obesity, 6) natural resource and environmental sustainability, 7) rural health initiatives, and 8) sustainable energy and BIO-based products. Community development initiatives will begin focusing on emergency and crisis preparedness. Efforts will continue to assist in preparing an alabama workforce comprised of motivated individuals who can successfully navigate employment transitions throughout their lifespan. Family, home, 4-h, and youth development focuses on strengthening families by teaching members how to improve the quality of their lives through improving family relationships, financial resource management, and citizen and leadership development among other objectives. The goal of the food systems and food safety program is to enhance food systems, food safety and agricultural biosecurity. The goal for global food security and hunger is to enhance competitiveness and sustainability of food and agricultural industries in alabama through development and implementation of best practices or technologies. The objectives of the human nutrition, well-being, health and obesity and health program are to improve the health of alabamians, targeting limited-resource families, through chronic disease awareness, physical activity, nutrition education, health literacy, and access to and consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables. The natural resource and environmental sustainability program will generate knowledge to manage agricultural and natural systems in the face of climate change and facilitate sustainable natural resources. Rural health initiatives will foster collaborations among land-grant, community, and healthcare partners to advance understanding of how to assess patient-centric factors that affect accessibility to cross-system healthcare. IT also will contribute to improvement in public health, individual health, rural health accessibility, and sustainability. Research on sustainable energy and BIO-based products will contribute to the national goal of energy independence by supporting science to develop biomass used for biofuels, design optimum forest products and crops for bioenergy production, and produce value-added BIO-based industrial products.