A SUNY Oneonta professor was named this week as one of nine people in the United States to receive the 2024 New Innovator in Food & Agriculture Research Award from the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research.
The award is granted to early-career scientists supporting research in FFAR’s research priority areas, according to a news release from the university.
Professor Scott Maguffin will lead a team at SUNY Oneonta to study how irrigation practices shape redox dynamics in rice paddy soils, influencing nutrient availability and toxin mobility, the release stated.
Using controlled growth chambers, the team will simulate future climate scenarios to examine how irrigation, salinity and elevated carbon dioxide interact with pore water, soil and rice genetics.
The work supports sustainable practices that improve food safety and grain nutritional quality. Sustainability “is a strategically aligned core value of SUNY Oneonta and Maguffin’s research proposal ‘Soil and Water Optimization for Sustainable Rice’ promotes university-wide research goals,” the release stated.
Maguffin’s research endeavors focus on agricultural science and geochemistry. “His work will study cultivable land facing growing pressure from soil degradation, salinity and a changing climate — rice is increasingly grown in suboptimal conditions, raising the risk of lower grain nutrition and increased arsenic and cadmium contamination,” according to the release.
Water usage and conservation are key inspirations of Maguffin’s focus. “His investigations into arsenic and trace elements in rice paddy soils further the scope of cross-disciplinary agricultural science,” the release stated. “By rigorously examining how irrigation strategies affect soil contaminants and micronutrients in rice across varieties and seasons, he significantly advances our understanding of sustainable agriculture, water conservation, and food and nutritional safety.”
“We are excited that Professor Maguffin’s research to better understand agricultural practices’ impact on soil health and food safety is being recognized and supported by FFAR,” said Tracy Allen, dean of the School of Sciences at SUNY Oneonta. “His commitment to advancing scientific knowledge through rigorous inquiry is matched by his dedication to student engagement. By integrating undergraduate students into the full scope of this hands-on research, he is providing them with meaningful, real-world experience that enhances their education well beyond traditional coursework and prepares them for the scientific workforce.”