Ask a Scientist

Check out our monthly Facebook Live Q&A sessions with ARS scientists. Learn what we’re doing to help the environment, create more sustainable food supply, fight pests and diseases, and create new cultivars.

We're Looking for Innovators. Join Us!

Want to expand your science? Join us as an intern in one of our offices or professional labs and take your knowledge and experience to the next level.

USDA’s Agricultural Research Service offers internship programs to current students and recent graduates, and even Presidential Management Fellowships, to explore federal careers as paid employees. Check out the following opportunities to see best fits your career goals.

The Student Internship Program provides students in high schools, colleges, trade schools, and other qualifying educational institutions, the opportunity to explore Federal careers as paid employees while completing their education. Student Interns may be appointed for an initial period expected to last more than 1 year, on a temporary basis, or to fill traditional summer jobs. Duties are related to the intern’s academic or career goals and our positions are payable up to the GS-11 grade level.

To be eligible for the Student Internship Program, you must be accepted for enrollment or enrolled and seeking a degree (diploma, certificate, etc.) in a qualifying educational institution, on a full or half-time basis, as defined by the institution; be in good academic standing (2.0 GPA); and meet the definition of a student throughout the duration of their internship. Visit USAJobs for more information.

The Recent Graduates Program is a 1-year program that provides recent graduates an entry-level developmental experience that will lead to a civil service career. Positions are payable at the GS-09 level or below unless the position is in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) field. STEM positions may be payable at the GS-11 and GS-12 grade levels, depending on your educational degree.

To be eligible, you must have obtained a qualifying associate, bachelors, master’s, professional, doctorate, vocational, or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution, within the previous 2 years. Veterans who were unable to apply during the initial eligibility period due to military service obligation have a full 2-year period of eligibility upon his/her release or discharge from active duty. In no event, may a veteran’s eligibility period extend beyond 6 years from the date on which the individual completed the requirements of an academic course of study. Visit USAJobs for more information.

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) Internship Program offers a paid internship program for sophomores, juniors, seniors, and graduate students at accredited HACU colleges and universities. HACU Students are brought on board three times per year (spring, summer, and fall) and may continue year-round provided they remain eligible and program funding is available. As compensation, HACU undergraduate interns receive $610 per 40-hour week ($15.25 per hour), while graduate interns receive $680 per 40-hour week ($17.00 per hour).

To be eligible, you must have completed your freshman year before the internship begins, maintain a 3.0 GPA, be enrolled in a degree-seeking program, and be a U.S. citizen. Recent graduates are eligible if they are within 12 months of graduation. In addition, interns must attend an orientation in Washington, DC. Visit HACU for more information.

The Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program is designed to attract to the federal service outstanding men and women from a variety of academic disciplines and career paths who have a clear interest in, and commitment to, excellence in the leadership and management of public policies and programs.

The PMF program follows an annual cycle, starting with program announcement by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), nomination, application and assessment, followed by appointment, through training and development, then graduation, and conversion or appointment to permanent positions.

To be eligible, you must have completed an advanced degree from a qualifying educational institution within 2 years or are scheduled to complete an advanced degree prior to the date that PMF finalists are announced. This is a competitive process in which OPM selects finalists based on an evaluation of each candidate’s experience and accomplishments. Visit OPM for more information.

If you’re a fan of salmon, you’re not alone.

The fish that was once considered a luxury food is now one of the most popular seafoods in the western world. Locally, salmon is the most popular fish species in the United States.

Scientists and staff at the Agricultural Research Service’s (ARS) National Cold Water Marine Aquaculture Center (NCWMAC) in Franklin, ME, have been improving the amount and quality of America’s Atlantic salmon for nearly 20 years.

“Since 2003, the center has worked with stakeholders to produce a North American strain of Atlantic salmon that exhibits traits producers and consumers want,” said Brian Peterson, NCWMAC research leader.

NCWMAC’s selective breeding program focuses on traits such as carcass weight, sea lice resistance, fatty acid profile, and fillet color. The center also helps North American producers compete with international producers by conducting disease and nutrition research.

According to Peterson, the NCWMAC uses traditional non-GMO breeding methods to raise about 150 families of fish each year that have been selected for improved growth and sea lice resistance. Sea lice are small crustations that attach themselves to the skin of fish and are not harmful to humans. Each year, the U.S. aquaculture industry receives a limited amount of salmon eggs from these families. These eggs are then raised by commercial farmers, who then spawn the fish that are commercially reared in net pens.

Americans consume nearly 450 tons of salmon each year, and ARS is helping keep the nets full. That’s good eatin’! – By Scott Elliott, ARS Office of Communications

SunButter: A Tasty Spread For Sandwiches and Crackers

Did you know that ARS scientists developed a tasty, nutrient-rich peanut butter alternative made from sunflower seeds?  Sunflower seeds are a good source of protein, fiber, vitamin E, zinc, and iron.

Although they are a popular peanut alternative, no company had ever successfully marketed a spreadable sunflower seed butter until several years ago when Red River Commodities unveiled a new spread created with the help of the ARS Southern Regional Research Center in New Orleans, La.

Learn more about this tasty treat.

Biodiversity Experiment

Biodiversity describes the different kinds of organisms found in an area. Scientists use biodiversity to measure the health of a particular ecosystem or habitat. For example, a pond with lily pads, aquatic grasses, insects, frogs, fish, and birds has a high biodiversity and would be considered a healthy ecosystem. The many kinds of plants found in this healthy pond provide food and shelter for different aquatic insects and small animals, which provide food for predators such as large fish and birds. Lowering the biodiversity of this pond by removing some of the plants or animals could harm all the other living things in this pond. In agriculture, high plant biodiversity (such as many kinds of flowering plants) around gardens or within orchards provide food and shelter for predators and parasitoids, which can control insect pests without the use of insecticides.

About the Experiment

It's time to get your hands dirty like a scientist! Try this experiment to measure biodiversity around your yard or school and see how biodiversity at the plant level affects biodiversity at the insect level.

	Details Ages: 5 - 12
	Time: 30 minutes
	Difficulty: Easy

 What You'll Need

• Pencil and paper
• Access to areas with two different soil types (garden, backyard, lawn, grass, dirt)
• String

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Let's Do This!

Warning: Be aware that some insects may sting. Younger explorers should conduct this experiment with an adult.

1. Use the string to create a 3-foot by 3-foot boundary around an outdoor area, such as a garden, lawn, grass, tree, etc.
2. Spend 8-10 minutes observing the area. Feel free to do a little lifting, moving, or digging to gain access to ground-dwelling insects.
3. Count and write down how many different types of plants, grasses, flowers, leaves, or weeds you see in that area. You don't need to count individual blades or leaves, just the different types in that area. Describe each item (four-leaf clover, crab grass, rose flower, spiny leaf, green pepper plant, etc.)
4. Count and write down how many different types of insects you see. Also write down the type of insect. If you don't know the type, describe the insect (color, shape, does it look like it belongs to a certain insect family, does if fly, how many legs).
5. For each insect, write down what it appears to be doing. Is it looking for food, looking for shelter, looking to return somewhere? Is it pollinating a plant or chewing on a leaf? Is it defending itself or trying to protect a certain area?
6. Repeat these steps in a different area and write down your observances.

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What Did You Learn?

1. How do the two habitats differ? Did one habitat have more types of plants than the other?
2. Which habitat had more insects? Which habitat had more types of insects?
3. How might plant diversity affect insect diversity?
4. Did you see the insects doing anything interesting? Were any eating plants? Were any eating other insects?
5. Where were the insects located? Were they on the plants, hovering around, or were they on the ground?
6. Were there differences between habitats in where the insects were located and what they were doing.
7. Which area had a healthier biodiversity, and why?

Researchers are Close to Hooking Fatal Catfish Disease

After grappling with a malady that decimates farm-raised catfish, ARS scientists at the Aquatic Animal Health Research lab in Auburn, AL, are close to landing answers and potential remedies to the elusive disease.

Aeromonas hydrophila has ravaged the catfish farming industry in Alabama and other states since its discovery in 2009. The bacterial disease causes hemorrhages on the fish’s body, loss of orientation, and rapid death. Last year, Alabama catfish farmers lost about $13.5 million in revenue – 9% higher than the previous year – due to fish mortality, costs of medicated feed and chemical treatments, and lost feeding days.

Scientists are taking a holistic approach to their research, systematically studying the impact of diet, oxygen depletion, chemical treatments, abrasions, parasite infections, and more to understand how the pathogen works.

Read this article to learn more