{"id":957,"date":"2013-04-15T15:07:17","date_gmt":"2013-04-15T20:07:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uwpowerswi.com\/?p=957"},"modified":"2015-04-13T13:11:22","modified_gmt":"2015-04-13T18:11:22","slug":"uw-stevens-point-student-researcher-helping-to-develop-new-state-crop","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/uw-stevens-point-student-researcher-helping-to-develop-new-state-crop\/","title":{"rendered":"UW-Stevens Point student researcher helping to develop new state crop"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Stevens Point, Wis. \u2013 Working in a fourth-floor lab in the Dan Trainer College of Natural Resources (CNR) Building, Heath Brandner deftly plucks a tiny American hazelnut plant from its growth medium. The robust little seedling, three weeks old, is ready for division and transplanting. Brandner carefully records information about the plant\u2019s condition and marks and dates the transplant.<\/p>\n<p>Brandner, a University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point forestry major, is working with Professor Mike Demchik on a research project that ultimately aims to develop American hazelnut strains for commercial production. The plants show promise as an oilseed crop \u2013 the nuts are more than 50 percent oil and similar to olive oil in health advantages. They also have potential as a biodiesel crop, but their value is much higher as a foodstuff, Demchik says. Either use has the potential to add a new income source for Wisconsin agriculture producers.<\/p>\n<p>One research aspect is developing the protocol for propagating the plants. Heath\u2019s part of the project is helping to determine the optimum interval for division and transplanting.<\/p>\n<p>Brandner is a third-year student from Marshfield, Wis., and hopes to work in agroforestry after graduation. One of his goals in college was to gain laboratory experience as an undergraduate and he\u2019s happy that the CNR provides such opportunities. \u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to do student research,\u201d Brandner says, adding that he plans to present his work at the college\u2019s annual research symposium on April 5.<\/p>\n<p>Demchik\u2019s research is supported in part by the Wisconsin Institute for Sustainable Technology (WIST) at UW-Stevens Point, under its WIST Scholars program, which has provided funding for nearly a dozen projects since 2011. The program aims to foster creative ideas and solutions for businesses through collaborative work, targeting opportunities that promise environmental as well as economic gains.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2491\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2491\" style=\"width: 781px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/forwisconsin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2013\/04\/UWSP_HazelTransplanting-0173_cropped_caption_781px.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2491\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/forwisconsin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2013\/04\/UWSP_HazelTransplanting-0173_cropped_caption_781px.jpg\" alt=\"student working in a laboratory\" width=\"781\" height=\"257\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2013\/04\/UWSP_HazelTransplanting-0173_cropped_caption_781px.jpg 781w, https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2013\/04\/UWSP_HazelTransplanting-0173_cropped_caption_781px-300x99.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 781px) 100vw, 781px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2491\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stevens Point forestry major Heath Brandner transplants American hazelnut seedlings as part of a research project that aims to develop a new commercial opportunity for Wisconsin agricultural producers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stevens Point, Wis. \u2013 Working in a fourth-floor lab in the Dan Trainer College of Natural Resources (CNR) Building, Heath Brandner deftly plucks a tiny American hazelnut plant from its growth medium. The robust little seedling, three weeks old, is ready for division and transplanting. Brandner carefully records information about the plant\u2019s condition and marks [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":958,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","institution":[95],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-957","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-stevens-point"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=957"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=957"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}