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![\"Portrait](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Riannon-Rowley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n These Davis College graduate students study a variety of sorghum concerns, including
\n chilling tolerance, digestive impact on cattle and stalk strength.<\/p>\n
\t\tCREATORS<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
As Texas Tech University<\/a> prepares to host the Global Sorghum Conference<\/a> later this month, it continues to position itself as a leader in sorghum research.<\/p>\n A big part of this effort has been the work of the next generation of sorghum researchers: Three such students can be found in the Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources<\/a>: Nicholas McNab<\/a>, a first-year master\u2019s student in the Department of Plant & Soil Science<\/a>; Ahmari D. Henry, a second-year master\u2019s student in the Department of Animal & Food Sciences<\/a>; and Mayank Bangari<\/a>, a doctoral student in Plant & Soil Science.\u00a0<\/p>\n Their work runs the gamut of topics from forage sorghum\u2019s chilling tolerance to grain And while they have all arrived at sorghum research through different means, one thing Chilling Factor<\/p>\n McNab may be starting the second semester of his master\u2019s program, but he\u2019s been a During the internship, McNab says he spent long days in the sun collecting sorghum \u201cI liked it because my undergrad was in environmental and development engineering,\u201d After completing the internship, he was encouraged to continue his work with the research McNab\u2019s research interests are centered on forage crops including sorghum. He is interested \u201cBack home, a majority of the population lives below the international poverty line, McNab is conducting a chilling tolerance trial to see how early in the year sorghum Traditionally, in West Texas, sorghum is planted in May and June. For the study, McNab While the trial is still in its early stages, McNab said forage sorghum appears to McNab has worked with sorghum for just over a year, yet he can\u2019t help but find himself \u201cSorghum is sort of symbolic of how ancient things can still work today,\u201d he said. Feeding Time<\/p>\n Henry transferred to Texas Tech as an undergraduate in 2022, hoping to fulfill her Henry participated in the National Bio & Agro-Defense Facility Laboratorian Training Program<\/a>, which provides mentorship opportunities and practical experience to students interested It didn\u2019t take long for Henry to fall in love with nutrition research. She received \u201cNutrition is a very important component of animal health,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you can Henry is examining the digestibility performance of cattle who are fed sorghum as Henry says two challenging aspects of sorghum are that it naturally produces prussic For this study, Henry is looking at four different sorghum hybrids, specifically prussic Henry distills her excitement around grain sorghum as a feed alternative to two main The first is for crop producers. Sorghum, she says, has similar growth capabilities The second point comes down to Texas animal producers being less reliant on crops \u201cIf we\u2019re able to grow more sorghum here and it can be used in feed, this could be Going forward, Henry hopes to combine her childhood goal of becoming a veterinarian \u201cTexas Tech is very interested in getting students involved,\u201d she said. \u201cI believe Lodging Accommodations<\/p>\n In his final year of the doctoral program supported by the United Sorghum Checkoff \u201cMy father used to show me microscopic slides of mustard flowers because they were In some ways, Bangari is now repaying his dad\u2019s favor, sending microscopic images \u201cHe seems happy, looking at those images,\u201d Bangari said, a smile sweeping across his Bangari is researching lodging in grain sorghum and is part of the TeCSIS team. Lodging This is a prominent concern for grain sorghum because the grain cannot be salvaged Bangari is trying to identify key components of what makes a sorghum stalk strong One challenging aspect of this research is assessing a lodging score for grain sorghum. To expedite the process a bit, he brings plants back to the lab and uses an electromagnetic Now, Bangari can test sorghum stalk strength in a more strategic manner.<\/p>\n Bangari also tests the strength of sorghum by examining the internodes along the stalk.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s become a lot of work because we have around 2,000 to 3,000 stalks in our lab,\u201d The eventual hope is to have genetic markers signifying strong stalks and introducing Bangari sounds like a kid in a toy store told they can only pick one item when he \u201cAll these things fascinate me and make me excited to learn more about sorghum,\u201d he In his final year of the doctoral program, Bangari believes his future in crop sciences \u201cIf I want to go into the core crop plant physiology, I can,\u201d he said. \u201cI can focus
\n graduate students<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n sorghum\u2019s digestive impact on cattle or factors that determine its stalk strength.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n is clear: the future of sorghum research is in capable and eager hands.<\/p>\n
\n part of sorghum research at Texas Tech since completing a professional internship
\n under the guidance of Impa Somayanda<\/a>, associate professor of agricultural water management, and Krishna Jagadish<\/a>, Thornton Distinguished Chair of Plant & Soil Science, and. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n
\n samples and data. While others could have found the work tiring, McNab was invigorated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n he said about his bachelor\u2019s degree from Zamorano University in Honduras. \u201cMy previous
\n research was oriented to remote analysis and sensing, and now it\u2019s more in-field stuff.
\n A lot of things I didn\u2019t get to see during my undergrad I\u2019m now able to revisit with
\n my current agronomy-oriented research.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Nicholas](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/mcnab-sorghum.jpg\")
Nicholas McNab<\/p>\n
\n team as a master\u2019s student in the Texas Coalition for Sustainable Integrated Systems Research Program<\/a> (TeCSIS), supported by a Texas Tech strategic initiative award with funding from
\n the State of Texas TUF.<\/p>\n
\n in incorporating more sustainable practices into his research.<\/p>\n
\n and it\u2019s hard to see people suffering every day, trying to get food on their tables,\u201d
\n he said. \u201cBeing part of this research, which can eventually translate into producers
\n who can make more sustainable choices, is important. It\u2019s not only about what we\u2019re
\n growing, but where we\u2019re growing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n can be planted. This, he believes, could let producers take advantage of the extra
\n moisture in the soil following winter. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\n has three planting dates: April 1, April 15 and May 1. Corn was used as a control
\n crop to compare against sorghum.<\/p>\n
\n be outperforming corn.<\/p>\n
\n awed by the ancient crop. Walking the fields, he takes a beat to mentally transport
\n himself to the crop\u2019s origins, which can be traced back to 8000 B.C.<\/p>\n
\n \u201cBut if you want to be a part of the bridge to the future, it\u2019s important to transition
\n traditional crops to more resilient ones. Being able to see how plants like sorghum
\n develop in extreme conditions is a big factor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n childhood dream of becoming a veterinarian. She wasted no time finding research opportunities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n in animal research. Henry was matched with Jhones Sarturi<\/a>, associate professor of Animal & Food Sciences, and began researching beef cattle
\n metabolism.<\/p>\n
\n a 2025 Undergraduate Research Grant<\/a> from Davis College and was named Davis College\u2019s Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher for 2024-25<\/a>. She then started her master\u2019s program, continuing to work in Sarturi\u2019s lab.<\/p>\n
\n understand how, when and what to feed, as well as how the animals metabolize it throughout
\n their bodies, you can kind of prevent some ailments that animals experience caused
\n by improper feeding techniques.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Ahmari](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/henry-profile-.jpg\")
Ahmari D. Henry<\/p>\n
\n an alternative to more commonly used feed grains like corn.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n acid and can be difficult to digest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n acid-free (PAF) sorghum. She has given PAF sorghum to cattle and will then analyze
\n a variety of aspects including pH value, intake amount and particle size.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n points.<\/p>\n
\n as other feed grain crops but does so with limited amounts of water. She believes
\n this is a significant benefit for famers in a semi-arid region like Lubbock or the
\n Panhandle where rainfall has decreased and temperatures rise.<\/p>\n
\n grown outside the state. Though Texas produces a large amount of corn for feed, leaning
\n into a drought-resilient crop like sorghum could help the state be more self-sufficient,
\n especially when corn yields are lower than expected. In 2025, Texas was the second
\n largest sorghum producer in the U.S.<\/p>\n
\n more affordable for our farmers,\u201d Henry said.<\/p>\n
\n with her developing passion for nutritional research. She wants to be a mixed-practice
\n veterinarian that specializes in and researches animal nutrition, a combination she
\n believes became possible because of her time at Texas Tech.<\/p>\n
\n when you come here, you are set up to succeed wherever you plan to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n Program under the guidance of Jagadish, Bangari can\u2019t help but feel a little nostalgic
\n as he talks about his love of microscopy.<\/p>\n
\n easy to cut,\u201d he remembered. \u201cHe was a pharmacist in a government hospital, so during
\n holidays or time off from school I used to go there. It was just a simple light microscope,
\n but my interest in botany starts from there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n of stomata or leaves at much higher magnifications.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n face. \u201cAlthough he\u2019s technically in human biology and has no real point of reference,
\n he really wanted to know more about plants. It made me feel like he was happy and
\n proud.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n occurs when a plant falls or flattens toward the ground either at the roots or the
\n stalk.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n even if picked up. Bangari says this could cause yield losses of 20% to 80%.<\/p>\n![\"Bangari](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Mayank_sorghum-root.jpg\")
Mayank Bangari holds the stalk and roots of a sorghum sample for his study.<\/p>\n
\n and says there wasn\u2019t a genetic marker for stalk strength until recently.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n Typically, Bangari would have to go out to the field and see if sorghum has lodged
\n or not and then track that data.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n tool called the Device for Assessing the Resistance to Lodging In Grains (DARLING).
\n Created by a mechanical engineer at the University of Idaho, the DARLING apparatus
\n helps mimic the natural failure pattern of sorghum.<\/p>\n
\n he said. \u201cThere are 14 or 15 internodes, and you\u2019re just puncturing each one to see
\n which is strong.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n them to breeders to develop resilient sorghum plants that can withstand blistering
\n winds along the \u201cSorghum Belt,\u201d which includes Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Nebraska,
\n South Dakota and Kansas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n reflects on why he finds sorghum so interesting. He rattles off some of his favorite
\n attributes \u2013 such as sorghum\u2019s stay green nature, long stems and waxiness \u2013 spending
\n just enough time to explain what makes those attributes unique before quickly moving
\n on to his next favorite. All the while, his cadence speeds up, his body movements
\n intensify and his words race to keep up with his thoughts.<\/p>\n
\n says, taking a moment to catch his breath. \u201cAs I\u2019m doing my own research, I\u2019m like
\n \u2018Let\u2019s study this thing. Oh, let\u2019s study this other thing.\u2019 There are many attributes
\n I\u2019ve seen and analyzed under the microscope which aren\u2019t part of my research but pique
\n my curiosity. It makes me excited, and I start going deeper and deeper, analyzing
\n more and more.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n exemplifies \u201cFrom Here, It\u2019s Possible\u201d\u2122.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n on microscopy if I want to. I never was in an interdisciplinary environment before
\n coming here. After three years, I feel like I got a really dynamic experience.\u201d<\/p>\n