About

Jessica Ferguson is an Education Support Specialist at Virginia Tech, associated with the Department of Accounting and Information Systems within the Pamplin College of Business. She is based in Pamplin Hall, Blacksburg, VA, and can be contacted via email at jessicaf22@vt.edu or by phone at 540-231-6591. Her role involves supporting academic and research activities within the department, contributing to the university's mission of providing quality education and fostering research in accounting and information systems.

Research topics

• Biology
• Agricultural science
• Agronomy
• Business
• Animal science
• Environmental science

Selected publications

• Leveraging dairy cattle to upcycle culled citrus fruit for emission mitigation and resource co-benefits: A case study

  Resources Conservation and Recycling · 2024 · 10 citations

  • Environmental science
  • Agricultural science
  • Business
  PublisherDOI

• Food Residue, Loss and Waste as Animal Feed

  Elsevier eBooks · 2019-06-10 · 14 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• BETWEEN DEVELOPMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY: ADAPTATION STRATEGIES FOR CHINA AND INDONESIA

  WORLD SCIENTIFIC eBooks · 2018-03-20 · 3 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  In spite of the apparently smooth shift from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) as leading global agenda, serious debates have emerged about the structural limitations of the MDGs and the ability to merge environmental and development priorities in the current SDG framework. After a long consultation process through 2013-2016, the main thrust of the SDG agenda has been to end extreme poverty, ensure food security and support inclusive empowerment alongside environmental and ecological sustainability. Tensions among these agenda remain, as debated at Rio 2012 and the Paris Climate Change talks (COP 21 in late 2015), with developing countries remaining more vulnerable to the impact of Climate Change and less able to transfer rapidly to clean technology-energy mixes. However, the parallel outcomes of development and climate change conferences has been the stronger emphasis on adaptation strategies to Climate Change (and related funding), rather than the earlier dominance of emission mitigation agreements. This makes the SDGs more compatible with the national strategies of developing countries including India, China, Brazil and South Africa. As such, adaptation strategies provide an avenue to improved developmental sustainability and national resilience, but in part rely on effective global partnerships that need further implementation. The paper will explore these links by looking at trends in China and Indonesia, alongside existing multi-actor networks including the BASIC group of states and the Non-State Actor Zone for Climate Action (NAZCA).

  PublisherDOI

• GEOPOLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT: OPPORTUNITIES FOR CHINA AND INDIA

  WORLD SCIENTIFIC eBooks · 2018-03-20

  book-chapterSenior author

  The following sections are included:Introduction: The Geopolitical Development NexusChina’s New Silk RoadsIndia’s Mandalic Connectivity in a SAGAR SystemSummaryReferences

  PublisherDOI

• Nutritional strategies to improve nitrogen efficiency and milk protein synthesis in dairy cows

  Burleigh Dodds series in agricultural science · 2017-03-31 · 2 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Nutritional strategies to improve nitrogen efficiency and milk protein synthesis in dairy cows

  2017-10-31 · 2 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  The Food Agricultural Organization estimates that 6 billion of the 7 billion people in the world consume milk and milk products, and 150 million households around the globe are engaged in milk production. Losses of nitrogen, phosphorus and greenhouse gases to the environment from livestock production units can create environmental degradation. Nutritional strategies to improve nitrogen efficiency and milk protein synthesis in dairy cows largely from urea excretion. Mechanical influences include milking and suckling stimuli, but also mechanical adhesion of epithelial cells in the gland which enhances cell differentiation. If energy is limiting, particularly glucose availability, milk protein synthesis is reduced, as is milk volume. Lactose is synthesised in the Golgi apparatus in mammary cells along with milk proteins. Because rumen fermentation significantly alters feed inputs, the prediction of supply of amino acids (AA) to the duodenum is not straightforward. A problem with AA supplementation in dairy cows is rumen microbes, which readily degrade AAs.

  PublisherDOI

• Comparison of rumen bacterial communities in dairy herds of different production

  BMC Microbiology · 2017-08-30 · 84 citations

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to compare the rumen bacterial composition in high and low yielding dairy cows within and between two dairy herds. Eighty five Holstein dairy cows in mid-lactation (79-179 days in milk) were selected from two farms: Farm 12 (M305 = 12,300 kg; n = 47; 24 primiparous cows, 23 multiparous cows) and Farm 9 (M305 = 9700 kg; n = 38; 19 primiparous cows, 19 multiparous cows). Each study cow was sampled once using the stomach tube method and processed for 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing using the Ion Torrent (PGM) platform. RESULTS: = 0.16; p < 0.001) than within farm. Five bacterial lineages, namely Prevotella (48-52%), unclassified Bacteroidales (10-12%), unclassified bacteria (5-8%), unclassified Succinivibrionaceae (1-7%) and unclassified Prevotellaceae (4-5%) were observed to differentiate the community clustering patterns among the two farms. A notable finding is the greater (p < 0.05) contribution of Succinivibrionaceae lineages in Farm 12 compared to Farm 9. Furthermore, in Farm 12, Succinivibrionaceae lineages were higher (p < 0.05) in the high yielding cows compared to the low yielding cows in both primiparous and multiparous groups. Prevotella, S24-7 and Succinivibrionaceae lineages were found in greater abundance on Farm 12 and were positively correlated with milk yield. CONCLUSIONS: Differences in rumen bacterial populations observed between the two farms can be attributed to dietary composition, particularly differences in forage type and proportion in the diets. A combination of corn silage and alfalfa silage may have contributed to the increased proportion of Proteobacteria in Farm 12. It was concluded that Farm 12 had a greater proportion of specialist bacteria that have the potential to enhance rumen fermentative digestion of feedstuffs to support higher milk yields.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Evaluation of Chromium Propionate (Kemtrace®) on Reproductive Performance of Holstein Cows in a Pennsylvania Dairy Herd

  eCommons (Cornell University) · 2016-10-18

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  This information was presented at the 2016 Cornell Nutrition Conference for Feed Manufacturers, organized by the Department of Animal Science In the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. Softcover copies of the entire conference proceedings may be purchased at http://ansci.cals.cornell.edu/extension-outreach/adult-extension/dairy-management/order-proceedings-resources.

  Publisher

• Assessing U.S. food wastage and opportunities for reduction

  Global Food Security · 2016-03-01 · 120 citations

  articleOpen access

  Reducing food wastage is one of the key strategies to combat hunger and sustainably feed the world. We present a comprehensive analysis of available data, despite uncertainties due to data limitation, indicating that the U.S. loses at least 150 million metric tonnes (MMT) of food between farm and fork annually, of which about 70 MMT is edible food loss. Currently, <2% of the edible food loss is recovered for human consumption. A reasonably-attainable goal of food waste reduction at the source by 20% would save more food than the annual increase in total food production and would feed millions of people. This is an opportunity of significant magnitude, offering food security and resource and environmental benefits with few negatives. Seizing this opportunity requires technological innovation, policy intervention, and public outreach. This U.S.-based analysis is pertinent to other mid- to high-income countries.

  PublisherDOI

• Special Report

  Journal of ExtraCorporeal Technology · 2015-06-01 · 13 citations

  articleOpen access

  Gaps remain in our understanding of the contribution of bypass-related practices associated with red blood cell (RBC) transfusions after cardiac surgery. Variability exists in the reporting of bypass-related practices in the peer-reviewed literature. In an effort to create uniformity in reporting, a draft statement outlining proposed minimal criteria for reporting cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB)-related contributions (i.e., RBC data collection/documentation, clinical considerations for transfusions, equipment details, and clinical endpoints) was presented in conjunction with the American Society of ExtraCorporeal Technology’s (AmSECT’s) 2014 Quality and Outcomes Meeting (Baltimore, MD). Based on presentations and feedback from the conference, coauthors ( n = 14) developed and subsequently voted on each proposed data element. Data elements receiving a total of ≤4 votes were dropped from further consideration, 5–9 votes were considered as “Recommended,” and elements receiving ≥10 votes were considered as “Mandatory.” A total of 52 elements were classified as mandatory, 16 recommended, and 14 dropped. There are 8 mandatory data elements for RBC data collection/documentation, 24 for clinical considerations for transfusions, 13 for equipment details, and 7 for clinical endpoints. We present 52 mandatory data elements reflecting CPB-related contributions to RBC transfusions. Consistency of such reporting would offer our community an increased opportunity to shed light on the relationship between intra-operative practices and RBC transfusions.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• William Chalupa

  University of Pennsylvania

  92 shared

• David T. Galligan

  QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute

  59 shared

• Robert C. Groom

  SUNY Upstate Medical University

  50 shared

• Robert A. Baker

  Flinders University

  50 shared

• Zhengxia Dou

  University of Pennsylvania

  48 shared

• R.A. Kohn

  University of Pennsylvania

  40 shared

• C.F. Ramberg

  38 shared

• Donald S. Likosky

  Michigan Medicine

  36 shared

Labs

• Accounting and Information SystemsPI