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Introducing the The Agricultural Cyberbiosecurity Education Resource Collection
Resources for Formal and Non-Formal Middle School Educators
The Virginia Tech Center for Advanced Innovation in Agriculture (CAIA) is pleased to announce the release of The Agricultural Cyberbiosecurity Education Resource Collection intended for middle-school level educators in formal and non-formal educational settings.
Cyberbiosecurity is an emerging field that focuses on creating security measures for digital aspects of our food and agriculture systems, creating a structure and opportunity for a safe food system that can meet the large needs of a growing population and world.
This collection of 30 documents includes customizable resources designed for formal and non-formal agricultural educators working with middle school aged youth. Three types of materials are included in the collection:
- – Reference materials for facilitators to introduce key concepts
- – Youth-facing fact sheets present these concepts at a 6th grade level
- – Hands-on activities integrate agriculture and cyberbiosecurity concepts
MS Word documents are available as an editable, customizable option for fact sheets (youth and facilitator), activity guides (youth and facilitator), and blank templates.
The open educational resources (OER) in this collection were developed through partnerships with scientists, middle school teachers, and Extension agents for use with a middle school youth audience and can be used in formal or non-formal educational settings. They are released under a CC BY NC-SA license to facilitate adaptation. The resources are aligned with Virginia Standards of Learning for science and computer science and Career and Technical Education Competencies for agricultural education.
Use these materials in your classroom
Teachers and extension agents reviewing, adopting, or adapting these materials are asked to please help us understand your use of the material by filling out this form https://bit.ly/agcyberbiosecurity
Access these resources
- – Find these resources at: https://doi.org/10.21061/cyberbiosecurity
- – And also via GoOpenVA, the free, open-access, open educational resource repository sponsored by the Virginia Department of Education, in the collection: Ag Cybersecurity Virginia Tech at https://goopenva.org/curated-collections/143
Included resources
1: Agricultural Cyberbiosecurity Reference Guide, which includes background information on key topics in agricultural cyberbiosecurity (Fact Sheets), a glossary, and context for the overall project and contributors
Agricultural_Cyberbiosecurity_Reference_Guide.pdf
2: Fact Sheets, which cover nine topics (Big Data, Bioeconomy, Biomanufacturing, Biosecurity, Biotechnology, Cyberbiosecurity, Data Literacy, Precision Agriculture, Sensors) with separate facilitator and youth versions. These resources were authored by Virginia Tech faculty and students.
– Big_Data_Fact_Sheet_Facilitator.pdf
– Bioeconomy_Fact_Sheet_Facilitator.pdf
– Biomanufacturing_Fact_Sheet_Facilitator.pdf
– Biosecurity_Fact_Sheet_Facilitator.pdf
– Biotechnology_Fact_Sheet_Facilitator.pdf
– Cyberbiosecurity_Fact_Sheet_Facilitator.pdf
– Data_Literacy_Fact_Sheet_Facilitator.pdf
– Precision_Agriculture_Fact_Sheet_Facilitator.pdf
– Sensors_Fact_Sheet_Facilitator.pdf
– Big_Data_Fact_Sheet_Youth.pdf
– Bioeconomy_Fact_Sheet_Youth.pdf
– Biomanufacturing_Fact_Sheet_Youth.pdf
– Biosecurity_Fact_Sheet_Youth.pdf
– Biotechnology_Fact_Sheet_Youth.pdf
– Cyberbiosecurity_Fact_Sheet_Youth.pdf
– Data_Literacy_Fact_Sheet_Youth.pdf
– Precision_Agriculture_Fact_Sheet_Youth.pdf
– Sensors_Fact_Sheet_Youth.pdf
3: Activities, which includes a Facilitator Guide and a Youth Activity Guide that help introduce key cyberbiosecurity ideas in the context of agriculture topics.The activities were developed by teams of Virginia Tech researchers, Virginia Cooperative Extension Agents, and Middle School Agriculture Teachers. They were reviewed and edited by Advisory Board members, project team members, and other educators.
Where’s the bacon? An introduction to vulnerabilities in agricultural systems was authored by Teresa Lindberg.
– Food_System_Vulnerabilities_Facilitator_Guide.pdf
– Food_System_Vulnerabilities_Youth_Guide.pdf
Traceability in Hydroponic Greens was authored by Laura Strawn, Alexis Hamilton, Claire Murphy, Ambrosia Church, and Cindy Vance.
– Hydroponics_Facilitator_Guide.pdf
– Hydroponics_Youth_Guide.pdf
Cybersecurity to Solve the Mystery of the Kentucky Derby Disappearance! was authored by Amy Whitten, Kate Hawkins, and Robin White.
–Livestock_Tracking_Facilitator_Guide.pdf
– Livestock_Tracking_Youth_Guide.pdf
Data quality in automation of food production: A soil nutrient experiment was authored by Anne Brown, Sally Farrell, Dan Sturgill, and Morgan Paulette.
– Soil_Nutrient_Facilitator_Guide.pdf
– Soil_Nutrient_Youth_Guide.pdf
MS Word documents are available as an editable, customizable option for items 1-3.
– Fact_Sheets_Facilitator_PDF_and_Customizable.zip
– Activities_Facilitator_and_Youth_Guides_PDF_and_Customizable.zip
– Editable_templates.zip
Project Goals and Acknowledgments
The Agricultural Cyberbiosecurity Education Resource Collection was developed through a project aimed at supporting formal and non-formal agricultural educators in integrating cyberbiosecurity topics and research-based strategies for engaging middle-school-aged girls in STEM into their educational programs.
The project is an outreach effort of the Virginia Tech Center for Advanced Innovation in Agriculture and was supported, in part, by the CCI Southwest Virginia Node Cyberbiosecurity Seed Grant program and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Women and Minorities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Fields (WAMS) Grants Program, award #2020-38503-31950. Design, publication assistance, and project management support was provided by the Open Education Initiative of the University Libraries at Virginia Tech.
Suggested citation
Smilnak, David, and Hannah H. Scherer, eds. (2023). Agricultural Cyberbiosecurity Education Resource Collection. Blacksburg: Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. https://doi.org/10.21061/cyberbiosecurity. Licensed with CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
Acknowledgments
Editors
David Smilnak is a Ph.D. candidate and graduate assistant in the Department of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education (ALCE) at Virginia Tech.
Hannah H. Scherer is an Associate Professor (ALCE) and Extension Specialist at Virginia Tech.
Contributors
The resources developed through this project have been made possible through the contributions of many people and organizations to whom we are very grateful. The project is an outreach effort of the Virginia Tech Center for Advanced Innovation in Agriculture (CAIA).
Project Team: Implementation of the grant project titled Initiating the rural cyberbiosecurity workforce pipeline through empowering agricultural educators and supporting middle school girls included an interdisciplinary team from Virginia Tech’s Department of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education (ALCE), Integrated Security Education and Research Center (ISERC), and Center for Advanced Innovation in Agriculture (CAIA), and Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE).
Project Directors: Hannah H. Scherer (ALCE), Erika Bonnett (VCE), Karen Vines (ALCE), Donna Westfall-Rudd (ALCE), Susan Duncan (CAIA) and Joseph Simpson (ISERC).
Project Management and Support: David Smilnak (ALCE)
Project Evaluators: Tiffany Drape (ALCE) and Nesma Osman (ALCE)
Advisory Board:
- – Sylvester Johnson, VT Center for Humanities
- – Teresa Lindberg, Virginia Association of Agricultural Educators
- – Gretchen Matthews, Southwest Virginia Node of Commonwealth Cyber Initiative
- – Steven McKnight, Virginia CyberRang
- – Jonette Mungo, Virginia Association of 4-H & Youth Development Agents
- – Tara Nattrass, Education Specialist, Dell Technologies
- – LaVeta Nutter, Virginia Department of Education
- – Theresa Pittman, Virginia Association of Extension Ag. Agents
- – Don Pizzullo, VT Roanoke Center
- – David Raymond, Virginia CyberRange
- – Susan Sumner, Associate Dean VT College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
- – Alyssa Walden, Deputy State 4-H Leader, VCE
- – Anita Walz, University Libraries at Virginia Tech
- – Chantel Wilson, VCE STEAM Specialist, Virginia State University
Funding and Support: This work is supported through the CCI Southwest Virginia Node Cyberbiosecurity Seed Grant program and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Women and Minorities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Fields (WAMS) Grants Program, award #2020-38503-31950. Technical and publishing support was provided by the Open Education Initiative of the University Libraries at Virginia Tech.
Resource Development and Review Several groups of people contributed significant efforts to developing and reviewing the Open Educational Resources published here and online.
Cyberbiosecurity Education Ambassadors Virginia middle school agriscience teachers, 4-H youth development agents, and agriculture and natural resources agents who work with youth developed and piloted hands-on activities and reviewed resources. They provided feedback to improve the final resources. The following people served in this role:
- – Ambrosia Church, Peter Muhlenberg Middle School
- – Sally Farrell, Craig County Cooperative Extension
- – Kate Hawkins, James Wood Middle School
- – Morgan Paulette, Pulaski County Cooperative Extension
- -Daniel Sturgill, Marion Middle School
- – Cindy Vance, Stuarts Draft Middle School
- – Amy Whitten, Bluestone Middle School Science Team
Virginia Tech researchers provided subject matter expertise to the project and contributed to the development and review of activities and fact sheets. The following people served in this role:
- – Anne M. Brown, Research and Informatics – University Libraries, Dept. of Biochemistry
- – Susan Campbell, School of Animal Sciences
- – Rebecca Cockrum, School of Animal Sciences
- – Alexis M. Hamilton, Food Science & Technology
- – Claire Murphy, Food Science & Technology
- – Laura Strawn, Food Science & Technology
- – Kang Xia, School of Plant & Environmental Sciences
- – Robin White, School of Animal Sciences
- – Bo Zhang, School of Plant & Environmental Sciences
Virginia Tech Students Virginia Tech graduate and undergraduate students contributed to fact sheets in this resource collection:
- – David Smilnak, ALCE Graduate Assistant
- – Jaylen Day, ALCE Undergraduate Researcher
- – Jordan Wilson, ALCE Graduate Assistant
- – Rebekah Miller, CAIA Graduate Student Association Member
- – Jordan Allen, CAIA Graduate Student Association Member
- – Sabrina Amorim, CAIA Graduate Student Association Member
- – Shannon Bradley, CAIA Graduate Student Association Member
Dedication
This project is dedicated in memory of Sue Duncan to acknowledge her substantial contribution to this project and to ensure that her spirit lives on in this work.
Looking for Cyberbiosecurity Resources for other educational contexts?Through the efforts of CAIA and beyond, Virginia Tech is leading with regard to cyberbiosecurity research and education. A growing collection of resources is available at: CAIA Resource Page: https://caia.cals.vt.edu/caia-s-research-platforms/cyberbiosecurity.html Here are some highlights:
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License
Unless otherwise noted, this work is released under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY NC-SA) 4.0 license which allows adaptation and redistribution with attribution for uses which are not primarily commercial. See the license terms and best practices for attribution for additional information.
Special thanks to Hannah H. Scherer, Feras Batarseh, and David Smilnak for their contributions to this blog post.
