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                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 Environmental Microbial & Food Safety Laboratory: Beltsville, MD
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Moon Kim and the sensing technologies team are working with NASA to develop spectral imaging technologies to monitor fresh crops for contamination and disease in growth chambers used on future space missions. Read more on Tellus:**Watch What You Eat . . . From Space**
 In their research on water and pathogen movement in agricultural production areas, Yakov Pachepsky and his team are testing drones for sampling irrigation ponds for E. coli bacteria. This could give farmers a new tool to avoid spraying potentially harmful bacteria on crops. Watch the video on *Tellus*: **USDA Monitoring Water Quality Using Drones** (2:04)
 In a study to investigate whether *E. coli* can be internalized by spinach plants through their roots, Manan Sharma and his team prepared fluorescent *E. coli* cells for tracking the bacteria from field to harvest, for soil-grown and hydroponically grown spinach. Read more in *Agricultural Research Magazine*: **ARS Scientists Study the Ins and Outs of E. coli Contamination**
 In a study to determine how long bacteria remain viable in a high-tunnel production system, Pat Millner and her team harvested spinach leaves from plants that had been inoculated with a harmless strain of bacteria. Read more in *Agricultural Research Magazine*: **Organic vs. Conventional Production, Measuring Microbes on Fresh Produce**
 Moon Kim and the sensing technologies team are developing spectral imaging technologies for food safety inspection applications including contamination detection on fresh produce, food ingredient authentication, and sanitation inspection. Read more in *Agricultural Research Magazine*: **Machine’s Eye View of Poultry and Produce**


EMFSL research projects are part of **ARS National Program 108: Food Safety**. EMFSL scientists are working to better understand where pathogens come from and how they survive and move through farms and processing plants to food products, and to develop ways to reduce, detect, and treat contamination problems that can cause foodborne illnesses.


**Environmental Fate and Transport of Pathogens** • Tellus: ARS Monitoring Water Quality Using Drones (video) • EFT Download Code **Sensing Technologies for Food Safety** • Tellus: Watch What You Eat . . . From Space **Visitor Information** (Planning a Visit?)  • BARC Policies • EMFSL Visitor Information


Northeast Area   moon.kim@usda.gov


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