An Extension Program Helping Private Landowners Develop Natural Resource Enterprises in Mississippi

The Natural Resources Enterprise (NRE) Program at Mississippi State University has developed a comprehensive statewide extension effort to assist landowners in developing and managing outdoor recreational businesses using sound business and habitat management strategies. According to recent research, fee access wildlife and fisheries recreational enterprises on private lands diversify landowner income, enhance participation in USDA cost-share programs that increase wildlife habitats on marginal agricultural lands, and promote land stewardship and ownership retention. With this program, information pertinent to the development and management of natural resource enterprises is disseminated through a combination of landowner workshops, websites, extension publications, manuals, DVD tutorials, radio programs, field days, and demonstration areas. Through collaboration with partner organizations and institutions, the NRE Program has expanded its scope both inside Mississippi and regionally. This innovative program is leading Mississippi and the Southeast in transferring research-based information in wildlife management and fee-based recreation development to landowners interested in applying these strategies on their lands

Deposition of Sodium Metal at the Copper‐NaSICON Interface for Reservoir‐Free Solid‐State Sodium Batteries

“Anode-free” solid-state battery concepts are explored extensively as they promise a higher energy density with less material consumption and simple anode processing. Here, the homogeneous and uniform electrochemical deposition of alkali metal at the interface between current collector and solid electrolyte plays the central role to form a metal anode within the first cycle. While the cathodic deposition of lithium has been studied intensively, knowledge on sodium deposition is scarce. In this work, dense and uniform sodium layers of several microns thickness are deposited at the Cu|Na$_{3.4}$Zr$_2$Si$_{2.4}$P$_{0.6}$O$_{12}$ interface with high reproducibility. At current densities of ≈1 mA∙cm$^{−2}$, relatively uniform coverage is achieved underneath the current collector, as shown by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and 3D confocal microscopy. In contrast, only slight variations of the coverage are observed at different stack pressures. Early stages of the sodium metal growth are analyzed by in situ transmission electron microscopy revealing oriented growth of sodium. The results demonstrate that reservoir-free (“anode-free”) sodium-based batteries are feasible and may stimulate further research efforts in sodium-based solid-state batteries