A Mississippi State sociologist is joining a national task force examining the future of urban agriculture.

Dr. Frank M. Howell, research scientist at the university's Social Science Research Center, is one of 15 experts joining the task force of university faculty members.

Selected by the Ames, Iowa-based Council for Agricultural and Science Technology, the researchers will develop a report to be completed next year for presentation in 2002.

"Such issues as urban-rural interface and markets at the fringes of agriculture will be examined, said CAST executive vice president Richard E. Stuckey. "We'll look not only at food agriculture but also at urban landscapes because of the aesthetic contributions agriculture can make."