2021 Future Leaders Forum
The Association for International Agriculture and Rural Development (AIARD) administers a competitive fellowship program to nurture and provide networking opportunities to students attending: 1) the AIARD Annual Conference and 2) the annual Future Leaders Forum, both hosted virtually this year. The AIARD Future Leader Fellowships (FLF) are awarded on a competitive basis to students who have a sincere interest in international agriculture and rural development issues and their solutions.
Congratulations to 2021's cohort of outstanding students:
Mariana Ferreira Bittencourt Amaral, PhD Student, Washington State University
Congratulations to 2021's cohort of outstanding students:
Mariana Ferreira Bittencourt Amaral, PhD Student, Washington State University
- Mariana is pursuing her doctoral degree from Washington State University in Crop Sciences, with an emphasis on Weed Science. Mariana previously worked for Dow AgroSciences, Bayer, and Monsanto in both the United States and her native Brazil. She is passionate about making connections with other scientists interested in international agriculture and hopes to inspire more women and girls to becoming involved in agriculture and science. You can connect with Mariana here.
- Linnea is pursuing her doctoral degree in Applied Ecology from North Carolina State University, with emphases on aquaculture, genetics, and machine learning. Her research focuses on identifying genetic markers for agriculturally-important traits and making this information more accessible for scientists, extension agents, and producers around the world. Linnea is passionate about mentoring the next generation on methods for balancing the demands of food security and economic growth through agriculture. You can connect with Linnea here.
- Barituka is pursuing his doctoral degree in Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Missouri. He spent several years working in various capacities at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Nigeria, where he developed and ran IITA's Youth Agripreneurs (IYA) program. Barituka's research focuses on understanding the factors that contribute to the resilience of rural households throughout the world, and he plans to continue this work after receiving his doctoral degree. You can connect with Barituka here.
- Sandeep is pursuing his doctoral degree in Crop Sciences, with an emphasis on Plant Breeding and Genetics, from Louisiana State University. Sandeep's research focuses on the development of climate change resilient crop varieties - specifically, abiotic stress tolerance in rice. He founded the Integrated Rural Development and Research Center (IRDC) in his native Nepal, an organization which provides training on commercial agricultural production to local farmers. You can connect with Sandeep here.
- Bryan is pursuing his doctoral degree in Public Policy and Administration at Mississippi State University, where he leads an international research and development partnership unit. He has collaborated on international projects with organizations including USAID, IFPRI, and FAO. He is passionate about leveraging the multi-disciplinary capacity of land-grant institutions (such as Mississippi State University) to tackle issues related to global food security. You can connect with Bryan here.
- Zilfa is pursuing her Master's degree in Food Safety and Microbiology from Kansas State University. Zilfa's background is in conservation agriculture - while in her native Rwanda, she helped identify promising young students to attend a local conservation agriculture institute. Zilfa is passionate about identifying methods to preserve foods safely to reduce food waste and increase food system resiliency. You can connect with Zilfa here.
- Zeynab is pursuing her doctoral degree in Natural Resources from North Carolina State University. Zeynab's research investigates the relationships between natural resources, ecosystem services, and food security in Sub-Saharan Africa through an interdisciplinary lens, integrating landscape ecology, geospatial analytics, and public health approaches. She is passionate about addressing issues at the root of food security using multidisciplinary approaches. Zeynab was awarded this year's AIARD Scholarship. You can connect with Zeynab here.
- Raquel is pursuing undergraduate degrees in Economic Science, Political Science, and Pre-Law from Washington State University. Raquel's interest in international agriculture stems from her upbringing in Nairobi, Kenya. She is passionate about identifying policy solutions to improve the resiliency of both urban and rural dwellers in the face of climate change. You can connect with Raquel here.
- Emily is pursuing her doctoral degree in Interdisciplinary Ecology and Agronomy at the University of Florida. Her passion for climate-resilient agriculture originally stems from research and work she conducted with coffee farmers in Brazil, Costa Rica, and Guatemala. Emily plans to continue researching economically and environmentally sustainable approaches to coffee production using a multidisciplinary lens. You can connect with Emily here.
- Bipana is pursuing her doctoral degree in Entomology and International Agriculture & Development from Pennsylvania State University. She recently collaborated with scientists from the International Center for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) to model Fall Armyworm distribution in Sub-Saharan Africa. She plans to develop real-time models to determine the risk of insect pest damage in Sub-Saharan Africa - this tool will be available to local communities to aid in decision-making and improve resilience to insect pests. You can connect with Bipana here.
- Rafael is pursuing his doctoral degree in Agricultural Communication, Education, and Leadership at The Ohio State University. Rafael has worked in Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador, where he lead fieldwork for research projects focusing on food security, youth development, and migration prevention. He is passionate about communicating the agricultural advances made by academia and the agri-food industry to food producers throughout the world. You can connect with Rafael here.
- Farzana is pursuing her doctoral degree in Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Farzana has directly worked on public policy issues relating to smallholder agriculture in her native Bangladesh, allowing her to bridge the gap between research and policy. Farzana works for the ADM Institute for the Prevention of Postharvest Loss (ADMI) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she researches technologies, innovations, and practices that reduce postharvest losses in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. You can connect with Farzana here.