UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Seven students in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences have received predoctoral fellowships from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The students received a combined total of nearly $1.1 million — the most received for this year's fellowships among U.S. universities.
The predoctoral fellowship program, part of USDA-NIFA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, helps new scientists and professionals enter research, education and extension fields within the food and agricultural sciences in the private sector, government or academia.
The fellowships support future leaders who can solve emerging agricultural challenges. The program is aimed at fostering fellows whose research addresses sustainable agricultural intensification, agricultural climate adaptation, food and nutrition translation, value-added innovation, and agricultural science policy leadership.
This year, USDA-NIFA invested almost $8 million to support the training of doctoral candidates and postdoctoral scholars.
“The high number of fellowships awarded again this year speaks to the quality of our faculty, their commitment to mentoring, and our ability to recruit outstanding graduate students,” said Blair Siegfried, associate dean for research and graduate education in the College of Agricultural Sciences.
Following are the Penn State recipients and their research projects:
— Bailey Basiel, doctoral candidate, animal science, “Breeding Beef on Holstein: Producing Crossbred Calves That Are Profitable from the Dairy to the Meat Packer.”
— Daphne Weikart, doctoral candidate, food science, “Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Cocoa Polyphenols in Obesity Models.”
— Evelyn Weaver, doctoral candidate, animal science, “The Role of Increased Visceral Adiposity in the Development of Lipotoxicity and Ovarian Dysfunction in the Broiler Breeder Hen.”
— Marissa Kopp, doctoral candidate, ecology, “Minimizing Nitrogen Pollution Swapping Linking Root Traits to N20 Emissions in Edge-of-Field Forested Riparian Buffers.”
— Emily Van Syoc, doctoral candidate, integrative and biomedical physiology, “The Role of Probiotic Yogurt in Enhancing Metformin Benefits in Older Adults at Risk of Metabolic Disease.”
— Mary Smith, doctoral candidate, plant pathology, “S-Type Bacteriocins and the Colonization and Survival of Pseudomonas Syringae Pv. Tomato in the Phyllosphere.”
— Hannah Whitley, doctoral candidate, rural sociology and human dimensions of natural resources and the environment, “Examining Stakeholder Engagement for Inclusive Transboundary Water Management and Agricultural Sustainability in the Klamath River Basin.”