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Three graduate students from ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ’s College of Agriculture, Environment, and Nutrition Sciences have been selected as fellows for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Foreign Service (USDA – APHIS) Program. The fellowship will award up to $46,000 for the 2021 cohort.
The fellowship program seeks individuals interested in contributing to the health and safety of U.S. agriculture through international engagement. The fellowship provides educational and professional support and a pathway to a career as a Foreign Service Officer in the APHIS. The program sought to attract qualified candidates who represent ethnic, racial, gender, social, and geographic diversity to the APHIS Foreign Service.
Dr. Olga Bolden-Tiller, Asst. Dean and Head - Dept. of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, stated, “¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ’s College of Agriculture, Environment, and Nutrition Sciences is excited about the opportunity to contribute to the APHIS-FAS (Foreign Agricultural Service) workforce and know that these outstanding fellows are sure to represent Tuskegee and be a great asset to USDA-APHIS-FAS.â€
This year’s recipients represent a broad set of interests ranging from biotechnological approaches to mitigate disease-related challenges to plant genomics and plant breeding interaction.
Adrianne Brown is an Integrative Bioscience Ph.D. candidate at Tuskegee. The New Haven, Connecticut native is a first-generation college graduate. She attended Delaware State, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Master of Science in Agriculture with a concentration in Plant Sciences. Recently, Brown participated in the International Summer Experience in Agriculture and Related Sciences Program at ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ. Brown’s plans during graduate school are to learn and understand how plant pathogens interact with their host at the molecular, cellular, and organismal levels. With this understanding, she seeks to utilize new biotechnological approaches to mitigate disease-related challenges. Her aspirations as an APHIS fellow are to utilize her technical and soft skill sets to help improve the United States agricultural system.
Andrea Lockett received her Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness from Tuskegee in 2021. Lockett is originally from Lithonia, GA, in 2019 she completed two Cargill internships; she has worked as an operations management intern, and a protein operations management intern remotely. Lockett has gained experience in various agricultural processes and experience with ship crews from nationalities all around the globe. Lockett will pursue a master's degree in Plant Science at ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ this fall and hopes to gain skills and experience in research techniques and technologies. At the completion of her degree, she aims to be able to aid the different agricultural facets with her expertise.
Tori McGuire is a recent 2021 Fort Valley State University (FVSU) graduate, where she received her Bachelor of Science in Agriculture with a concentration in Plant science Biotechnology. The Pembroke Pines, Florida native, has worked as a 2020 Census Enumerator and a Customer Service Associate at Lowe's Home Improvement. She was recently accepted into ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ’s plant sciences master’s program, where her plans are to study and conduct research in plant genomics and plant breeding. She hopes to become a prestigious agricultural scientist like the renowned Dr. George Washington Carver.
During the program, the three selected students will have the opportunity to represent the United States in countries around the world and do impactful work to protect and expand the integrity of American agriculture by facilitating and resolving complex animal and plant health issues.
They will have two internships as part of the fellowship - one taking place in Maryland at the APHIS headquarters in the summer of 2021 and the second overseas at a U. S. embassy or consulate in summer 2022. On completion, the fellows will have a minimum of five years of employment with the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services Foreign Service.
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