2021 CALS Global Opportunity Initiative Fellows
CALS Global is pleased to introduce the 2021 Global Opportunity Initiative Fellows. This year, ten Fellows from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine will participate in this cohort-based faculty development program geared towards capacity building, network development, and building teams to pursue global initiatives. Each of the Fellows will contribute their unique skills to address the 2021 GOI theme of strengthening food systems for food security, health, and community vitality. During this intensive all-virtual experience for 2021, Fellows will build their skills to simplify complex research challenges, refine their research pitch, build collaboration and networking skills, and work with partners in the East Africa region, including the African Center for Excellence in Sustainable Agriculture and Agribusiness Management at Egerton University in Kenya, and colleagues from Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania.
Meet the 2021 CALS Global Initiative Fellows
Natalie Cook, Department of Population Health Sciences
“My career research aim is to develop mutually beneficial partnerships and engage in participatory, non-extractive research, collaborative capacity-building, and transformative evaluation to co-develop and test creative solutions to wicked problems from a systems-thinking, culturally responsive, social-ecological perspective.”
Anubhab Gupta, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics
“I collect and analyze household-level data to evaluate and understand the impacts of migration, shocks, government policies and programs that affect market- and household-level outcomes. The outcomes range from strengthening supply chains to ensure better food systems at the market level to household level outcomes on food security, nutrition, health, and education.”
John Ignosh, Department of Biological Systems Engineering
"The goal of my extension program is to improve the financial and environmental sustainability of agricultural production systems. To achieve this goal, my program focuses on the implementation of best management practices related to energy efficiency, renewable energy, and nutrient management technologies. Typically, this work involves raising awareness of innovative technologies via demonstration projects and assessing the challenges to adoption of new practices."
Enette Larson-Meyer, Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise
“My research interests center around how nutrition and physical activity influences health, wellness and the prevention of chronic/inflammatory diseases and endocrine disorders. My most recent research interests include assessment of both iodine and vitamin D and the importance of these micronutrients in thyroid function.”
Tessa LeCuyer, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology
“I am a veterinary clinical microbiologist and my work focuses on the development and optimization of diagnostic tests for bacterial and viral infections. My current research projects have goals to improve livestock health and management through early and accurate recognition of infectious disease and to improve the safety of the food chain by promoting judicious use of antimicrobials in animals.”
Roger Ramirez-Barrios, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology
“My long-term career goal is to keep studying the human and animal trypanosomes at a community level, improving farmers’ life quality and guaranteeing their food security. To achieve this, I will strengthen my skills for global engagement and build an interdisciplinary research network with the vision to develop ideas that help people to ensure food security across communities that are marginalized and living in poverty.”
Julie Shortridge, Department of Biological Systems Engineering
“My research program aims to understand how climate change will impact our food and water systems, and what actions we can take today to reduce climatic risks. I use statistical modeling and machine learning to quantify climate impacts in complex systems, and design decision-support methodologies that can support practical planning and decision-making to address these impacts.”
Wade Thomason, School of Plant and Environmental Sciences
“My areas of interest and activity are in cropping systems, conservation agriculture and precision agriculture, particularly remote sensing. My goal for global engagement is to help farmers achieve success in food production, while maintaining or enhancing environmental function and quality. I seek to do this through the adaptation of general core concepts of plant and soil science to local challenges and systems.”
Karen Vines, Department of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education
“My research, teaching, and Extension work is fully integrated and focuses on how the university is situated within relationships and provides expertise that help local communities solve complex, contemporary problems. My research focuses on the meaning and implementation of engagement with higher education from the perspective of university faculty members, community members, and community leaders.”
Stella Volpe, Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise
“My current research focuses on prevention of obesity and diabetes throughout the lifespan using nutrition and/or exercise interventions and changes to the environment for more “passive” interventions. I have also used mineral supplementation in obesity and diabetes trials, in particular iron, zinc, magnesium, chromium and boron.”