The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) and North Carolina State University (NC State) recently selected 32 distinguished individuals to join the 2025 FFAR Fellows cohort.
The FFAR Fellows Program was established in 2018 by FFAR and NC State to provide professional development training to doctoral students studying food and agriculture sciences. Fellows are paired with a food and agriculture sponsor to provide additional guidance and mentorship throughout the fellowship. Since 2018, the FFAR Fellows has welcomed over 200 Ph.D. students, 90 active and 111 alumni, representing 48 universities in 35 states and three Canadian provinces. The FFAR Fellows have been sponsored by by 55 companies, 15 commodity organizations, 12 nonprofits and four state entities.
The Fellowship offers interpersonal communications, public speaking and project and team management skills that are critical to workplace success and often not offered in an academic setting. Additionally, FFAR Fellows can network and learn from industry, government and nonprofit stakeholders, which ultimately helps prepare the students for a successful transition to the workforce.
The 2025-2028 FFAR Fellows cohort includes:
- Alexis Middleton Alsdorf, NC State
- Jackson Alsdorf, NC State
- Diana Amaya, Louisiana State University
- Charles B. Bakin, Johns Hopkins University
- Kwabena Bayity, Purdue University
- Guilherme Chudzik, University of Wisconsin–Madison
- Claire Cooke, University of Tennessee
- Oluwatosin (Benjamin) Fakunle, Oklahoma State University
- Caleb Fretz, Purdue University
- Anita Giabardo, University of Georgia
- Arnol Gomez, The Ohio State University
- Libia F. Gómez-Trejo, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
- Riley Harding, Cornell University
- Weilong He, NC State
- Mekidani Jacob Salu, The University of Georgia
- Esha Kaler, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
- Mostafa Kamyabi, University of Idaho
- Pradeep Kumar, Texas Tech University
- Siman Liu, University of Connecticut
- Teague McCracken, NC State
- Amanda Mitchell, University of Guelph
- Renzo Negrini, University of Minnesota
- Dotun Olaoye, University of Missouri–Columbia
- Amrit Pokhrel, University of California Davis
- Sandesh Poudel, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign
- Abichal Poudel, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign
- Jeferson Pimentel, Purdue University
- Evelyn Reilly, University of Minnesota
- Claire Schloemer, University of Wisconsin–Madison
- Shiv Singla, University of Delaware
- Dayne Tallier, North Dakota State University
- Vivian Chimezie Usha (Nee Akubude), Auburn University