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Unprecedented Number of High School Students to Work Abroad on Hunger Issues
Des Moines, Iowa (April 14, 2011) – Nearly 1 billion people go hungry every day. As the world faces soaring food prices, population growth and other great challenges, the next generation will be charged with continuing the battle against hunger and finding new solutions to feed the world.
This summer, an unprecedented number of American high school students - 18 students from seven states - have earned World Food Prize Borlaug-Ruan International Internships and will delve into issues relating to hunger and poverty throughout the world during eight-week, all-expenses-paid summer internships at leading research centers in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.
“It is our hope that by exposing these young people to real-world situations in the fight against hunger, that they will be inspired to pursue college majors and careers that confront these problems and thus become the scientific and humanitarian leaders of the future,” said Amb. Kenneth M. Quinn, president of the World Food Prize.
The following students were named 2011 Borlaug-Ruan International Interns:
• Shraddha Batra, Valley High School, West Des Moines, Iowa
• Sarah Brandsen, Pella Christian High School, Pella, Iowa
• Sarah Cox, Zane Trace High School, Chillicothe, Ohio
• Mary Isabella Esler, Upper Arlington High School, Upper Arlington, Ohio
• Nicole Ferraro, Susquehannock High School, Glen Rock, Pennsylvania
• Pavane Gorrepati, Rivermont Collegiate, Bettendorf,Iowa
• Alice Huang, Montville High School, Montville, New Jersey
• James Lindgren, Marshalltown High School, Marshalltown, Iowa
• Lazarus Lynch, Food and Finance High School, New York, New York
• Sarah Marketon, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted High School, Howard Lake, Minnesota
• Andrew Markham, Harlan Community High School, Harlan, Iowa
• Hannah McAtee, Davenport Central High School, Davenport, Iowa
• Moriah Morgan, Wayne Community High School, Corydon, Iowa
• Elizabeth Roche, Metro Early College High School, Columbus, Ohio
• Ariana Shapiro, Ithaca High School, Ithaca, New York
• Justin Song, Torrey Pines High School, San Diego, California
• Anthony Wenndt, Benton High School, Van Horne, Iowa
• Vera Zhao, Ames High School, Ames, Iowa
The Borlaug-Ruan Internship is a unique program that allows student interns to participate in projects with world-renowned researchers at leading agricultural research centers around the globe. While getting a firsthand view of real and pressing food security issues and nutritional problems in poverty-stricken areas, the students become an integral part of a project, spending time in the lab as well as days or weeks at a time in the field conducting research and gathering data.
The interns are involved in global projects dedicated to reducing poverty and hunger such as: fisheries and aquaculture studies; biotechnology; micro-credit and the women’s self-help concept; the influence of education on household food security; and the calculation of Vitamin C concentration in numerous potato varieties.
A prerequisite for the Borlaug-Ruan International Internship is attending the World Food Prize Global Youth Institute, which occurs each October and exposes students to opportunities associated with careers in food, agriculture and natural resource disciplines. Youth Institute participants present essays and interact with World Food Prize Laureates and renowned experts to discuss issues relating to food security throughout the world.
A list of the eighteen 2011 Borlaug-Ruan International Interns, including photos, can be found online at: www.worldfoodprize.org/2011interns.
THE WORLD FOOD PRIZE is the foremost international award recognizing – without regard to race, religion, nationality or political beliefs – the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world. It was founded 25 years ago by Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Norman Borlaug.