Minnesota Youth Institute
BECOME A STUDENT LEADER IN THE GLOBAL FIGHT AGAINST HUNGER!
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HOW TO PARTICIPATE
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Take part in the 6th annual Minnesota Youth Institute at the University of Minnesota on September 21, 2013.
At this exciting day-long event, participating high school students have the opportunity to:
- Present research and recommendations on how to solve key global challenges in a short speech and small group discussions with local experts
- Connect with other student leaders from across Minnesota to share ideas, identify solutions to these problems and build lasting friendships
- Interact with global leaders in science, industry and policy
- Take part in educational sessions and interactive tours at the University of Minnesota to explore current research and issues in international development and life sciences
- Meet innovative researchers, professors and college students in Minnesota working to end hunger and poverty and improve food security around the world.
Six exceptional students at the Youth Institute will be competitively selected to represent the State of Minnesota as delegates at the Global Youth Institute, held in Des Moines, October 17-19, 2013. There, they will join over 250 other outstanding high school students and teachers from across the United States and around the world for an exciting three-day program to interact with Nobel and World Food Prize Laureates and the more than 1,000 global leaders from 75 countries attending the World Food Prize's annual international symposium.
By participating in the Global Youth Institute, students are eligible to apply for a prestigious Borlaug-Ruan International Internship or USDA Wallace-Carver Internship.
The Borlaug-Ruan International Internship is an all-expenses-paid, eight-week hands-on experience for high school students to work with world-renowned scientists and policymakers at leading research centers in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. Since 1998, over 180 Borlaug-Ruan Interns have traveled to Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Kenya, Peru, Philippines, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad and Turkey to get a firsthand view of pressing food security and nutritional problems in poverty-stricken areas and take part in ground-breaking research.
The Wallace-Carver Internship provides Global Youth Institute delegates a paid three-month research or policy placement at any USDA laboratory or field office, or at USDA headquarters in Washington DC, once they enroll in college. In 2013, up to 125 Wallace-Carver Interns will be placed nationally in internships in economic and policy analysis; environmental and agricultural law and trade policy; rural development; nutrition and human health; conservation, forestry and natural resource management; biological and agricultural engineering; climate and atmospheric research; wildlife management; animal science and veterinary medicine; as well as soil, plant and crop sciences.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
To participate in the Minnesota Youth Institute, students research a global issue and write a five-page paper under the supervision of a teacher mentor (using the downloadable guidelines above). Each school must register their nominees online no later than June 15, 2013, and submit each student's research paper online by August 1. Each registered student's school transcript and resume must also be emailed to the state coordinator by August 1. Ninth through Twelfth grade students are eligible to apply.
The 2013 paper topic is Ending Hunger in Our Lifetime: A Call to Action.
Meal and program expenses at the Minnesota Youth Institute are provided by the University of Minnesota for participating student delegates and their teacher mentors, but participants must organize their own transportation to and from the event in St. Paul.
For more information on how to participate in the Minnesota Youth Institute, contact the State Coordinator Kay Ellingson at kellings@umn.edu or at (612) 624-6280.
