The prestigious Wallace-Carver Fellowship offers exceptional college students the opportunity to collaborate with world-renowned scientists and policymakers through paid fellowships at leading USDA research centers and offices across the United States.
The fellows also participate in a high-level week-long Wallace-Carver Leadership Symposium at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington DC, hosted by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.
Initiated by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack in 2011, the United States Department of Agriculture and the World Food Prize Foundation partnered to create the Wallace-Carver Fellowship to inspire the next generation of American scientific and humanitarian leaders.
Named for Henry A. Wallace and George Washington Carver, two of the great American leaders in agricultural science and policy who made significant strides toward ending hunger in the 20th Century, the Wallace-Carver Fellowship seeks to educate, inspire and train the next generation of agricultural leaders, who will lead us in the 21st century.
In the Summer of 2021, eleven fellows worked virtually with USDA research centers and field offices across the country to analyze agricultural and economic policy; assist in the management of food, nutrition and rural development programs; and take part in groundbreaking field and laboratory-based research.
Since the creation of the Fellowship, 258 students from 108 universities and colleges in 38 states and the District of Columbia have been employed by the program.
Over 97% of the Fellows have pursued degrees in related disciplines and 88% are employed in critical fields relevant to science, agriculture, nutrition, economics and policy.
“The Wallace-Carver Fellowship exposes the best young minds in agriculture to the wide variety of opportunities available to them through civil service. Their experiences as Fellows will prepare these exceptional young leaders to carry out the vital research and innovation we will need to address the challenge of feeding a growing global population.”
- U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack
For more information, contact the World Food Prize Foundation Senior Program Manager of Internships and Youth Impact, Rebecca Picard at rpicard@worldfoodprize.org.
2021 Wallace-Carver Fellows
Zaira Adams
"My purpose/contribution towards my internship was to find a way to increase the global consumption of fruits and vegetables. This topic matters ,because it will help limit the causes of health issues, food loss, and capitalism." |
Eli Arbogast
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Allison Chhay
"I analyzed collection data on clonal and vegetable crop collections using R and SQL, and updated the USDA-ARS PGRU website with interactive charts, maps, and infographics to measure impacts and increase scientific communication." |
Halee Fisher
"I've been working for the Cochran Program under the Foreign Agriculture Service. I helped provide short term training opportunities to agricultural professionals across the globe." |
Mirai Inaoka "I researched manure application certification regulations in all 50 states to determine geographical patterns for farmers wanting to participate in nutrient recycling." |
Arush Iyer
"I’ve been working at the FAS (Foreign Agriculture Service) under the USDA. I work for the Cochran Fellowship Program, which provides industry leaders and government officials from foreign countries with hands-on training in agriculture-related topics." |
Gretchen Kuck
"Working with Post, I got to help tackle food system challenges in real time (from trade policy, economics, water security, biotechnology, and governance to development programs and the coordination of natural disaster responses) to benefit both American farmers and ranchers and food security and stability in Central Asia." |
Zachary Overton "I used soil temperature data to develop climatology models, helping to determine climate changes over time based on climate change." |
Samantha Rivera
"This summer I had the opportunity of analyzing microbial communities in anaerobically disinfested soils alongside an amazing team at USDA-ARS." |
Diva Shrivastava
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Rachel Stern
"I worked with the DNA of some select fungi and corn pathogens, which will help not only the chickens but also humans who rely heavily on maize in their diet." |