USDA Wallace-Carver Fellowship

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.

Fulfilling the shared vision of U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack and World Food Prize founder Dr. Norman Borlaug of inspiring the next generation of American scientific and humanitarian leaders, the United States Department of Agriculture and the World Food Prize Foundation partnered to create the Wallace-Carver Fellowship.

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 2018, thirty fellows were stationed at 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.

“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 Global Programs & Partnerships Director, Keegan Kautzky at kkautzky@worldfoodprize.org or 515-343-7162.

2018 Wallace-Carver Fellows


Macy Alexander	Parker Bartz	Alexandria Brown
University of Arkansas	Vassar College	Tuskegee University
Placement: Auburn, AL Agricultural Research Service Aquatic Animal Health Research Unit	Placement: Ames, IA Agricultural Research Service National Lab for Agriculture and the Environment: Soil, Water & Air Research Unit	Placement: Logan, UT Agricultural Research Service Forage and Range Research Unit


Molly Carlson	Eric Chen	Daria Clinkscales
Wake Tech Community College	Yale University	Virginia State University
Placement: Baton Rouge, LA Agricultural Research Service Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics & Research Laboratory	Placement: Washington D.C. Office of the Secretary Office of the Chief Economist	Placement: Athens, GA Agricultural Research Service U.S. National Poultry Research Center, Poultry Microbiological Safety & Processing Research Unit


Elaina Conrad	Lauren English	Mikayla Eppert
Iowa State University	University of Notre Dame	University of Iowa
Placement: Washington D.C. Foreign Agricultural Service Office of Civil Rights, Office of Agreements and Scientific Affairs	Placement: Poplar, MS Agricultural Research Service Southern Horticultural Research Unit	Placement: Peoria, IL Agricultural Research Service National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, Functional Foods Research Unit


Rachel Ganson	Jade Gerlitz	Nicholas Grandstaff
Boston University	Iowa State University	University of Iowa
Placement: Washington D.C. Economic Research Service Structure, Technology and Productivity Branch	Placement: Ames, IA Agricultural Research Service National Lab for Agriculture and the Environment, Agroecosystems Management Research Unit	Placement: Washington D.C. Economic Research Service Diet, Safety & Health Economics Division


Hailey Hampton	Morgan Hasler	Abbigail Hoffman
Utah State University	University of Kentucky	Iowa State University
Placement: Geneva, NY Agricultural Research Service Grape Genetics Research Unit	Placement: Fargo, ND Agricultural Research Service Red River Valley Agricultural Research Center, Animal Metabolism-Agricultural Chemicals Research Unit	Placement: Peoria, IL Agricultural Research Service National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, Functional Foods Research Unit


Jerome Jacobsen	Emma Lynne Johnson	Lavina Kalwani
Colombia University	The Ohio State University	Rice University
Placement: New Orleans, LA Agricultural Research Service Southern Regional Research Center, Food and Feed Safety Research Unit	Placement: Beltsville, MD Agricultural Research Service National Agricultural Library	Placement: Washington D.C. Office of the Secretary Office of Partnerships & Public Engagement


Sharon Mills	Mya Mitchell	Priyanka Naithani
University of Maryland	Fort Valley State University	Clark University
Placement: Washington, D.C. Office of the Secretary Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement	Placement: Tifton, GA Agricultural Research Service Southeast Watershed Research Laboratory	Placement: Washington, D.C. Office of the Secretary Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement


Harper Martin	Madeline Poole	Alyssa Schaeffer
Arkansas State University	University of Illinois	University of Iowa
Placement: Oxford, MS Agricultural Research Service National Sedimentation Lab, Water Quality & Ecology Research Unit	Placement: Washington, D.C. Foreign Agricultural Service Office of Global Analysis, International Production Assessment Division	Placement: Ft. Collins, CO Agricultural Research Service Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Water Management Research Unit


Josie Slovut	Hunter Smith	Stone Warfield
University of Minnesota	Johnson County Community College	University of Kentucky
Placement: Las Cruces, NM Agricultural Research Service Range Management Research Unit	Placement: Houston, TX Agricultural Research Service Children's Nutrition Research Center	Placement: New Orleans, LA Agricultural Research Service Southern Regional Research Center, Food and Feed Safety Research Unit


Elizabeth Weyer	Kelli Wicks	Gillian Wilkins
Drake University	Iowa State University	Augustana University
Placement: Ames, IA Agricultural Research Service National Animal Disease Center, Infectious Bacterial Diseases Research Unit	Placement: Ames, IA Agricultural Research Service National Lab for Agriculture and the Environment Soil, Water & Air Research Unit	Placement: Fargo, ND Agricultural Research Service Red River Valley Agricultural Research Center, Insect Genetics & Biochemistry Research Unit