The Chicago Council on Global Affairs is pleased to introduce the 2016 Next Generation Delegates. This year’s Delegation is comprised of 19 outstanding students from universities across the United States and around the world studying agriculture, food, health, and related disciplines. We are thrilled to feature these emerging leaders at the Global Food Security Symposium 2016. Read on to find out more about the exciting work of this extraordinary group.
 
Johanna Andrews
Tufts University, Nutrition Science and Policy, PhD candidate
 
“For most farmers in developing countries, food safety tests are unaffordable, inaccessible, and usually unfamiliar. Chronic intake of unsafe foods commonly consumed by at-risk groups such as pregnant women and children can lead to high rates of illness and malnutrition, including stunting. My research examines the first large longitudinal birth cohort (with mother-child dyads) investigating maternal aflatoxin exposure in the Asian continent and potential practices relating to high or low exposure rates in pregnant women.”
 
 
Rachel Atwell
North Carolina State University, Crop Sciences, PhD candidate
 
“My graduate research focuses on organic grain cropping and weed control in cotton production. My current projects focus on screening field pea for use as a grain, forage, and cover crop in the Southeast United States and controlling weeds in cotton production using various approaches.”
 
Christopher Au
Imperial College London, PhD candidate
 
“The biggest barrier to smallholder farmers is uninsured risk: it stunts economic development and hinders poverty alleviation efforts. Uninsured agricultural risk prompts smallholders to eschew remunerative but risky production strategies in favor of traditional practices that offer a greater predictability of crop performance, allowing for a smoothing of income and consumption, but limit growth.”
 
Kara Bresnahan
University of California, Berkeley, MPH candidate
 
“My work focuses on maternal and child health, with a focus on vitamin A. Vitamin A deficiency is a major global health concern that impacts over 200 million women and children under 5 years of age in the developing world. Biofortified staple corps could provide a sustainable source of vitamin A, and can be achieved through traditional breeding efforts or genetic modification.”
 
Carolyn Chelius
Wellesley College, Economics and Environmental Studies, BA candidate
 
“I focus on genetically modified—GM—crops and their role in a food system facing the challenges of malnutrition, population growth, and environmental degradation. My goal is to shift the public discourse on GM crops from a conversation based on fears and supposition to a dialogue based on science that incorporates a variety of perspectives. I take as balanced an approach as possible, analyzing issues from multiple angles—with a particular focus on the economic and environmental implications.”
 
J. Michael Denney
University of Massachusetts, Boston, Global Governance and Human Security, PhD candidate
 
“My research looks at the shifting governance of international agriculture. Over the past 25 years, private actors have become increasingly involved in the agricultural governance of low-income countries. As with the marketization of any good that is essential for national security, private governance in agriculture needs to be scrutinized to ensure that food security goals are being met and that farmers' needs are put before the needs of the corporation. Successfully managing the relationship between private and public agricultural and food governance is one of the greatest agricultural challenges of the 21st century.”
 
Faridah Ibrahim, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, Development Practice, MPA Candidate
 
“Across Africa, smallholder farmers continue to face multiple barriers to increased productivity and the resulting improved incomes and livelihoods. My work and research focuses on innovative, scalable methods through which these barriers can be removed, especially using digital tools. While many solutions have been designed and implemented in recent years to address these challenges, an incredible amount fail to scale, demonstrating that it takes more than great innovations to lift smallholders out of poverty. A vast majority of the problems African farmers face are solvable, but solutions must account for the complexity of the societies they are meant to help, in order to succeed in the long term.”
 
Vincent Karenzi
Michigan State University, Agricultural Business Management, BS candidate
 
“I have a passion for agriculture and economics, which I hope to develop and learn more about through serving and supporting the development of small farmers in my country, Rwanda. I am concerned with food’s affordability for poor families in a market where food prices keep rising. Even if food production is increased, there are inefficiencies that need to be addressed. One of the major inefficiencies is the supply of the food to consumers. Smallholder famers don’t have access to the urban markets and they have to rely on profiteering middlemen. Farmers should be able to have a role in the food supply and the market.”
 
Gretchen Knoth
Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, Global Human Development, MA candidate
 
“As part of my capstone project with The Coca-Cola Company and its implementing partner TechnoServe, I am helping design a sustainable apple production program in northwest China. Increasing yields is of obvious concern to Coca-Cola given their business operations and interests in the region. However, the Chinese government, while not involved in this particular initiative, is equally as invested in developing the sector in order to combat rapid urbanization and a shrinking agricultural sector. Concerns around national food security and the supply of agricultural exports in the future are becoming more pronounced as the rural labor force leaves the farm for the city as a result of rising production costs and declining yields. These migration flows have real consequences for the country’s ability to feed the urban population and generate widespread economic development across the nation.”
 
Maci M. Lienemann
University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Animal Science, BS candidate
 
“While many are familiar with the contributions of genetic engineering to improve yields in crops, it will be crucial for the future to also focus on genetically engineered (GE) animals. Unfortunately, because of abounding regulations, these GE products are not readily available to the public. Regulations and qualifications should be determined by the novelty of the product, not the process. Already, GE mosquitoes that will greatly decrease mosquito-related diseases in humans and animals, pigs that output 75 percent less phosphorus in their manure, and mastitis-resistant cows exist, but are unavailable to the public due to significant regulatory hurdles. While animals genetically modified through selective breeding are allowed on the market and seen as safe, animals produced via GE technologies are not. The question is how much regulation is truly necessary and at what point do we reach over regulation, which is a luxury most of the world simply can’t afford.”
 
Yangxuan Liu
Purdue University, Agricultural Economics, PhD candidate
 
 “Technology adoption is one of the main methods for increasing agriculture efficiency and productivity. The development of precision farming technology is the most promising way to raise farming efficiency. My research focuses on applying precision agriculture to high value crops—crops on which rural communities and many small-scale farmers depend. Ultimately, I hope to apply my interdisciplinary knowledge to international needs in order to improve agricultural productivity for the world’s vegetable growers.”
 
Landon Marston
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Civil and Environmental Engineering, PhD candidate
 
“Globalization has strengthened and expanded connections between agricultural consumers and distant natural resources used in food production. Many of the environmental consequences associated with intense agricultural production are not felt by those consuming the agricultural products but are left as an artifact of production for food producing communities. Water and food are so intricately linked that the global food system acts as a de facto global water system, connecting water withdrawals in one location to distant consumers who demand the water for production of water-intensive food. A clear understanding of the strong connections between water and food is especially critical as growing cities demand more water from nearby agricultural water users to support their development.”
 
Pius Mathi
University of Nairobi, Food Science and Technology, MSc candidate  
 
“My recent work has focused on how beef slaughter by-products are utilized in the arid regions of Kenya. I found that over 85 percent of blood and none of the other by-products were being effectively utilized even when it means a lot of food loss. I designed a sausage by use of blood in partial replacement of the high cholesterol animal fat. The result: a high protein, significantly low fat and high iron content food made from what would otherwise be food waste.”
 
Philipp Mueller
Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government, MPA candidate
 
“My work has found that two camps dominate every agricultural debate: the technology enthusiasts, and the environmentalists. Their positions on, and approaches to, agriculture seemed irreconcilable to me. On the one side, technology enthusiasts focus on the productivity of highly efficient large-scale production systems. On the other hand, the environmentalists focus on sustainability through small-scale farming and traditional agriculture practices. My research bridges this divide, and examines high-productivity, high-sustainability farming options often termed “resource-efficient farming,” or “sustainable intensification.”
 
Megan Schnell
Iowa State University, Agriculture and biological Systems Engineering, BS candidate
 
“My current work focuses on the development and execution of a bio-renewables product: fish food pellets derived from corn and soy. I am involved in developing a detailed and precise production process of the pellets as well as surveying 70+ private companies about their experiences with the product.”
 
Sarah Stefanos
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Environment and Resources, Dual PhD candidate
 
“Land deals for commercial agriculture in Ethiopia specifically—and in Africa more broadly—have been described most frequently as neocolonialism, economic imperialism, or as foreign land grabbing. Few accounts in the literature describe the role of the Ethiopian government in directing and regulating investment in commercial agriculture, including the extremely high governmental investment in large-scale sugar production. I have sought to understand how the Ethiopian government and the private sector are trying to balance food security with other development mandates. I am also studying the scientific and technical solutions that might improve the agricultural productivity of smallholder farmers in Uganda, during a time when populations are rapidly growing and rural-urban migration proliferates in East Africa.”
 
Mikayla Sullivan 
Iowa State University, Global Resource Systems and Public Service and Administration in Agriculture, BS candidate
 
“While in India, I was shocked to see there was little being done to reduce postharvest losses. Even when farmers had the means to harvest and store their entire yield, they had little to no protection from pests and moisture, due to their use of burlap sacks for storage and poor dehydration methods. Simple solutions to decrease postharvest losses will dramatically increase the local food supply for communities around the world. To this end, I’ve founded a specific-benefit corporation that creates mobile solar food dehydrators for subsistence farmers to help decrease post-harvest losses and improve nutrition in developing countries.” 
 
Tannis Thorlakson
Stanford University, Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources, PhD candidate
 
“My research focuses on the role the private sector plays in improving social and environmental outcomes in the agricultural supply chain. Drawing on my private sector experience, I collaborate with major food retailers to better understand how they can improve the sustainability of the food system. I have found that it is not as straightforward as many may think to change agricultural supply chains, even using the power of many of these major food purchasers. But, I believe that the commitments made by major food companies are made in earnest, and that agricultural supply chains can be effective levers of change in our food system.”
 
Vidya Vemireddy  
Cornell University, Applied Economics and Management, PhD candidate
 
“My research concerns changing food systems and value chains in agriculture, which play a crucial role in reducing both the burden of malnutrition and rising urban demand. Food systems through the network of value chains are changing rapidly in developing countries. There are new structures, new actors, and new epochs evolving which are completely changing the way we think about food systems. Through promoting nutrient-rich foods in the food system, the problem of malnutrition and micro-nutrient deficiencies can be solved in India.”