1. International Association of Students in Agricultural and Related Sciences
The 1,000 dollar grant from Monsanto Company
went to fund 47 students to attend the Universities
Fighting World Hunger 2016 Summit and more.
The conference took place February 25th through
February 27th on the University of Missouri campus.
After receiving funding from Monsanto, IAAS
published an application. IAAS members who are
active in the club and completed the application were
guaranteed funding. We were happy to be
able to approve all applicants who had an
interest in food security from Mizzou’s
campus. As part of the application, we
asked students why they were interested in
attending the three day summit.
Answers varied and showed the passion of
the students approved for funding.
Chelsey Kroese said, “I will be starting an
M.S. degree in soil science in July 2016.
I think many of the seminars will be
applicable in my future career.”
Sarah Denny said, “My classes in
development, policy, and sustainability
have sparked my interest in how food
insecurity is being solved. I am interested
in what research is being done on
the subject, and how I could possibly
contribute in the future.”
Abbie Walker said, “I would like the
opportunity to hear about how the U.S. is
specifically handling the issue and I would
like to be a part of the discussion towards a
better solution. Furthermore, this is a very
unique experience Mizzou students are
offered and I want to represent our student
body well by being an active participant.”
Clayton Evans said, “I would like to gain a greater
understanding of challenges that lead to global food
shortages. Also I would like to see how change is
being invoked by outside entities interested in the
common good of humanity.”
The summit was three days of intense, hands-on
learning about food security. The focus was “From
Poverty to Promise.” Students packaged macaroni
for local food pantries, participated in discussions
on difficult topics including media representation of
hunger and private/public partnerships, and heard
speakers including the renowned author Roger
Thurow, 2013 Nobel Laureate, Catherine Bertini,
and Tiger Pantry creator, Nick Droege.
The grant also funded four
graduate students to create
and print posters for his or
her food security focused
research. The topics were:
Adaptation of Soybean
to Tropical Climates for
Smallholder Farmers,
Enriching Biodiversity of
Grain Crops as a Basis for
Optimizing the Present
and Future Global Food
Demands, Drought-Induced
Phenotypic Differences
in Symbiotic Nitrogen
Fixation in Common Bean,
and Analysis of ICT Use
by Smallholder Farmers in
Rural Mozambique.
Additionally, the grant
funded the creation of
videos by an MU student-
run business, Big Tree
Videography, to share the
experience of the summit
with students who were
unable to attend the events -
locally and abroad. Over 30
countries were reached with these videos, thus far.
IAAS has 432 dollars remaining to use to fund
students to attend other educational events in the
future. We appreciate Monsanto Company for its
generosity and its investment in students interested
in food security.
Universities Fighting World Hunger 2016 Summit
47
4
7
Students funded
to attend the
summit
Students funded
to share their
research
Videos created
for students
unable to attend
the summit