Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** attracting and retaining students…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** attracting and retaining students of diverse backgrounds to careers in food and agriculture requires collaborative training to support development of scholars with scientific understanding, skills and interest to create innovative solutions that can meet the complex challenges of climate change in the 21STCENTURY. This project is a partnership with butte college, a rural community college in northern california, to provide eight women, first generation, and/or underserved minority scholars enrolled at butte college with innovative, summer research experiences at UC davis. While at UC davis, scholars will be mentored by faculty and graduate students to complete research projects in food and agriculture related disciplines. Scholars will also participate in workshops to support development of their leadership and communication skills and they will present their research to UC davis faculty, peers and their family members at the end of the internship. At the end of each summer, scholars will also participate in an interactive workshop/science day at butte college to translate project outcomes to diverse audiences and share impacts and benefits of the project with the broader rural community served by butte college.overall, this project provides experiential learning opportunities, mentoring, and training for women and minority scholars from butte college to facilitate their transfer, retention, and graduation as food- and agriculture-related majors at UC davis. Scholars will develop skills and interests needed to enter the workforce as agricultural leaders who can address the needs for sustainable food and agriculture production in california, the U.S., and the world.