Purdue Agronomy presents: Student Summer Experiences in Kenya and Zambia
Monday, August 27, 2012
3:30 p.m. 2-425 Lilly
(3:15 pm for pre-visiting, coffee, refreshments) Or join us online at https://gomeet.itap.purdue.edu/africa
“Student Summer Experiences in Kenya and Zambia“
Aaron Crow, Marcia Croft, Caitlin Grady, HannahJoy Pheasant, Amanda Leafgren, John Lomurut, Brenda Owens, Hannah Schneider, Tyler Tiede
Nine undergraduate and graduate students spent the summer in Africa on programs coordinated by the Agronomy Department. They will give overviews of their experiences and accomplishments.
Five students spent 10 weeks in Eldoret, Kenya working with colleagues at AMPATH (http://www.ampathkenya.org/) and at Chepkoilel University College (http://www.chep.ac.ke/), a constituent college of Moi University. AMPATH, a partnership between Moi University School of Medicine and a consortium of US universities lead by IU School of Medicine, treats over 140,000 HIV-positive persons at over 60 urban and rural clinic sites throughout western Kenya. Purdue students prepared materials for AMPATH’s Agricultural Extension Programs, collected information on African Indigenous Leafy Vegetable production, and conducted field work for preparation of a digital soil map of the Eldoret area.
Four students in Plant Breeding and Genetics spent three weeks in Zambia shadowing a nutrition study involving high Pro-Vitamin A maize. The nutrition study, which follows initial work by the Torbert Rocheford Lab to breed and develop lines with higher levels of this crucial nutrient, is being conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison and HarvestPlus-Zambia with the aim of eliminating Vitamin A deficiency in children in the developing world. The group spoke with local plant breeders, agronomists, government officials, and farmers involved with the project. Later, they spent time at the sites in rural Zambia where the study in children was taking place and assisted with the work being done there.
Post-seminar gathering at Sylvie’s Brick Oven Pizza (http://www.sylviasbrickoven.com/), 625 Columbia St., Lafayette beginning at 5:30 PM.