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Young Rockford woman part of prestigious research fellowship

 

  • Kelli Wicks of Rockford is shown in a soybean field in Nebraska. Wicks is working with scientists at the National Lab for Agriculture and the Environment in Ames as part of her position this summer as a Wallace-Carver fellow with the World Food Prize. Photo submitted

  • Kelli Wicks of Rockford records data on soybean samples collected in Nebraska as part of her position this summer as a Wallace-Carver fellow with the World Food Prize. Photo submitted

  • Kelli Wicks of Rockford sets up equipment while in the field as a 2018 Wallace-Carver fellow. Wicks is a student at Iowa State University. Photo submitted

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com 

A Rockford native and Iowa State University student has added to her impressive academic resume by being selected by the World Food Prize and the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a 2018 Wallace-Carver Fellow.

Kelli Wicks, who will be an ISU sophomore, was one of 30 students from across the country singled out to collaborate with world-renowned scientists and policy makers this summer through paid fellowships at leading USDA research centers and offices.

Wicks is stationed at the National Lab for Agriculture and the Environment – Soil, Water & Air Research Unit in Ames.

She told the Press she’s been working with scientists on soybean and plant biomass research.

“It’s an internship-fellowship combination, I think of it as, because we are working directly with leading scientists doing work for the USDA, on world issues,” she said. “I help in the field and in the lab.

“We go to Nebraska once a week and I’m the one that harvests soybean samples,” Wicks said. She helps collect data, then once back in the lab in Ames organizes that data so the scientists are better able to visualize the results.

Asked what problem the scientists are working on, Kelli laughed and said, “I’m not 100 percent sure.

“My scientists — I’ve been trying to pry them for information, but they’re super-super busy,” she said.

Some of the research involves looking at carbon dioxide content of soils along windbreaks and how that affects soybean growth, she said.

This week, Wicks and the rest of the fellows are attending the Wallace-Carver Leadership Symposium at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C.

“We’ll sit down with USDA professionals and scientists and we’ll learn a little bit more about what we were actually doing this summer,” she said.

Wicks became involved in the World Food Prize during her junior year at Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock High School.

Her FFA advisor, Jim Hanson, encouraged her to write a report on a food-insecurity topic for the Iowa Youth Institute, which is part of the World Food Prize.

“Everyone that writes a paper and goes to the Iowa Youth Institute gets $500 in scholarship money from Iowa State University, and so I thought, heck, why not,” Wicks said. “I ended up learning more about it and it developed into a huge part of my life now because of it.

Out of more than 300 students at the Iowa Youth Institute, Wicks was one of 75 selected to present her paper at the Global Youth Institute. From there she applied for and was accepted as a Borlaug-Ruan International Intern.

Wicks spent eight weeks last summer working with scientists in Ethiopia, doing research on management on Ethiopian dairy farms and developing practices to lead to better milk yields.

As part of that experience as a Borlaug-Ruan intern she wrote a 23-page research paper, “Variations and Profitability of Bishoftu Cattle Milk Production.”

Wicks said her involvement with the World Food Prize has shaped her outlook and will color her career goals.

My major is agriculture education, and so I’m eventually going to go on to be a high school teacher,” she said. “What I kind of wanted to do with this internship is get more background. I have a lot of livestock experience , so getting another agriculture experience is one of my goals.

“As an agriculture teacher I’ll be able to share my experiences with students, and I want them to get hyped up by these things as well,” Wicks said.

Wicks is a 2017 graduate of Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock High School. Her parents are Terry and Tammy Wicks.

Kenneth Quinn, president of the World Food Prize, said in a press release, “The Wallace-Carver Fellowship provides unparalleled research opportunities for university students to explore agricultural issues and become the next generation of agricultural leaders and innovators.

“These outstanding students are some of the most highly qualified and motivated students in America. This program gives them the opportunity to be inspired to pursue careers and future leadership positions in food, agriculture and science.”

The United States Department of Agriculture and the World Food Prize Foundation partnered to create the Wallace-Carver Fellowship in 2011. Named for American agriculture leaders Henry A. Wallace and George Washington Carver, the Wallace-Carver Fellowship seeks to inspire and train the next generation of agricultural leaders and scholars for the 21st century.

Since the creation of the Fellowship, 210 students from 93 universities and colleges in 36 states and the District of Columbia have been employed by the program. More than 97 percent of fellows have pursued degrees in related disciplines, and 88 percent remain employed in critical fields relevant to science, agriculture and nutrition, the press release said.

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