ACES undergraduates participate in innovative internship program on global food security

Eight undergraduates from the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) have been selected to participate in an on-campus, paid internship program to pursue work related to global food and nutritional security. 

“This is essentially a paid research experience to work in a lab for an ACES professor,” says Lauren Karplus, assistant director of international programs for ACES, who manages the internship program. 

The interns are matched with an ACES professor for a research project, and the experience includes a cohort aspect where they meet monthly as a group for seminars to gain a contextual understanding of the history, key institutions, and important issues related to global food security. 

“The interns also attend special events and public lectures on campus as a group. This year, we will also be doing a service-learning activity so as to ‘think global, act local’,” said Karplus. 

The ACES Global Food Security Internship was initiated in 2019 and is funded by private donations. This year’s cohort of eight is the largest thus far, bringing the total to 37 interns funded since its inception. 

The 2025 Global Food Security Interns are: 

Anika Mutum (agricultural and consumer economics) working with Pablo Torres Aguilar (food science and human nutrition)

Feyikemi Ogunleye (food science and human nutrition) working with the Soybean Innovation Lab

Julie Ruggles (crop sciences) working for Amit Rai (crop sciences)

Julie Kim (food science and human nutrition) working for AgReach

Anne Marie Ciccone (food science and human nutrition) working for AgReach

Sophia Dappen (agricultural and biological engineering) working for Mohammed Kamruzzaman (agricultural and biological engineering)

Maya Patel (food science and human nutrition) working for Brett Loman (animal sciences)

Stephanie Milan (agricultural and consumer economics) working for AgReach