High school students across the state are invited to participate in a pilot externship on Global Agriculture Research with the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative at NC State University and the North Carolina Youth Institute!

The externship will engage students in global agriculture research by:

1. Encouraging a student-designed research question
2. Collaborating with mentors on scientific research and writing
3. Participating in professional development opportunities prior to research presentations.

At the end of the year, the student research paper will entered into the N.C. Youth Institute at NC State, and may be eligible for further participation at the World Food Prize. The paper can/will also meet the requirements for the high school research paper course requirements (such as Advanced Agriculture classes).

Students will be paired up with mentors based on their general research interests. On Thursday April, 10th, students involved in the externship will be invited to participate in a Global Ag Mini-Camp, where they will come to NCSU campus for a day, participate in research tours and activities, and stay overnight in Raleigh before participating in the NC Youth Institute at N.C. PSI on April 11th, 2024.

Before applying for this externship program, please look at the following topics to identify one that is interesting! (If you have a more specific research question that you are interested, identify the field(s) that your question best fits into!)

1. Animal Agriculture: The care and breeding of livestock, poultry and other animals for food, fibers or other products.
2. Animal Health: Protect and improve the health, safety and quality of livestock, poultry, and aquaculture.
3. Climate Change: Adapt agricultural practices and, policies to respond to significant changes in the Earth’s climate.
4. Conflict: Political, economic, environmental or social disagreements. May involve violence or armed conflict.
5. Dietary Diseases: Disease caused by lack of nutrition or a lack of exercise.
6. Education: The delivery of knowledge, skills, and information.
7. Fisheries and Aquaculture: Catching or harvesting fish, shellfish, and other aquatic organisms for human consumption through wild-caught or farmed operations.
8. Food Loss and Waste: Food that is lost, spoiled or discarded, in production, postharvest, processing, or consumption.
9. Foreign Aid: Assistance given by one country to another for humanitarian relief or development efforts.
10. Human Rights: Rights that all people are equally entitled to regardless of their nationality, sex, race, ethnicity, religion, language, etc.
11. Infectious Diseases: Infections and illnesses that can be spread from one person to another, among animals or between animals and humans.
12. Infrastructure: The physical structures and facilities critical for the operation of a society, such as roads, bridges, schools, power, etc.
13. International Trade: The exchange of capital, goods and services between countries.
14. Malnutrition: Deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in a person’s intake of energy, protein and nutrients.
15. Plants: Utilizing plants to increase and improve food, nutrition, medicine, fibers, fuels and other products.
16. Policy and Governance: The implementation of policies, processes and structures that determine how power is distributed and shared. ted from naturally occurring sources such as water, wind, solar and biofuels.
17. Sustainable Agriculture: Best practices to grow food and fiber with a focus on protecting the environment and natural resources.
18. Water and Sanitation: Clean drinking water and adequate sewage disposal to improve human hygiene and health.
19. Water Scarcity: The lack of available water resources to meet the demands within a region.