UC’s Global Food Initiative Student Fellowship Program funds student-generated research, related projects or internships that focus on food issues. All 10 UC campuses plus UC Agriculture and Natural Resources and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are participating in the program.

The program began in fall 2014, with the fellows participating in an April 2015 tour of an organic peach farm near Fresno and a July 2015 symposium in San Francisco. The second class of fellows was announced in 2015 and participated in an April 2016 tour of an organic farm in the Capay Valley and a June 2016 symposium in Fullerton. The third class of fellows was announced in 2016 and this cohort wrapped up their GFI fellowship with a trip to the San Joaquin Delta to learn about the work of UC ANR Cooperative Extension and participating in the Fullerton symposium. The fourth class of cohorts was announced in June 2017 whose experience culminated in a field trip to UC San Diego to experience the campus farms and local community gardens and participated at the symposium held at UC Santa Barbara. The 2018 class of fellows represented the fifth cohort and traveled to UC Santa Cruz to learn more about their CASFS program and campus farms as part of their year end activity. In July 2019, the sixth cohort was announced and this cohort of fellows participated in a virtual conversation with then-President Napolitano and the first virtual symposium. The application process takes place in late spring and the program is open to both undergraduate and graduate students, and administered at each location to ensure that student efforts align with local needs.

For questions about the GFI Student Fellowship Program, email studentservices@ucop.edu

Agriculture and Natural Resources

Erika Brown

Student Food Security Research Project

Jian “Jay” Gelvezon

Agriculture and Natural Resources Media Relations

Matthew Shapero

UC Cooperative Extension

Berkeley

Emily Altman

Food Access and Security Fellowship

Tara Benesch

Leveraging Research for Policy in Food Systems

Erika Brown

Student Food Security Research Project

Kripa Akila Jagannathan

Evaluating Skills of Global Climate Models in Predicting Local Climatic Metrics

Sarick Matzen

Investigating Arsenic Bioavailability in the Context of Urban Agriculture

Matthew Shapero

UC Cooperative Extension

Nicole Wong

Experiential Learning and Student Engagement Fellowship

Davis

Nick Doherty

Aggie Health iPhone App

Ryan Dowdy

Powering Sea Water Desalination with Microbial Fuel Cells from Food Waste

Jian “Jay” Gelvezon

Agriculture and Natural Resources Media Relations

Linsey Shariq

Uptake and Health Risk Assessment of Hydraulic Fracturing Chemicals in Wheat

Aria Wexler

Food Advocacy and Nutrition Education for Students

Irvine

Clare Gordon

Food Engagement and Communications Project

Dhruti Khetani

Food Engagement and Communications Project

Emanuel Preciado

UCI Garden Project

Laura Rood

Food Engagement and Communications Project

Los Angeles

Sofia Beltran

Interactions Between Human Rights and Food Security

Jesse Flores

Community Development Through Food and Public Health

Savannah Gardner

Food Recovery

Cailey Hall

Literary and Cultural History of Food

Margaret LaGaly

Impacts of Food and Agriculture on Society

Phuong Kim Le

Perception and Consumption of Food Across Cultures

Hannah Malan

Food Literacy

Tyler Watson

Food Recovery

Merced

Isabella Beltran

Campus Community Garden and Solar Irrigation System

Hoaithi Dang

Malnourishment in the University Community

Andrew Zumkehr

Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Through Local Sourcing of Food

Riverside

Holly Mayton

Improving Food Safety and Sustainability

Melina Reyes

Food Security through R'Pantry (UC Riverside's food pantry for students)

Claudia Villegas

Seeds and Trees Parent-Child Program

San Diego

Gabriela Estrada

Food Composting

Jessica Pompa

Food Waste Recovery

Renu Singh

Food Waste Reduction

San Francisco

Tara Benesch

Leveraging Research for Policy in Food Systems

J. Daniel Kelly

Cross-Sectional Study of Food Insecurity, Poor Nutrition, and Other Risk Factors of Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Ebola-Infected Persons in Hotspots of the 2014-15 Ebola Epidemic of Sierra Leone

Mike Reid

Diabetes, Diet and Microbial Translocation

Matthew Spinelli

Impact of Food Insecurity on HIV Treatment

Santa Barbara

Jessica Alvarez

Campus Sustainability Plan

Genesis Gilroy

Campus Food Policy

Maile Hartsook

Edible Campus Project

Nancy Yang

Edible Campus Project

Santa Cruz

Hamutahl Cohen

Food Access and Experiential Learning in Food Systems

Katherine Ennis

Impact of Land Use and Climate on Insects and Ecosystems

David Robles

Publicity and Community Outreach

Judy Xie

Food Equity and Access

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Kripa Akila Jagannathan

Evaluating Skills of Global Climate Models in Predicting Local Climatic Metrics

Sarick Matzen

Investigating Arsenic Bioavailability in the Context of Urban Agriculture

Linsey Shariq

Uptake and Health Risk Assessment of Hydraulic Fracturing Chemicals in Wheat