UMES undergraduates Jailynn Britt and Isaiah Nance and graduate student Stephon Fitzpatrick are among 30 students selected to attend the USDA’s 2020 Agricultural Outlook Forum as participants of its Future Leaders in Agriculture Program. Selection was based on essays on agricultural careers and challenges.
Those selected will spend a week in Washington, D.C. were they will “take part in a USDA briefing and discussion of career opportunities with agriculture leaders in academic, government and industry.” The Future Leaders will also meet with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, tour the nation’s capital and cap off the week by attending the Agricultural Outlook Forum on February 20-21 in Arlington, Va.
The Future Leaders in Agriculture Program is sponsored this year by UMES and Farm Credit. The program is one of many partnership efforts among USDA, 1862 Land-Grant Institutions, 1890 Historically Black Land-Grant Colleges and Universities, 1994 Tribal Land-Grant Colleges and Universities, and Hispanic-Serving Institutions. Partnerships “support capacity building initiatives that bolster education and career opportunities for students and faculty, and recruit new talent for USDA and agriculture.”
Britt (sophomore) and Nance (junior) are both majoring in general agriculture with a concentration in agriculture studies.
Fitzpatrick is a first-year doctoral student with a concentration in organizational leadership. He is also the SANS coordinator for recruitment, retention and experiential learning and the UMES MANRRS advisor
