The Future is Bright: CALS Celebrates the Class of 2018
Video by Chris Liotta
The big day is finally here.
Nearly 650 CALS students are slated to graduate May 12, including undergraduate, graduate and Agricultural Institute students. And they’ll go on to pursue all sorts of careers — scientist, farmer, industry leader, doctor, elected official — you name it.
Below you’ll meet 10 extraordinary CALS grads ready make a difference in the world. The future is bright!
- Serene Ahmad jokes that “senioritis” has set in full-force. It’s no wonder the accomplished biochemistry student is ready for a break – her NC State career is packed with scholarly achievements and extracurricular activities.
- When Ben Alig graduates from the Prestage Department of Poultry Science, the CALS Outstanding Senior Award winner won’t have to travel far to take his next step – he plans to attend graduate school in the department to study nutritional data modeling.
- Deirdre An is graduating with a B.S. in both environmental sciences and plant biology. The sense of community she immediately found within the Park Scholars Program has allowed her to cultivate a passion for making an impact on people and communities in general.
- Palmer amaranth is one of the biggest production challenges farmers in the Southeast face. At NC State, scientists and graduate students like Nicholas Basinger and Cole Smith are making progress toward lessening the weed’s impact in a range of crops.
- Seventeen years after completing basic training and working his way up to warrant officer, Mario Lopez got a new assignment from the U.S. Army: enroll as a first-year student in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences at CALS.
- When it comes to global environmental challenges, CALS student Danny Marulanda believes that agriculture can, and must, play a critical role. His mission: to help tackle problems facing the environment and agriculture in ways that sustain both.
- As an animal science major at CALS, Ruby Monn has uncovered a passion for global agriculture, an ability for the observation necessary in animal care and a “God-given gift” of public speaking.
- Four years ago, fresh out of high school and looking to leave her small town of Mooresboro, North Carolina, Abby Whitaker came to NC State to pursue her passion for agriculture. She was confident that CALS was the place for her, and four years later she’s surer than ever.
- Dani Winter was named a 2018 NSF Graduate Research Fellow — no surprise to those who know the hard-working, prolific and accomplished Biological and Agricultural Engineering student.
You can make a difference in the lives of students like these!
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