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N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative

Undergraduates, Graduate Students & Beyond

Training the next generation of plant sciences.

Extension intern with faculty

Internships

N.C. PSI students can receive experience from a variety of different internship opportunities.

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Jabeen, an AgBioFEWS, in the N.C. PSI greenhouse

Fellowships and Awards

There are a variety funding opportunities for N.C. PSI students to support their education.

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Shelly Hunt standing in a field

N.C. PSI Certificate Programs

N.C. PSI offers two certificate programs, one for Ag Data Science and the other for Regulatory Science in Agriculture.

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Imani Madison

Professional Development Opportunities

Explore the unique resources and professional development opportunities offered to N.C. PSI students and postdocs.

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Undergraduates, Graduate Students & Beyond

N.C. PSI provides a unique training ground for NC State students and postdoctoral scholars. Not only can they gain practical experience beyond higher education in the form of mentorship, internships and early-stage concept incubation, we work to enhance their access to prospective employers – whether here in North Carolina or around the world, leveraging the extensive footprints of some of our region’s leading employers.

Our impact is not limited to NC State. The N.C. PSI is forming partnerships with other North Carolina higher education institutions, including minority-serving institutions and community colleges, to provide greater connectivity among students to N.C. PSI areas of focus, drive research collaborations and enhance overall career readiness among students.

We collaborate to provide professional opportunities to college students and professionals across North Carolina and beyond.

Training the Next Generation of Plant Science Leaders

In addition to internship and fellowship opportunities, we are constantly providing our students with professional development opportunities such as industry tours, career panels, and research symposiums to highlight research and engage industry.

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Goals

  • Work to develop and grow programs that address the real-time industry workforce needs, with an emphasis on those that involve applied experience
  • Establish partnership with academies and training programs to provide graduate student rotational placements within N.C. PSI-affiliated projects
  • Offer N.C. PSI internship and fellowship programs, leveraging existing frameworks to place undergraduate and graduate students with N.C. PSI industry partners
  • Connect undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral students with new or existing programs that enhance career readiness and promote access to workforce opportunities in agriculture

Researching Agricultural Challenges on the Backroads

In the second annual N.C. PSI Backroad Tour, graduate students and postdocs from several colleges visited farmers and producers across the state.

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N.C. PSI plant sciences initiative graduate students research learn from farmers and NC State Extension
Participants on the second annual N.C. PSI Backroads Tour at Gary Hendrix’s cotton farm in Hoke County.

Trolinder N.C. PSI Graduate Student Endowment Award 

Norma and Linda Trolinder are a mother-daughter duo of preeminent researchers and have established the N.C. PSI’s first graduate student endowment to propel the future of the field they love.

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norma and linda trolinder

Bridging Disciplines, Generating Solutions

At the N.C. PSI BRIDGE Symposium, grad students and postdocs discussed creative bridges across disciplines that could lead to improvements in the economy, environment and people’s lives.

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BRIDGE Symposium participants standing at the front of a room

NEWS FROM N.C. PSI’S EDUCATION PLATFORM

Students at a table demonstrating their seed size collection machine.

NC State students pair machine learning, robotics to improve ag research

Thanks in large part to a student-developed machine that can “see” and sort seeds by size, a new NC State University project could shed more light on how seed sizes influence… 
a man stands next to two computer screens

Planting the Future

With support from the Trolinder graduate student endowment, Weilong He hopes to use machine learning to help breeders more efficiently assess the health of plants and troubleshoot problems for farmers. 
Anna Trolinder in the Kleiner Lab

Award-Winning Plant Science Grad Student Hopes To Share Research Internationally

With research aimed at helping scientists develop a more targeted approach to the design and development of microbial products for sustainable agriculture, North Carolina State University Ph.D. student Anna Garrell…