Institute Cultivates Tomorrow’s Food and Ag Leaders
At the North Carolina Youth Institute, teens gain research and communications skills to last a lifetime as they grapple with global food, agriculture and sustainability problems.
Intrigued by knowledge that tiny organisms living on, in and near plants can have a big influence — for good or for bad — on the world’s food supply, high school junior Claire Eveson found herself wanting to learn more.
That’s why she signed up for the North Carolina Youth Institute, an experience she now calls “life-changing.”
Eveson, of Raleigh, was among 70 teens who took part in the 2025 institute at NC State’s Plant Sciences Building in early April. The two-day event gave them the chance to interact with university students and faculty members, to take part in experiential workshops and to share their ideas for addressing global challenges in food, agriculture and sustainability.
NC State Extension 4-H Specialist Liz Driscoll, who co-chaired the institute, said the goal is to encourage and excite young people about careers in agriculture and food security and help them build skills in research, public speaking, collaboration and real-world problem solving.
“The institute develops essential workforce skills by engaging students in research, public speaking, collaboration and real-world problem solving,” Driscoll said. “Youth gain competencies critical to build a pipeline of skilled professionals needed to address pressing global challenges.”
Through independent research, institute participants studied problems as diverse as malnutrition in Mali, crop burning in India and soil degradation in Ukraine, then presented their findings at the institute during a poster session and in roundtable discussions.
Institute’s Impact Grows
The N.C. Youth Institute got its start in NC State’s Department of Crop and Soil Sciences 11 years ago, and over the years, youth participation has grown. So has the involvement of FFA advisers, 4-H agents and leaders, agriculture and science teachers and industry scientists across the state.
Generous donations from Larry and Judy Roberts, Becky Boston and Scott Shore and International Farming Corp. allowed the institute to expand its educational offerings this year, and a National Science Foundation grant supported a workshop for teachers.
Through a pilot N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative research externship program that launched in the months leading up to the institute, selected high schoolers were paired with mentors, including Extension educators, an industry scientist and graduate students from the colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Design and Engineering.
Sarah Dinger, the N.C. Plant Science Initiative’s program manager for education and extension outreach and NCYI co-chair, organized the externship program. She said the one of the program’s goals was to provide participants with a “face” they could relate to before they came to campus.
“This year, the externship really leveled up the caliber of papers. The students are … putting in real scientific efforts doing well-formed research studies. It’s brilliant!”
Mentees met online monthly with their mentors to discuss their projects and get advice on planning and carrying out their research and preparing their papers.
Katelyn Fritz, who attended the Global Youth Institute as a teen and went on to become an NC State crop science research specialist, was among the mentors.
“This year’s externship really leveled up the caliber of papers. I was telling some people that if I had been in the roundtables today, I would not have been selected to go to the Global Youth Institute,” Fritz said. “The students are at a whole different level. They are putting in real scientific efforts doing well-formed research studies. It’s brilliant!”
Making Worldwide Connections
In addition to sharing their ideas at the institute, participants had the chance to shadow their mentors and take part in a range of science activities, from flying drones to identifying plants to exploring bovine anatomy. They also got to meet area agricultural scientists and engineers and to build global connections.
Kenyan researcher and educator Kenneth “Dr. Fun” Monjero engaged them in hands-on learning and delivered a motivating keynote address, while Jon Wogman, director of the global youth programs and partnerships for the World Food Prize Foundation, spoke about the critical need for a new generation of agricultural scientists.
At the end of the April 10-11 event, participants were honored as Borlaug Scholars, after Norman Borlaug, the late Nobel Prize-winning agronomist known for his contributions to increasing global agricultural production.
Some of this year’s participants will be selected to continue to grow their skills and passion as N.C. delegates to the weeklong food prize foundation’s Global Youth Institute, which Borlaug founded. The event draws delegates come from 35 youth institutes held across the United States and in several other counties.
Borlaug Scholars can also compete for fully funded U.S. and international internships.
A Lasting Influence
By opening doors for students to engage in food and agriculture research, participants, organizers, mentors, teachers and donors say that the N.C. Youth Institute is helping prepare a next generation of scientists who will make their communities and world a better place.
It’s been inspirational to see how much people here love what they’re doing and how they can make an impact, not only on North Carolina but the world.
Eveson, for one, challenged herself to learn more about microbiology, something she hadn’t had a chance to delve into at her small high school. Her research focused on a fungus that causes rice blast disease, which takes a major toll on India’s rice crop.
“I learned more about what goes into the microbes and how genetic and microbial diversity really impacts the whole world — not only us, but the animals and the plants — and how this tiny microbe can change everything,” she said.
Eveson wants to change things, too. She hopes to continue to grow her knowledge of plants and plant science and, ultimately, to use her communication skills to make a difference in the world. The institute, she says, was a solid step toward those goals.
“It’s shown me what it’s like to work at NC State or go to NC State, what it’s like to work in a lab with other people and what it’s like to collaborate,” she said. “It’s been inspirational to see how much people here love what they’re doing and how they can make an impact, not only on North Carolina but the world.”
Here’s what others have to say:
- Becky Boston, William Neal Reynolds Professor Emeritus of Plant and Microbial Biology, and 2025 N.C. Youth Institute supporter: I was impressed by the enthusiasm the students showed when explaining why they had chosen their topics. They were so eager to convey the importance of the problems. The creative approaches proposed by several of the students were inspirational examples of the strength that new ideas can bring to solving global issues.
- Peggy Chen, 2024 Borlaug Scholar, Global Youth Institute delegate, World Food Prize Foundation Global Challenge Award winner, 2025 N.C. Youth Institute volunteer and Green Hope High School senior: I had never really realized the need for research in agriculture and what an important role it plays. Last year, we toured different labs at the Plant Sciences Initiative and were able to see their startup accelerator. Seeing all the agriculture startups made me really excited about just the future of this field because I’m seeing scientists and engineers, but also entrepreneurs, getting involved. I saw so much possibility in where I could be in the future. Even as I left the Plant Sciences Building, I walked away feeling supported and loved by the community I found through N.C. Youth Institute. … The collaborations and relationships that come out of addressing food security are a reminder of the humanity of this field’s mission.
- Jon Davis, N.C. School of Science and Mathematics instructor of engineering, who has sent students to the NCYI since 2015, with many advancing to the Global Youth institute and winning World Food Prize Foundation fellowships and internships: The Youth Institute gives students an opportunity to envision and present their own solutions to global problems, not just in agriculture, but global health, governance, and conflict resolution. … Guiding students interested in the NCYI has been a big part of my job and curriculum development at NCSSM! I can’t say enough good things about the event, and it is exciting to see how Liz Driscoll and Sarah Dinger are continuing to develop the program a decade in.
- Sarah Dinger, N.C. Youth Institute co-chair and N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative program manager for education and extension outreach: This year’s externship offered students a chance to meet a real-life researcher, gain confidence with science writing before submitting their paper and presenting at the Youth Institute, and then a connection to lab shadowing at the institute. Something that stood out to me was the positive impact that the externship had on the mentors. One mentor teared up meeting the parents of their mentee and hearing their gratitude. The mother said something like, ‘My son would leave dinner and say that he was excited to talk with you and would come back buzzing with ideas.’ … I was so moved by the outpouring of support from mentors and the broader university for these young people. Between mentors who supported the research process, to those who cheered on the finished posters, the encouragement of young people was overflowing from start to finish.
- Liz Driscoll, N.C. Youth Institute co-ehair and NC State Extension 4-H specialist: I hope that a young person participating in the NCYI will consider themselves part of the solution for growing a world where young leaders drive innovative solutions to global food security, sustainability and agricultural challenges. I hope they build their confidence, critical thinking skills and leave motivated and excited to build a more just, nourished and resilient future for all.
- Katelyn Fritz, 2022 CALS Crop Science M.S. graduate, 2024 and 2025 N.C. Youth Institute expert and NC State research specialist: I grew up on a little hobby farm in Iowa, but I never thought I wanted to go into agriculture. I was very interested in science, though, and one year I had the chance to go to the World Food Prize with my mom. I saw the students that had come to the Global Youth Institute at the time, and I was really impressed. The next year, I wrote a paper about the government system in Nepal, submitted it to the Iowa Youth Institute and ended up being selected to go to the Global Youth Institute. Then I was selected to be a Borlaug-Ruan International Intern at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. These experiences were instrumental in bringing me into agricultural research. They helped shape who I am in a tremendous way, truly. I wanted to give back, and I knew that this was something that could change people’s trajectory and show young students what science research could be, so I served as a volunteer expert last year and again this year.
- Shriya Reddy, 2025 Borlaug Scholar and Apex High School junior: This experience has been so valuable to me. Going through this institute, doing the workshops and hearing from experts made me realize just how important agriculture is and how important it is to empower the youth to really take action.
- Larry Roberts, NC State CALS alumnus, founder of Roberts Business Group and, with his wife Judy, 2025 NCYI supporter: I’ve been to a lot of events, and it was one of the finest I’ve been to in a long time. The students were very impressive – it was clear someone had worked very hard with them, their presentation skills were good, their confidence levels were high, and they were having fun. I think the event introduced some really bright minds to NC State and to future possibilities … giving them the energy and motivation to be a scientist or to feed the world or be part of a team that does that.
- Lori Unruh Snyder, associate professor of crop and soil sciences and NCYI founder: I am honestly almost in tears today at the 11th year of this program, with 70 students this year compared to the one I had in 2014. It is the best action step I could have made as a professor (to start a Youth Institute at N.C. State). We have such a wonderful growing population of alumni that come back every year and share their profound experiences they have had through World Food Prize Foundation programs.
Learn more about the and about the World Food Prize Foundation.
