AMES, Iowa -- Two Iowa State University students will be presented World Food Prize awards for their work as Borlaug-Ruan International Interns in the summer of 2005.
Emma Flemmig, a junior from Glidden majoring in genetics and agriculture, and Rachael Cox, a sophomore from Ames majoring in agronomy, will receive their awards at a ceremony at the Iowa State Capitol building at 7 p.m. Oct. 19. The event will air live on Iowa Public Television.
Flemmig, who will receive the Ahmanson Intern award, completed her internship at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in El Batan, Mexico. Her work there dealt with wheat varieties and their resistance to tan spot.
Cox, who will receive the John Chrystal Award, worked at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology in Nairobi, Kenya. Rachael worked on ICIPE's Diamond Black Moth project. Her work involved field mortality factors of Diamond Black Moth eggs and larvae in semi-arid crucifer growing conditions.
Cox also worked in Africa during the summer of 2006 as a part of an Iowa State University-sponsored program to help a local school develop a garden to feed its students.
"I got interested in Africa in about the seventh grade when I read about it," said Cox. "So when I got an opportunity to go, I was very excited."
The two were selected as Borlaug-Ruan International Interns after completing the World Food Prize Youth Institute in October of 2004. The Youth Institute, a prerequisite for International Internship eligibility, exposes young Iowans to opportunities associated with careers in food, agriculture and natural resource disciplines. Youth Institute participants interact with World Food Prize laureates and Nobel Prize Laureate Norman Borlaug to discuss issues of food security throughout the world.