IANR Hosts Undergraduate Research Experience for International Students

East Campus pillars at enterance

September 1, 2015

Over the summer, the Office of Global Engagement in the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln hosted an Undergraduate Research Experience for students from the Northwest Agriculture & Forestry University (NWAFU) located in Yangling, China. This year’s group of 18 students was accompanied by Professor Yangbing Qi of NWAFU. The experience was coordinated by  Madhavan Soundararajan and assisted by Jing Zhang, both professors in the Department of Biochemistry.

IANR Hosts Undergraduate Research Experience for International Students
IANR Hosts Undergraduate Research Experience for International Students

Each year, students with varied research interests are matched with faculty mentors who host the students in their labs for six weeks. Students culminate their research experience by participating in a poster session at the Nebraska Summer Research Symposium, hosted by the Office of Graduate Studies at UNL, with undergraduates from a variety of institutions who have gone through similar research experiences. 

IANR has hosted the program since 2012. During the past four years, over 80 students from NWAFU have benefitted from the program with over 64 faculty and faculty lab members participating as their mentors.

This year’s program participants also experienced some of Nebraska’s local attractions, including the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo, Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center, Mahoney State Park, living on campus and camping at the Eastern 4-H Center. At the end of their program, NWAFU students received a certificate of completion from Ronnie Green, NU vice president, IANR Harlan Vice Chancellor and interim senior vice chancellor for academic affairs at UNL at a reception held at the International Quilt Study Center.

Additionally, for the last two summers, UNL has sent students to NWAFU as part of an education abroad program called "China: Global Perspectives of Land and People." During their month-long stay in Yangling, UNL students live on-campus, visit local farms, observe food production facilities, see the Great Wall and take short courses while interacting with students at NWAFU. As part of their trip, students also spend a weekend in Beijing before returning to Nebraska. Another program is planned for May of 2016 and will be led by Global Exchange Coordinator for the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Jon Kerrigan and Assistant Professor of Youth and Civic Leadership in the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication, L.J. McElravy .

The IANR Office of Global Engagement was founded in 2012. For more information, visit http://ianr.unl.edu/global-engagement.

Miranda Ducey
IANR Global Engagement
402-472-5960
mducey3@unl.edu

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