Texas-to-Arkansas summer externship to bolster ag research, food science jobs

AG FOOD LIFE — Rupesh Kariyat, associate professor of crop entomology for the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, will lead an externship program with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. (U of A System Division of Agriculture photo by Fred Miller)

MEDIA CONTACT

Nick Kordsmeier

U of A System Division of Agriculture
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station
(479) 575-6368  |  nkordsme@uark.edu

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Entomologist Rupesh Kariyat developed a summer externship program with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley to empower Hispanic student researchers of agriculture and food science.

The project aims to provide students the training necessary to work in agriculture. Kariyat, associate professor of crop entomology for the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, received a $481,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduates program to fund the summer externship for three years.

The Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station is the research arm of the Division of Agriculture. Kariyat also works with the Cooperative Extension Service and teaches courses through the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.

Kariyat said he was inspired to develop this program for two primary reasons: alleviating the shortage of skilled people in agriculture and food sciences jobs and addressing the underrepresentation of Hispanic people in those fields.

“I am looking forward to seeing that the students have a great experience — the best experience so far in their career,” Kariyat said.

Six to eight undergraduate students who are two years into a biology, chemistry or environmental science program will attend the University of Arkansas summer session in Fayetteville. The program will pay for travel and any tuition costs, and students will receive a $4,000 stipend for their work. The grant also provides funds for collaborating faculty members to receive a small stipend and purchase supplies.

Kariyat is collaborating with Bradley Christoffersen, assistant professor in the department of biology at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Christoffersen will receive $30,000 of the grant as a stipend for his work to help with recruitment and to fund an orientation for the students before they leave Texas.

Kariyat originally designed the grant program while at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. When he joined the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station in 2022, he adapted the grant to Arkansas while maintaining the parts he thought were most important.

“I thought it would be a good idea to keep the core idea of the grant impact, which is to empower Hispanic students,” Kariyat said.

An undergraduate research opportunity

Students will work Monday through Friday, from May 22 to July 28, to complete a short-term research project in the lab of their choosing with collaborating faculty members.

Kariyat said he hopes the research and data that students generate will lead to a research poster or even be part of a research manuscript. “That would be helpful for the students, so some science comes out of it, interpersonal relationships, exposure for the students and myself. All these things.”

Kariyat said he also hopes that the students will consider the university for graduate school after spending a summer at the University of Arkansas.

Arkansas faculty collaborators for the year 2023 include:

• Emily McDermott, assistant professor of entomology and plant pathology
• Asia Kud, assistant professor of entomology and plant pathology
• Neel Joshi, associate professor of entomology and plant pathology
• Adnan Alrubaye, assistant professor of poultry science and biological sciences
• Rupesh Kariyat, associate professor of entomology and plant pathology
• Alejandro Rojas, assistant professor of entomology and plant pathology

Kariyat said he thinks this undergraduate opportunity may parallel his experience joining the Division of Agriculture.

“I was amazed by the Division of Agriculture and all these resources that we have,” Kariyat said reflecting on when he attended a faculty orientation program, the “Teaching, Research and Extension Awareness Training” program under the leadership of Nathan McKinney, associate vice president for agriculture and assistant director of the experiment station.

“I am also looking forward to meeting with all these different faculty and different programs on campus,” Kariyat said. “I hope that this will lead into more interactions for me and others together, and then maybe it will lead into writing more grants like this.”

​To learn more about the Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website. Follow us on 𝕏 at @ArkAgResearch, subscribe to the Food, Farms and Forests podcast and sign up for our monthly newsletter, the Arkansas Agricultural Research Report. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit uada.edu. Follow us on 𝕏 at @AgInArk. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit uaex.uada.edu.

About the Division of Agriculture

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.

The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on five system campuses.

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.