Crop & Soil Research Interns & Volunteers
Michael Fields Agricultural Institute-
East Troy, Wisconsin
Napha Triratsakulchai (Pum) participated in our Core Training Program in 2007 and has returned to the Next Level program designed for successful MESA steward alumni. Read more about Napha
Leopold Beucher chose Michael Fields Agricultural Institute for his long term volunteer service with SCI-IVS USA for the opportunity to develop his language skills in an environmental initiative in the US.
Read more about Leopold here.
Download Leopold’s power point presentation about his work at MFAI, biochemistry graduate studies at University of Lille, family farm in Laigne, France.
MFAI Crop & Soil Research Volunteer
Americo Vergara lives in Illinois and volunteers with Dr. Goldstein in corn breeding research. With a Master’s in Food Technology from the Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Peru Americo brings an extensive background to our Crop & Soil Research program and hopes to introduce better food sources for the children’s programs in Peru, continue his research and teach in the university.
Read more about Americo here.
Hugo Gonzales Dupuy arrived at Michael Fields in 2008 from Peru, as a steward of the MESA Core Training Program. A graduate of the National Agrarian University with an Agronomist degree Hugo aimed to learn about plant breeding from an organic point of view. Hugo has now returned to Peru and is planning to get a scholarship to attend Wageningen University and Research Center in Holland to learn organic crop breeding principles. Read more about Hugo here. Download Hugo’s power point presentation to learn about Peru, the country, its agriculture and crop breeding.
MFAI Crop & Soil Lab Technician
Bill Barber, staff ecologist and naturalist, collects and records field data for the research projects at MFAI. He has worked with soil fertility and organic matter studies at the Institute and specialized in studying root health through measurements of root health with electronic scanning systems. His present work is focused mainly on breeding corn for enhanced nutritional value and specialty markets. Bill has a B.S. degree in natural resource management from the UW-Stevens Point.
Multinational Exchange for Sustainable Agriculture MESA) sponsors international farmers to come to the United States for training and cultural exchange with host placements that promote sustainable agriculture. Since 1997, MESA has sponsored nearly 400 global farm stewards at over 200 U.S. host placements. For recruitment of stewards for U.S. training, MESA establishes global partnerships with NGOs and university programs that are well regarded in the field of sustainable agriculture and work closely with farming communities and agricultural students in their countries.
Michael Fields Agricultural Institute is a host organization for MESA ‘s Core Training and Next Level Programs. The common denominator linking MESA hosts is their commitment to MESA's mission of: advancing a new generation of agrarian leaders, linking innovations in sustainable agriculture with ancestral knowledge worldwide to promote place-appropriate production, land stewardship, and cultural awareness. Read about MESA.
Service Civil International (SCI)
SCI-International Voluntary Service is the United States branch of Service Civil International, one of the world's oldest peace organizations. The projects are very practical, based on the philosophy of ‘Deeds not Words’. Living and working together with people of different backgrounds helps volunteers to break down prejudices and stereotypes and allows them to experience a world of mutual respect and understanding. In this sense, volunteering can be seen as a way of life - a demonstration of the possible reality of a peaceful and co-operative world. Read about SCI.
Michael Fields Agricultural Institute is a public, non-profit institute for education and research in sustainable agriculture, which admits students of any race, color and national or ethnic origin.