NDSU plant sciences master’s degree student Adriana Rodriguez was selected for the United States Department of Agriculture-National Institute of Food and Agriculture funded grant award program Connecting Underrepresented Latinos to Integrate Values and Academic Resources Project, known as CULTIVAR, and attended the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education Career Preparation Institute in Costa Mesa, Calif., March 5-8.

The institute is designed to help young Hispanic scholars transition from academics to careers in food and agricultural sciences. The conference brochure said the institute’s objective is to showcase, promote and prepare USDA fellows for doctoral programs or the workforce in the food and agricultural sciences.

“It was the best conference I have ever attended," said Rodriguez. "The conference made networking possible and helped (attendees) create our own support system with professors and people from different agencies like USDA and Natural Resources Conservation Service. Now graduate school is not a far-fetched, impossible dream. It gave us hope and tools to continue forward."

Rodriguez is completing her master’s degree studies with Asunta Thompson, associate professor of plant sciences, and is scheduled to graduate in May. She grew up in Puerto Rico, completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, and began her studies at NDSU in 2011. She also worked as a summer intern for Thompson in 2009 as part of a plant breeding and genetics collaborative graduate program between NDSU and the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez.

NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.