EARTH grad named Alltech Young Scientist global finalist
Thanks to his graduation project, recent EARTH University grad Juan Bol (’17, Belize) will compete in the final round of the prestigious Alltech Young Scientist competition. He has the chance to win $5,000 plus a doctoral scholarship for his research evaluating immunity boosters in plants and control of nematodes in commercial banana plantations.
The competition consists of three rounds:
- Nominations: A professor recommends a qualifying student for consideration. In Juan’s case, Luis Pocasangre, Ph.D. – EARTH’s director of research and professor of tropical crops – served as his project mentor and nominated him.
- Regional Competition: Selected students compete at their respective level of North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific or Europe-Africa.
- Global Competition: Regional finalists are invited to attend the Alltech Young Scientist Discovery Week, where they present their projects before an international panel of judges and the grand-prize winner is named.
From May 20 to 22, Juan will be in Lexington, Kentucky, USA, to face off against his three competitors in the undergraduate category. “We received a great number of research projects, and Juan’s really impressed the (regional) panel of judges,” said Karl A. Dawson, Alltech vice president and head of research.
The Alltech Young Scientist program is the largest agriscience competition in the world, offering the globe’s brightest young scientists the opportunity to be recognized and rewarded for their innovative research.
Students are invited to conduct research that supports the Alltech team in the search for nature-based solutions to issues of animal health and nutrition, human health and nutrition, crop science, analytic agricultural methods, and supply-chain traceability and safety, among other topics.
To keep up with news of the competition, check out Alltech Education’s Facebook page.
