Team Members

For the past year and a half, Bilenky has been managing an OREI project that explores how to intensify organic grain production at Penn State University. She went to Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture for an AS degree in Agronomy and earned both her BS and Ph.D. in horticulture at Iowa State University. Among the various horticulture projects, she pursued during her Ph.D., she worked on a multidisciplinary project with faculty in food science, soil science, animal science, and economics exploring animal crop integration for organic vegetable growers.

Before starting her Ph.D., she assisted in the management of a 14-acre, diversified vegetable farm and started her own small vegetable operation. Bilenky is excited to be sharing her experiences in small-scale vegetable production when she teaches the small farms experience courses offered through the SFS program. Bilenky believes we cannot meet the world's agricultural challenges working only within our disciplinary bubble and she is looking forward to collaborating with other faculty and staff across the many disciplines.

Camille Kristinik hails from Columbia, South Carolina and is a rising sophomore at Purdue University majoring in Sustainable Food and Farming Systems with a double major in Spanish.

"I began working with Dr. Bilenky in the Spring of 2023. This is my first research experience as well as one of my first exposures to small-scale agriculture. I am excited to see how the projects progress, collect data in the field, and work with our lab team.”

I have completed my bachelor’s degree in Agriculture and a Master’s in Soil Science from Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), Mymensingh, Bangladesh. Now, I am working as a Graduate Research Assistant under the holistic guidance of Dr. Moriah Bilenky to pursue my MS degree in Horticulture. My aim is to create a hunger-free nation and ensure food security all over the world by sharpening my knowledge of sustainable farming approaches.

The National Science and Technology Fellowship award has boosted me for my research project profoundly in 2018. Being a Research Fellow at Okayama University, Japan was a great opportunity for me to interact with a diversified group of people in an international environment in the same year. I worked at Bangladesh Rice Research Institute and British American Tobacco Bangladesh Company Limited in my professional career.

Serving Bangladesh National Cadet Corps as a Lance Corporal gave me an opportunity to build up my leadership and volunteering skills. Throughout my academic life, I have participated in various national and international conferences and workshops as well as extra-curricular activities. I am an active member of the Sakura Science Club, in Japan. I love to watch drama series, read novels, and make videos in my spare time.

I am overwhelmed to be a part of the outstanding Bilenky Sustainable Horticulture Lab and want to leave a landmark for others.