Sabrina Myoda
2017 Udall Scholar and 2016 Udall Honorable Mention
Hometown
Wilmington, DE
Major
Sustainable Food and Farming Systems
College
College of Agriculture / Honors College
As a teenager, Sabrina was already educating the public about the importance of sustainable stewardship and agriculture. She founded a community garden with her church that provided fresh produce to those in need. Reflecting on their first harvest, Sabrina recalls the excitement of the children who helped pull carrots from the ground: “if we can educate children while they are still thrilled by agriculture, as adults they will remain curious and concerned about the subject.”
Sabrina aims to continue to educate the public about sustainable agriculture and to foster discussion and consensus among farmers in order to create positive change in the food system. She writes, “I believe that corporate farmers and small-scale farmers, conventional growers and organic growers, need to come together in order to work towards a sustainable solution that utilizes the best methods from all systems.” Beginning her freshman year, Sabrina served as an undergraduate research assistant studying tomato growth in a lab. In 2015, she was awarded the Muriel Rumsey Merit Scholarship for outstanding students in horticulture. A Windsor Halls Resident Assistant, Sabrina has also worked as a Lab Technician at the Lilly Greenhouses at Purdue. In addition, she volunteers on the Purdue Student Farm.
Dr. Steve Hallett, Professor of Agriculture, notes that Sabrina “has rapidly become a key member of a number of sustainability- and environmentally-oriented organizations on campus.” He describes her as a “stand-up citizen” with a gift for getting others involved. In her remaining two years at Purdue, Sabrina hopes to continue to work and volunteer at the farm while becoming more involved with the Purdue Student Farm Organization and Students Growing Sustainable Communities, an organization that works to increase sustainability within the local community.
In order to gain a more global understanding of sustainable food practices, Sabrina has planned to study abroad in Romania to test milk safety for value-added products and to spend a semester in Wales studying agriculture at Aberystwyth University. Maggie Saska supervised Sabrina during her summer internship at The Rodale Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to pioneering organic farming; she writes, “From daily tasks to discussions on the big picture of the impact of environmentally sound agricultural practices, Sabrina’s dedication to her work [is] clear…she will be an asset to the world of environmentally friendly organic horticulture.”