UC Riverside Environmental Toxicology doctoral student Danielle Stevenson is one of only 17 people nationwide selected as a 2019 Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research, or FFAR, fellow. 

The fellowship program is run by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at North Carolina State University. It offers mentorship to early career scientists from both academic institutions and the private sector over a three-year period. By the end, fellows are primed to become leaders in the food and agriculture industries. 

Half of Stevenson’s fellowship expenses are funded by the foundation, and the other half are matched by the UCR Café Institute, as well as Corigin, a company that creates sustainable food and agricultural products. 

Originally from Canada, Stevenson says she came to UC Riverside because of the university’s strong reputation in the agricultural and environmental sciences. 

“I’ve always been interested in the ways pollution impacts agriculture,” she said. 

At UCR, Stevenson works in Assistant Professor Samantha Ying’s soil chemistry lab, studying how fungi could limit the uptake of heavy metals in crops. 

“The FFAR fellowship will help me build connections between science, industry and government so that my research can have maximum positive impact,” she said. “It’s a fantastic opportunity.”