CEFS Agroecology Scholars Program in Research and Extension (ASPIRE)
Research Areas
- Each student will have a specific research project for the summer. Project opportunities will cover a wide range of topics across agroecology and food systems.
- Students will be matched with research mentors based on their interests and will work with their mentors to develop an individual research plan.
- Students will be trained in scientific communication and will have the opportunity to present their research at regional and national scientific research conferences.
Specific research projects are being developed by the research mentors and may not be completely defined until early Spring based on funding, research priorities, and progress.
Research projects from 2021, 2022, and 2023. Note: this program did not take place in 2024 or 2025.
2026 Research Areas
2026 research area details coming soon! Learn more about the 2026 faculty mentors here.
2023 Research Areas
Weed Ecology and Biology Lab
Faculty mentor: Ramon Leon
Graduate student or Postdoc mentor: April Dobbs
Lab Name: Weed Ecology and Biology Lab
Introduction and Proposal: Our research focuses on using cover crops and plant canopy imaging to develop sustainable weed management tools in agriculture.
Typical work and research environment: The student researcher will spend a significant portion of time collecting data in the field, in addition to some greenhouse and laboratory tasks. In addition, the student will get hands-on experience analyzing and interpreting their dataset using statistical software in the office.
Ag-Eco-Evo Lab
Faculty mentor: Mallory Choudoir
Graduate student or Postdoc mentor: Co-mentored by Mallory and Research Technician (TBD)
Lab Name: Ag-Eco-Evo Lab
Introduction and Proposal: Soils are homes to enormously diverse microbial communities. These microbes play important roles in agroecosystems, like driving underground nutrient cycles and promoting aboveground plant health. Microbes are the links between soils and our food systems! Our lab uses molecular biology (like DNA sequencing) to identify microbial traits associated with crop and environmental health in North Carolina agroecosystems. Summer research projects largely involve isolating and characterizing diverse microbes from field soils and plant tissues.
Typical work and research environment: The student researcher may spend time sampling soil and crops outside, which will require some travel and working outdoor in variable weather conditions. Most of the student’s time will be spent in a microbiology laboratory isolating and characterizing microbes using standard microbiology and molecular biology methods. The student may also spend time using a computer to visualize and analyze lab data using standard plotting and statistical software.
Project title: Coming Soon
Faculty mentor: Alejandra Huerta
Graduate student or Postdoc mentor:
Lab Name:
Introduction and Proposal:
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Project Title TBD
Faculty mentor: Stephanie Ward
Graduate student or Postdoc mentor:
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Animal Waste Management Lab
Faculty mentor: Steph Kulesza
Graduate student or Postdoc mentor: Seongmin Park and Grace Kilroy
Lab Name: Animal Waste Management Lab
Introduction and Proposal: Research in the Animal Waste Management Lab centers around the responsible use of animal manures in the diverse cropping systems found in North Carolina. Our goal is to optimize manure application to maximize yields and reduce risks to the environment. Projects of past ASPIRE students have included: impact of urease inhibitors on ammonia volatilization under high residue conditions, determination of phosphorus availability of a swine sludge fertilizer product, and understanding the effects of poultry litter on germination of various plant species. It is anticipated that this year’s student will conduct a lab study focused on ammonia loss from swine sludge drying units. However, the project is subject to change based on the needs of the program at the time and the student’s interests.
Typical work and research environment: The student should expect to invest significant effort in a single lab-based project, as well as assist with other projects in the lab, greenhouse, and field. It is anticipated that this project will be lab-based. However, this could change based on program needs or the student’s interests. Either way, the student should bring clothing for work outdoors and be prepared to work in conditions of high heat and humidity, as interns often assist with field setup and sampling events.
Alternative Crops
Faculty mentor: David Suchoff
Graduate student or Postdoc mentor: Samantha Carroll
Lab Name: Alternative Crops
Introduction and Proposal: We conduct applied field research on new and emerging crops to determine their fit within North Carolina’s diverse row cropping systems. Crops we work on include hemp, sesame, and sunflowers. ASPIRE interns will be working specifically on a larger fiber hemp project aimed at developing fertility and weed management practices.
Typical work and research environment: Our research is all field-based. We conduct both on-farm and on-station trials, which involve driving anywhere from 45 minutes to two hours from Raleigh to install, maintain, and collect data from field trials. The work can be physical and quite hot and humid. Student researchers should be comfortable working outdoors.
Project Title TBD
Faculty mentor: Michael D. Schulman
Graduate student or Postdoc mentor: Andrew Smolski
Lab Name: No name
Introduction and Proposal: We are part of the Southern Agricultural Exchange Network (SAgE), a USDA-funded collaboration of researchers, extension agents, non-profit professionals, and government personnel working to provide assistance for farm and ranch stress. Our role in the network is with the Applied Research Team, collecting and analyzing data on farmers, especially limited resource and socially disadvantaged farmers, and how they navigate financial and emotional distress. The summer project will involve database management by cataloging existing financial and mental health resources provided by organizations in North Carolina. The farm stress resource database will be used to develop programming for farmers by members of SAgE and the North Carolina Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network. In addition, and subject to completion of IRB certification and training in qualitative research provided by the mentors, interviews with selected service providers about how they approach farmer mental health will be conducted by the undergraduate intern. This will provide an undergraduate student interested in working in extension or in agricultural communities an understanding of current issues affecting farm households and an introduction to applied research methods.
Typical work and research environment: This will be a library/computer intensive project: excellent computer skills, including experience with database, excel, and mapping software, are an asset. Space in Brickhaven for the intern will be requested. The interviews with service providers will require completion of IRB/Human Subjects in Research Training at intern’s university prior to internship.
Climate-Smart Soil Management Experiment(s)
Project title: Climate-Smart Soil Management Experiment(s)
Faculty mentor: Alex Woodley
Graduate student or Postdoc mentor: Fred Teasley (Tentative)
Lab Name: Sustainable Soils Lab
Introduction and Proposal: This lab has various ongoing field and lab experiments examining the impact of climate-smart soil management on greenhouse gas emissions, soil carbon sequestration, soil health and crop productivity. Climate smart activities currently being investigated are cover cropping, long-term tillage, biochar and compost additions and the use of biologicals both in conventional and organic row crop systems. We measure GHG emissions using simple and advanced techniques. The goal of the research is to understand the potential these management decisions have on agriculture in the Southeast being a mitigation tool for climate change and how these practices build resilience into the system.
Typical work and research environment: This student researcher will spend a significant amount of time conducting field work, soil sampling or crop sampling outside, which will require working outdoors in high humidity and high temperatures. The student will spend the remaining time in the lab processing data from the field.
Specialty Crops IPPM Lab
Faculty mentor: None (Hannah Levenson will be the primary mentor)
Graduate student or Postdoc mentor: Hannah Levenson
Lab Name: Specialty Crops IPPM Lab
Introduction and Proposal: The Specialty Crops IPPM Lab researchers ways to make pest management in cropping systems more sustainable, with particular attention paid to protecting pollinators. Our main focus currently is on the management of an invasive fruit fly, spotted wing drosophila (SWD; Drosophila suzukii) in NC blackberry farms. In collaboration with 10+ states across the country, we are researching best management practices, improved monitoring techniques, methods to reduce pesticide inputs, and the impacts of SWD management on pollinator populations.
Typical work and research environment: This student researcher will spend time traveling to field sites to assist in the collection of samples during the beginning of the program, and then switch to conducting lab work towards the end of the program. Field sites are typically between 2 – 3 hours away from campus so the student should expect to have a variable work schedule with early work hours some days (as early as 6 am) and late work hours other days (about 6 pm). On field days, the student will be required to work outdoors with high humidity and temperature during the NC summer. Once samples are collected, the student will spend a significant amount of time in the lab processing samples and entering data.
Precision Pest Ecology
Faculty mentor: Anders Huseth
Graduate student or Postdoc mentor: Emma Schoeppner
Lab Name: Precision Pest Ecology
Introduction and Proposal: The Precision Pest Ecology lab is focused on beneficial and pest insects of crops. This project will focus on optimizing deployment of a novel pheromone for corn wireworm, a common pest of sweet potatoes. This project will combine insect trapping data with geospatial analytics to better understand phenology and host association of this pest in different habitats at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems Research Unit (https://cefs.ncsu.edu/field-research/farming-systems-research-unit/).
Typical work and research environment: The student researcher will conduct weekly insect trapping in the Farmings Systems Research Unit. The student will also conduct surveys of plants adjacent to trap locations and sample soils for larval stages of corn wireworms. This project will be a combination of field work and laboratory insect identification.
Cardoso Lab
Faculty mentor: Amanda Avila Cardoso
Graduate student or Postdoc mentor: Matt Taggart
Lab Name: Cardoso Lab
Introduction and Proposal: The Cardoso lab mainly targets the functioning of crops during and after challenging conditions, with major implications for the improvement of cultivated plant productivity. As plant models, we use a broad variety of species, including woody and herbaceous crops.
For the summer project, the student will investigate hemp responses to temperature and soil water content from seed germination to plant photosynthesis.
Typical work and research environment: We expect the student to spend almost all of their time conducting experiments in controlled environments (laboratory and greenhouse environments).