Mendoza receives national agronomy awards and scholarships

(September xx, 2018) – Fresno State plant science senior Ignacio Mendoza (Salinas) was honored with three awards and scholarships for his academic excellence, student leadership, career goals and emphasis on sustainable agriculture.

The American Society of Agronomy and the International Certified Crop Adviser program recognized him as one of 10 Greenfield Scholar recipients, and the only selection at a Western university.

Recipients will be honored at the associations’ annual conference Nov. 4 through Nov. 7 in Baltimore, Maryland  and will be matched with CCA mentors to develop leadership skills.

He is also one of 20 college students nationally that will receive a $10,000 Annie’s Organic Sustainable program scholarship. Students were selected based on their commitment to enhance natural resources and farm communities through soil health, aboveground biodiversity and resilient farm community practices. He will also be invited to participate in the company’s Sustainable Agriculture Scholars program events and programs.

He has also received a $2,500 academic grant from the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) based on his career ambitions and involvement in the organic community.

In 2017-18 he served as a student research assistant for a campus study by former faculty member Dr. Jorge Gonzalez on the effects of nanoparticles on honeybees in an effort to reduce colony collapse disorder. The project created an artificial flower for bees to feed on, monitor and collect data in a collaboration with Texas A&M University.

In previous years, he has worked for Naturipe Berry Growers with its organic strawberry soil research, installed irrigation and soil moisture equipment and assisted in research. For his family’s Mendoza Berry Farms, he assisted in a variety of production and soil management responsibilities. He also provided pest and beneficial insect scouting and tractor sprayer calibration and bug vacuum education for the California Strawberry Commission.

This year he is serving as the president of the campus plant science club, which uses an area farm plot to grow vegetables to be donated to the Student Cupboard and the Povarello House charities. He also volunteered with renovations and updates with Fresno State staff and students at the Valley Children’s Hospital therapy garden.

Mendoza will be the first in his family to graduate from high school and attend college. After graduation next spring, he plans on becoming a Pest Control Adviser and a certified crop adviser

Six other Fresno State students have received Greenfield Scholar honors in 2015 (Sarah Parry), 2016 (Aldo Garcia, Yie Wu, May Nhia Yang) and 2017 (Nancy Valdez, Georgina Reyes Solorio).

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