Jordan College welcomes 10th Honors Cohort

(Dec. 6, 2023) -- The Fresno State Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology introduced its 10th upper division honors cohort  that will focus on research related to industry and consumer topics.

The 10-member junior class includes members from four of its six academic departments focusing on a host of topics related to education, industry, university and the community. 

The program, which began in 2014, provides scholarly, creative and motivated Jordan College students with advanced study and mentorship by select faculty. Students will take three honors seminar units and work with a faculty mentor to develop a research project.

As seniors, they will participate in three additional spring-semester honors colloquium units and present their research project to students, faculty and the campus community. 

Jordan College honor students will receive incentives such as priority registration, extended borrowing time for library materials and special recognition at commencement.

The experience also prepares students on a graduate level track by giving them important experience with research gathering, analysis and reporting methods.

Candidates, which were reviewed by the Jordan Council Honors Council, must be a Fresno State student for at least one term; have a minimum GPA of 3.5 for their last 60 units; submit a personal statement with references, writing sample and resume; and participate in a personal interview. 

The students and faculty mentors hails from four departments and their tentative topics/projects (and faculty mentors) include:

 

Agricultural Business

• Mallory Sutherland (Bakersfield) - The allocation of resources (i.e. water or pesticide) for specialty crops in the Central Valley (Dr. Serhat Asci)

 

Agricultrual Education

• Cameron Ivy (Merced) - Soft skills development for JCAST Ambassadors and AgBOND Students (Dr. Sharon Freeman)
• Daniella Garcia (Fresno) - Identifying barriers that prevent secondary agricultural teachers from teaching agriculture mechanics courses (Dr. Sharon Freeman)
• Emma Tripp (Bakersfield) - Soft skills development for JCAST Ambassadors and AgBond students (Dr. Sharon Freeman)
• Rachel Mancebo (Chowchilla) - Sustainability in agriculture (Dr. Avery Culbertson)

Animal Science

• Chelsea Castillo Najera (Caruthers) - Applying a novel method to assessing practicality of environmental enrichment designs in broiler chicken houses (Dr. Katy Tarrant)
• Donnel Gray (Palo Alto) - Managing / preventing diseases in animals (Dr. Gayle O'Bannon)

Food Science and Nutrition

• Paige Ounesavath (Fresno) -The effect of a comprehensive nutrition intervention program emphasizing fruit and vegetable consumption on cognitive function of Fresno State students (Dr. Shabnam Pooya)
• Kaylin Prayitno (Surabaya, Indonesia) - Product development of jackfruit-based products (Dr. Sara Griffin)

 

Plant Science

• Hannah Chamberlin (Fresno) - Evaluating the efficacy of biostimulants on tomatoes subjected to deficit irrigation (Dr. Florence Cassel)