The Smith Global Leadership Fellows Program is allowing UTIA faculty to connect with collaborators around the world on everything from the health of vampire bats to how migrating birds disperse seeds.
The Smith Center for International Sustainable Agriculture launched its Global Leadership Fellows Program to enable UTIA faculty to expand their research, enhance their teaching skills, and strengthen community outreach on a global scale.
Through the sixteen-month faculty development experience, participants gain essential global knowledge, experience, and networking opportunities in agriculture, natural resources, and veterinary medicine. Each fellow completes training, implements a global initiative, and travels to Washington, DC, to meet with agencies, thereby advancing global partnerships and gaining insights into policy development.
The program’s greatest benefit lies in its ability to build lasting global networks. Aaron Smith, professor and Extension economist in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, developed an outreach exchange program with Argentina that examined the impacts of global marketing, risk management, and government policies on grain, oilseed, and cotton markets. Smith notes his trip to Argentina offered valuable insights into the agricultural production and policy differences between the US and Argentina.
The fellows program, funded for three years through donations from Donnie (BS animal science ’80) and Terry Smith (BS elementary education ’80), creates a global culture for UTIA by providing faculty the space to network, collaborate across disciplines, and map out long-term goals.
Faculty highlight several reasons the program appeals to them. Sindhu Jagadamma, an associate professor in the Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science, joined the program’s first cohort with the aim of building a global research program to enhance crop yield and ecosystem services. She says, “My goal is to share the knowledge generated by my research beyond the national boundaries to serve the parts of the world where it is most needed. To do this, I needed to gain critical skills and engage proactively in global partnerships, and I believe this program opened the door for developing such international research initiatives firmly rooted in scientific capacity building.”
Incorporating faculty from diverse academic backgrounds into the program allows UTIA to tackle key industry issues from multiple perspectives. Expertise ranges from nutrition and soil science to plant biology and wildlife veterinary services, covering teaching, research, and outreach. “Many of the challenges agriculture faces are global in nature. The ability to work internationally will be imperative to solve these challenges,” says Smith. “Having a program to cultivate opportunities for UTIA faculty to engage with the global agricultural community is a tremendous resource.”
The program has already facilitated significant impacts, including fellows hosting international scholars, faculty travel to collaborate with global partners, a symposium abroad that brought together a network of experts, multiple publications, and the development of study-abroad programs and student research opportunities.
Through program funding, Julie Sheldon, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, traveled to Peru as part of a longer-term engagement assessing the health of vampire bat populations that feed on threatened marine species and monitoring the role these bats play in disease transmission for that ecosystem.
Kristen Johnson, an assistant professor in Extension family and consumer sciences, focused on Cambodia to develop community-based nutrition interventions that address global food insecurity. She notes, “The program allowed me to collaborate with foreign experts, linking nutrition education with agricultural initiatives. I aim to continue this collaborative work to make nutritious foods more accessible and help people prepare balanced diets for themselves and their families, both in Tennessee and worldwide.”
“The Smith Global Leadership Fellows Program offers faculty from various disciplines the chance to enhance their academic programs with a global component,” says Tom Gill, associate professor and center chair. Through the program, Gill says, UTIA fosters innovative Real. Life. Solutions. that address the future of the agriculture and natural resources industry, both in Tennessee and around the world.
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