HCS Ph.D. candidate Christian Vargas-Garcia was selected for an Ohio Soybean Council Foundation Graduate Scholarship Award!
Luckily, Christian had some time to discuss this exciting award & tell us a bit more about his current research on soybeans & why he choose to pursue graduate school here at OSU:
What is the OSC scholarship:
"The Ohio Soybean Council (OSC) Foundation's mission is to ensure the future prosperity of the U.S. soybean industry. To achieve this goal, it is important that students understand the wide variety of opportunities available in this agricultural sector. The OSC Foundation's scholarship supports students at Ohio colleges and universities pursuing research and degrees in one of the many academic fields that support the future of the soybean industry while participating in extracurricular events and other leadership-enriching activities."
Why was it meaningful to you to win this scholarship:
"This scholarship will provide supplemental support to help me cover additional education-related expenses such as computer programs that support second-language speakers' statistics learning and strongly support extracurricular-related activities."
Tell us about your current soybean research:
"My research aims to identify novel sources/genes of resistance to Phytophthora Root and Stem Rot in South Korean soybean germplasm. Our work characterizes the effectiveness of these sources/genes against the virulent pathogen community to implement breeding strategies and gene deployment. Our goal is to develop elite cultivars adapted to Ohio by integrating these novel sources of variation while maintaining high yield and agronomic traits."
Why did you choose to come to grad school here at OSU-HCS:
"I decided to pursue higher education at OSU because it is a land-grant university that cares about diversity and highly supports research being done in agricultural sciences. My previous background is in horticulture (University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez Campus). The HCS curriculum provided an excellent complement to my earlier experience while introducing further knowledge in plant breeding, genetics and agronomy during the completion of my degree."
We would also like to congratulate HCS masters student Seth Kannberg on being selected for an Ohio Soybean Council Foundation Graduate Scholarship Award! His research focuses on analyzing the effect of planting dates on seedling survivability and soybean yields.
You can learn more about the Ohio Soybean Council by visiting their website.