The World Food Prize Foundation will send 24 high school students from 10 states abroad for the Borlaug-Ruan International Internship program this summer.

The students will delve into issues related to global hunger and poverty during eight-week internships in Africa, Asia and Latin America. You can follow the students’ summer internships through the Borlaug-Ruan International Intern blog at https://medium.com/thenextnorm.

The 2019 Borlaug-Ruan International Interns and where they will intern:

This is the 21st year of this internship program, which was created by Dr. Norman Borlaug and John Ruan, Sr. in 1998, allowing high-school-aged student interns to participate in projects with distinguished researchers at leading agricultural research centers around the globe. While getting a firsthand view of real and pressing food security issues and nutrition problems in poverty-stricken areas, the students become an integral part of a project, spending time in the lab as well as days or weeks at a time in the field conducting research and interviews and gathering data.

“My experience as a Borlaug-Ruan Intern has been one of the best experiences of my life,” said 2012 Borlaug-Ruan International Intern Jessica Blosberg. “Six years later, I am still being impacted by what I learned, who I connected with and how I look at the world.”

At the culmination of the 21st year, 346 young aspiring scientists will have participated in the internship.

“This is one the most unique and innovative programs in the United States,” said Ambassador Kenneth Quinn, president of the World Food Prize Foundation. “The Borlaug-Ruan International Internship program seeks to inspire high school students to education and careers in science in order to confront and eliminate food insecurity. Norman Borlaug told us that the great challenge of the 21st century is whether or not we can eradicate hunger, poverty, and malnutrition, and meet what is the greatest challenge human beings have ever faced: are we going to be able to sustainably and nutritiously feed the over 9 billion people who will be on our planet? It will be up to you—Borlaug-Ruan Interns—and your generation to decide whether we meet this challenge or not.”

Dr. Borlaug and John Ruan, Sr. believed by engaging young students in actual hunger-fighting research through the World Food Prize youth education programs, they could inspire them to pursue academic and career paths in agricultural science, food technology and natural resource conservation.

A prerequisite for the Borlaug-Ruan International Internship is attending the three-day World Food Prize Global Youth Institute, which occurs each October. Youth Institute participants present research papers and interact with World Food Prize Laureates and renowned experts to discuss issues relating to food security throughout the world.

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