The World Food Prize announced on Aug. 21 that the application process for the Borlaug-Ruan International Internship program has opened. The organization, based in Des Moines, Iowa, also announced that Ellen Franzenburg has been named the new director of the program.

The eight-week program gives high school students hands-on experience working alongside world-renowned scientists and policymakers at research centers around the world. The internship has sent over 300 students to Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, specifically: Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, Peru, Philippines, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad, Tobago and Turkey. 

Unique learning opportunity for youth

The Borlaug-Ruan International Internship is unique from other study-abroad programs because it allows participants to be an integral part of original research projects. The students not only get to work with acclaimed scientists, but also get a firsthand glimpse of pressing food security problems and nutritional obstacles in poverty-stricken regions of the developing world.

Eligible is any student who has participated in the World Food Prize Global Youth Institute and is a U.S. citizen or permanent U.S. resident. Applicants must be at least in the 11th grade at the time they apply and must reach their 17th birthday by the first week of June of the year in which the internship takes place. 

Interns will be provided travel to and from the center, lodging and meal expenses from the World Food Prize Foundation, but will not receive compensation for their work. 

Application deadline

The deadline to apply is Dec. 15. The selection process is competitive and includes interviews and multistate screening. The selection committee considers: 

Click here to view the online application and requirements.

Ellen Franzenburg joined the WFP Foundation in 2018 as director of secretariat operations. In August she was named director of Secretariat Operations and Global Internships. Her responsibilities include facilitating the World Food Prize Laureate and Borlaug Field Award selection processes, organizing the annual Laureate Lecture Series and coordinating the Borlaug-Ruan International Internship program.

New director brings experience

Franzenburg was herself a 2009 Borlaug-Ruan International intern at the World Vegetable Center in Taiwan and a Wallace-Carver Intern in 2013. She has also served as a member of the World Food Prize Corps of Volunteers, where she assisted staff during the week of events in the fall with VIP schedules and registration.

Prior to her position at the World Food Prize, Franzenburg was working on growing her family's farm — Pheasant Run Farm at Van Horne, Iowa. She also worked for two years at the USDA National Laboratory for Ag and the Environment. She was a volunteer for USAID's Farmer-to-Farmer program through Catholic Relief Services in Uganda and Ethiopia, training farmers in grain postharvest handling and storage.

Franzenburg has a Bachelor of Science in ag engineering and global resource systems from Iowa State University.

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