Fulbright Scholar Learns about Iowa’s Community Farmers
September 12, 2018
Theo (Thanh) Nguyen is a new graduate student from Vietnam, working on his M.S. in Horticulture. Theo originally applied for his Fulbright scholarship two years in advance of arriving for Fall semester 2018 at Iowa State. For his thesis, Theo is examining the impact of community gardens/farms on Iowa’s immigrant communities. Farmers he has connected with have emigrated to Iowa from Somalia, Burundi, Sudan, Laos, Cambodia and Nepal, often escaping political turmoil in their home country. In addition to working with community farmers, Theo is learning organic agriculture practices in the Organic Ag Lab, with Kathleen Delate as his Major Advisor. His goal is to return to Vietnam and continue the work he started there with an educational NGO, promoting organic horticulture.
Theo with Burundi farmer.