Zeynab Jouzi Joins AIARD Future Leaders Forum

Each year, the Association for International Agriculture and Rural Development (AIARD) awards a scholarship to one student participating in the Future Leaders Forum who personifies the values of the association; demonstrates an exemplary commitment to alleviating hunger and advancing international agriculture and rural development; and shows a commitment to contributing to the organization’s mission.

Zeynab Jouzi, a doctoral candidate in NC State’s College of Natural Resources, was awarded the $5,000 scholarship this year and received the highest overall score by the selection panel. Co-advised by Yu-Fai Leung and Stacy Nelson, Zeynab’s doctoral research investigates the association between natural resources and food security in Sub-Saharan Africa using geospatial analytics. Passionate about sustainability challenges such as food security, she takes a multidisciplinary approach by bringing together different disciplines like landscape ecology, protected area science, and public health to address these issues. In addition to her doctoral research, Zeynab is engaged as a co-principal investigator in an interdisciplinary project supported by the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) on “Climate Gentrification Across the East coast of the United States”.

By joining the 2021 Future Leaders cohort, Zeynab will represent a cadre of professionals in both the United States and overseas, most of whom have had extensive front-line experience in various developing countries. She will also serve on the AIARD Future Leaders Forum Committee for the next two years.