E. Kika De La Garza Fellow Brings USDA Awareness to South Florida

In Miami, crops grow 365 days a year. This fact spurred Dr. Maruthi Sridhar Balaji Bhaskar of Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, Florida, to take action to help his students. "We have lots of interest in agriculture here," said Bhaskar, an associate professor in the FIU Department of Earth and Environment. "I want my students to know what different opportunities are available to them, especially with USDA."

Bhaskar was chosen for the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) E. Kika De La Garza (EKDLG) Fellowship in 2023. The experience allowed him to bring back information on USDA funding and career opportunities and to increase awareness of USDA resources specific to the Miami region, which has the largest concentrations of nurseries in the United States.

FIU also has one of the greatest concentrations of Hispanic students, with nearly two-thirds of their 57,000 students of Hispanic descent. The EKDLG Fellowship was designed to create opportunities for faculty and staff from Hispanic-serving institutions (those with at least 25 percent Hispanic student enrollment) to collaborate with USDA staff and learn about the federal resources available to their institutions and students.

The exposure to USDA programming and opportunities has been magnified since Bhaskar became a fellow. The USDA Deputy Secretary even paid a visit to the university campus. "Agriculture Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small visited recently, and I was able to show her our labs and facilities," said Bhaskar. "She interacted with students, and we had an excellent conversation that turned into action as we organized an Agro-Ecology Symposium, an annual event at FIU." In addition, interest in USDA employment has also seen an uptick since Bhaskar completed his fellowship. "Students from FIU are actively applying for USDA employment and are excited to work for the agency," he said.

Bhaskar's background in agriculture and environmental sciences, coupled with his extensive research experience and interest in geospatial technology, has been further enriched by his EKDLG fellowship experience. The fellowship opened new doors for him, leading to multiple networking opportunities and the discovery of various USDA programs such as the Scientific Cooperation Research Program, the Cochran Fellowship, USDA NRCS Conservation Innovation Grants, and the Hispanic Serving Institutions Education Grants Program. This newfound awareness has not only benefited Bhaskar but also the students at FIU, leading to the development of a new curriculum in Precision Agriculture and discovering more USDA resources available to them.