Horticulture professor named a USDA fellow

FIU horticulturist Amir A. Khoddamzadeh was selected as one of nine science fellows for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s E. Kika De La Garza Fellowship Program.

The program offers faculty from Hispanic-Serving Institutions and Hispanic-Serving School Districts the opportunity to work collaboratively with USDA to gain insight into the federal government and to build a more diverse pipeline into public service and the agricultural sector.

The 2024 cohort — including education, high school and science fellows — spent one week in Washington, D.C., this summer to learn how USDA services and programs can benefit them, their students and their communities. They also each got to spend an additional week at a location of their choice to collaborate with top scientists from USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, Food Safety and Inspection Service, or the U.S. Forest Service.

Khoddamzadeh chose to go to Riverside, California, and work with the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in the Agricultural Water Efficiency and Salinity Research Unit. That connection will pay off for the agroecology graduate students working on salt stress adaptations and regenerative agriculture in his Conservation and Sustainable Horticulture Lab as he introduces them to the ARS scientists he met out west. And next year, Khoddamzadeh will host members of USDA agencies on campus so they can interact with students and recent graduates interested in internships and other opportunities.

"This fellowship has provided me with invaluable opportunities to enhance our research collaborations and to foster the development of our students," Khoddamzadeh said. "I am deeply honored to be part of such a distinguished program and look forward to contributing to our shared goals by informing the students about the great opportunities and internships with different agencies at USDA."

The E. Kika De La Garza Fellows Program is a key component of USDA's Hispanic-Serving Institutions National Program, dedicated to supporting a 21st-century agricultural workforce through professional and workforce development. In partnership with the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, the program has provided high-quality internship experiences to more than 3,000 interns since 1994.

“This year’s class of fellows is the largest so far and a testament of the program’s success,” said Lisa R. Ramírez, director of USDA’s Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement.

For Khoddamzadeh, this fellowship is another way to give his students opportunities for success. Earlier this year, he spent his sabbatical at the USDA ARS Subtropical Horticultural Research Station in Miami. Now, there are six graduate and five undergraduate students from the FIU agroecology program working on projects related to climate change and adaptation on various ornamental plants and food crops. Khoddamzadeh is associate professor in the Department of Earth and Environment at FIU.