Two UF students were among 29 others nationwide to be offered the Wallace-Carver Fellowship this Summer.
Amaleah and Isaac Mirti were selected for the fellowship, which invites college students to participate in life science research in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Amaleah, a 21-year-old UF biochemistry and molecular biology and history senior, was placed at the Western Human Nutrition Research Center at the University of California, Davis. Her brother, Isaac, a 19-year-old UF statistics and economics sophomore, was placed at the Foreign Agricultural Service in Washington, D.C.
Under Dr. Brian Bennett, Amaleah said she helped with an experiment on mice to see how their diet affects what their genes will do with the nutrients that are consumed.
Isaac said he facilitated an analysis project that looks at products being traded internationally.
“I’ve learned that a nation’s security as a whole is greatly at risk if people are not secure with their food,” he said.
Amaleah said the two were introduced to the importance of food security by growing up on an organic farm in Gainesville and participating in the local farmers market.
“I would hope that in the future, every person in the world has access to the food they need and has an average, healthy lifestyle,” she said.
Isaac said the two would both like to follow in their father’s footsteps by eventually joining the Peace Corps. He said they hope to help people around the world have better access to food.
Amaleah said she hopes an internship like this will give her a different perspective that she can take with her on her future endeavors.
“I could see how this internship will connect with what I plan to do in the future, because it is important to see how agriculture goes into many fields because it’s one of three basic human needs,” she said.
Isaac said working with his sister on a farm gave the two a special bond, and he said she’s the perfect role model.
“At UF we eat Krishna a lot together, and sometimes I kind of just barge into her house,” he said.
After the internship is completed, Amaleah will return to Gainesville for another semester at UF, while Isaac will prepare for a Fall and Spring exchange program at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland.
“I can’t wait to see my sister in a couple of weeks,” Isaac said. “We’re usually in different countries doing something.”
