Allison Kaika is a Masters student at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley studying Agriculture, Environmental, and Sustainability Sciences. She received her undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies: Food Systems from Boston College where she completed a thesis exploring New England small farmers’ perceptions of support from their communities. At UTRGV, she is pursuing sociological research that examines the relationship between local agriculture and civic engagement. Allison has an interest in agricultural policy and has spent two summers in Washington D.C. working with the National Family Farm Coalition and the National Farmers Union, respectively, to gain experience in the field. Allison focuses on how social relationships affect policy and the environment through food systems.

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Matt is looking at ways to use drone imagery and artificial intelligence to evaluate cover crops in south Texas. His experience as a park ranger working in farmland restoration, as an environmental educator, small-scale farmer, and working in the non-profit sector guides his work in understanding complex agroecological problems. In his spare time, he likes to cook, watch movies, and play soccer in the lab’s IM soccer team. Go Scoreghum!

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Joy’s current research is on heavy metal contamination patterns in agricultural sites due to nearby trafficked roads and/or socioeconomic status. She received her bachelors in Economics from UT Austin, and this is her second year as a grad student here at UTRGV. Joy also works for SARA's Texas Rural Cooperative Center and the Texas Plant and Soil Lab. On her spare time she enjoys running, backpacking through national parks, and eating most desserts

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