Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

July 5, 2002

First Borlaug intern in Mexico

Alumnus David Schladt, who was named the first Borlaug intern, is spending eight weeks in Mexico, studying maize and wheat. Photo by Bob Elbert.

by Teddi Barron
Iowa State's Plant Sciences Institute and the World Food Prize have awarded the first Borlaug Internship to David Schladt. The internship, which provides experience in international food production systems or human nutrition, is named for Nobel laureate and Iowa native Norman Borlaug.

Schladt, Plattsmouth, Neb., graduated from Iowa State in May with a bachelor's degree in agricultural biochemistry and a minor in Spanish. He left July 2 for an eight-week internship at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico.

Center scientists conduct research on maize and wheat that will impact people in developing countries. Schladt will work in the applied biotechnology center, doing genetic transformation in maize that will be grown in Africa.

Schladt worked three years as a laboratory assistant in the Plant Sciences Institute's Center for Plant Transformation and Gene Expression, performing plant genetic transformation of corn and soybeans. In September, he will enter the Peace Corps to teach secondary chemistry and physics in Africa.

The internship will be offered annually to ISU students or graduates.