DRIVEN: ADVANCING RURAL DEVELOPMENT THROUGH RESEARCH

Despite being briefly sidelined after a car-bike accident, Sarah Low is making an impact on rural development as an economist with the USDA.

Sarah Low was supposed to be training for the Washington D.C. Triathlon, not immobilized in a neck-to-hip brace.

Low (’02 public service and administration in agriculture) didn’t get to do the 2010 triathlon. The car-bike accident during her commute made sure of that. But she was able to celebrate several victories along her six-month journey to recovery.

One was continuing to work–from her bed–as an economist in the Farm and Rural Business Branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service.

“I drew on my indomitable spirit, developed through TaeKwonDo, to continue working. An intern I supervised that summer said I was the most hardworking and demanding supervisor she’d had, despite the fact I was immobilized. I was tickled pink,” Low says.

Low conducts research on farm and rural business and rural economic development. The outreach and policy-relevance of her work drives her. She wants what she does to create economic opportunities for people in rural areas.

“I am often asked to summarize the current state of research for members of Congress. I recently briefed the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture on my local food marketing research. I just love taking calls from graduate students or economic development practitioners who have questions about my research. These are the outlets in which I can make a difference,” she says.

She’s done work on rural entrepreneurship and innovation, rural broadband accessibility and she’ll be delving into rural manufacturing resilience next.

Low’s list of published research and presentations is lengthy, especially for a young professional, and continues to grow. She has a master’s in agricultural economics from Purdue and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in agricultural and consumer economics.

As a student at Iowa State, Low participated in precursor courses that now are part of the college’s Agricultural Entrepreneurship Initiative. The native of Maysville, Iowa, also enjoyed getting her hands dirty.

“Working at the ISU dairy farm as part of the freshman honors program was a lot of fun. I’m so glad I got to experience that. I remember going directly to my first class of the day smelling like, well, a dairy farm,” Low says.

Low was known on campus for her involvement in the Government of the Student Body, which was very influential in shaping her career. She also fondly recalls the support of mentors like Liz Beck, then director of the campus honors program, and her academic adviser, Steve Padgitt, professor of sociology.

“I’ll never forget Dr. Padgitt giving me a copy of the Main Street Economist, a publication of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. I was enthralled. I did research on the author and decided that I wanted a job like hers when I grew up,” Low says. “Less than three years later, I was in the cubicle next to her, writing about rural economic development issues for the Main Street Economist.”

That same drive and focus allowed her to get back on her bike. Eighteen months after her accident, she finished a sprint triathlon. She still bikes to work on occasion and trains with the DC Triathlon Club.

CRUNCHING DATA, MARKETING SOLUTIONS

Darrin Rahn

Darrin Rahn talks as fast as he walks and for good reason – he’s normally juggling meetings, mentoring, working, studying and writing marketing plans.

Interpreting statistical data intrigues Rahn. That’s why he’s combined two majors – agricultural business and marketing. He’s also the go-to person for marketing solutions.

He helped Dakota Hoben (’12 ag business) successfully campaign for president of the government of the student body. And he’s written award-winning marketing plans for both a product development team and the National Agri-Marketing Association competition.

“When I do marketing it’s driven from the quantitative and research perspective, the creative side is just the cherry on top,” Rahn says.

Rahn is well known in the college. In 2011, he was elected to serve as the president of the Agriculture and Life Sciences Student Council. As president he saw how clubs interact in the college and how the college interacts with other colleges.

“It was fascinating,” Rahn says.

He also took the lead on organizing a successful Ag Week, starting with an ad campaign. The “Our Roots Run Deep” slogan was printed on posters and t–shirts to increase awareness about the week’s activities and opportunities available in agriculture. The fall event included a first-time student concert and full-page newspaper advertisements outlining the weeklong schedule, which included free lunches, lectures, entertainment and a food drive.

His interest in figures also helped him in his work with Mike Duffy, an economist who analyzes farmland price trends in Iowa. This year, Iowa land prices hit record highs and Rahn was part of the team that put the data together.

Along with being involved in clubs, committees and mentoring activities, he’s also made the Dean’s list every semester.

“Being involved is what I do,” Rahn says.

Rahn is interested in the consumer end of food production. He says he was inspired by his internship with Hormel Foods Corporation. In June, he started his dream job in Minneapolis at Target as a sourcing business analyst, where he’ll collaborate with global vendors, designer partners and buyers to deliver and source Target store brand products from concept into stores. His long-term career goals are becoming a merchandise buyer or in brand management within the grocery and food product categories.

FINDING FREEDOM THROUGH EDUCATION

Maurice Aduto, a senior in natural resource ecology and management, hopes to return to his native South Sudan to aid in the development and protection of the country's natural resources.

You’re 12 years old. You live in a mud hut with a tin roof in a desert. You eat one bowl of grain a day and you live among 70,000 refugees in a place known as “nowhere.”

These are recent memories for Maurice Aduto. It’s also what drives him to seek opportunities and make a difference in his homeland of South Sudan, a country that gained independence in 2011 after a 22-year civil war.

When Aduto was a young child herding cattle with his uncles, brothers and cousins the problems of Sudan’s war seemed far away. His family lived in Chukudum, a village near the Uganda border in east Africa.

The village was known for its fertile land and abundant harvests. Aduto has fond memories of the tranquil valley where he played. He also remembers his British-trained elementary school teachers, who taught him the importance of education.

Things changed in his village as the war moved south. The violence threatened Aduto’s family. The soldiers were killing children.

Many families decided to send their children to Kenya for safety. Aduto was sent and he remembers running for an entire week, evading soldiers and wild animals before reaching the border.

“It was a long journey. We only traveled at night, “Aduto says. “People were dying from lack of water and food.”

When the refugees reached the Kenyan border the United Nations took them to the Kakuma refugee camp. The camp’s name means “nowhere” in Swahilli. Aduto spent the next six years in a dusty maze of refugees from eight nations. To survive he focused on a lesson he carried in his soul.

“In middle school the teacher told us that school is everything,” Aduto says. “The pen is everything. It is the key to your life.”

Aduto and his family spent two years navigating through red tape to get to the United States. When he arrived in Des Moines he was 20 years old and considered too old to attend high school. Aduto persuaded officials to allow him to finish his last year. He supported himself with a part-time maintenance job, survived on $90 a week and graduated in 2007.

One of Aduto’s goals was to attend college. He was inspired by the numerous opportunities he could see in the United States.

“I talked to my high school counselor who helped me find scholarships that fit my status and public universities that I could join,” Aduto says.

Iowa State University’s Multicultural Vision Program offered him a scholarship and a chance. The award is given to high school seniors who demonstrate academic ability and maturity, despite adverse situations. Aduto fit the description.

His first semester at Iowa State was difficult. Aduto knew his grandparents, who had raised him, had died in the war. It suddenly overwhelmed him.

“I felt so bad and I wondered what the point was to be here. I couldn’t focus,” Aduto says. “Then I realized many of the wishes my grandparents gave me had come true.”

He continued and decided to major in animal ecology and minor in forestry. Skills he could take to South Sudan, which is rich in wildlife and natural resources.

Aduto also found a trusted friend and adviser in John Burnett, a student services specialist in the natural resource ecology and management department. Burnett and coworkers helped Aduto return to his village in 2009 to attend reburial ceremonies for his grandparents.

“Maurice’s life is about his connections with his family and his home country,” Burnett says. “He has overcome unimaginable adversity, but he still maintains those connections.”

With the help of Burnett, Aduto became a U.S. citizen on Oct. 14, 2011, just 47 days before returning to South Sudan. This time Aduto returned to oversee a reburial ceremony for his father, who had been killed by robbers in the spring of 2011.

On July 9, 2011, the Republic of South Sudan celebrated its independence from Sudan. As president of the South Sudanese Student Association at Iowa State, Aduto helped exiled residents register to vote and cast their votes in the election, which was held Jan. 9, 2011. More than 98 percent of South Sudan’s residents voted to separate.

Aduto, who is a senior at Iowa State, plans to return to South Sudan. He says his generation represents the seeds that have been scattered throughout the world.

“We are the seeds that are vital to the development of South Sudan,” Aduto says. “Most of us who came here are the children of war. To go back is tough, but to take the initiative and make the sacrifices to go back is important for the future of South Sudan.”

BRIDGING CULTURES – Leading Students to Expand Knowledge and Worldview

Senior lecturer Ebby Luvaga is known among students for her enthusiasm and her tough love. "I hold students accountable and expect them to live up to their potential," she says, "but I also want them to feel comfortable enough with me to be open and honest."

She’d been sporting a short Afro, and then showed up in class one day with 500 shoulder length braids woven into her hair. For Ebby Luvaga, a native of Kenya, Africa, the dramatic change in hairstyle was nothing unusual. But for a classroom of Iowa State University freshman, many from small rural Iowa communities, the shift was totally unexpected.

“For some students I may be the first person of color they’ve interacted with,” says Luvaga. “In this case, I remember the students were silent and just stared.” So she opened her class time with a discussion about black hair care, letting students ask the questions they had on their minds. It was a practical and teachable moment—the kind that Luvaga employs regularly in her economic development class and as an adviser in the economics department. “I want students to feel comfortable asking me about my differences.”

The sense of her own differences was something that hit Luvaga the moment she arrived in New York City as a young college student in 1983, fresh from the small Kenyan village where she’d grown up. “I stepped off the plane and didn’t think twice about carrying my suitcase on the top of my head. It’s just how we carried things in Kenya,” she laughs. “I kept wondering why no one else was doing the same.”

The daughter of a school principal and a teacher, she was always encouraged to seek higher education. So when the opportunity to study in the United States presented itself, her parents were naturally supportive.

Luvaga graduated from Ohio University with a master’s in international affairs and a doctorate in economics education. “I always knew that I wanted to work closely with students,” she says. When a position that combined student advising, teaching economics and leading study abroad programs opened at Iowa State in 1997, she felt it was an “ideal” match.

Her role at Iowa State is a diverse one. She serves as a learning community adviser for the agricultural business major, working with 75 to 80 students each year. Luvaga recently won recognition from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences for her ability to create a welcoming environment for students and increase their participation in the learning community process. She also teaches a class in economic development and leads study abroad courses to such places as Argentina, Spain, Australia and Panama.

Over the years, she’s developed a reputation for working enthusiastically with students, but also with a firm hand—a balance that reminds her of her father. “I hold students accountable and expect them

to live up to their potential,” she says, “but I also want them to feel comfortable enough with me to be open and honest.”

Tory Mogler, a 20-year-old sophomore serving under Luvaga as a learning community peer mentor, agrees that she can be “a bit of a stickler” when it comes to students doing things right. “But she has her heart in the right place,” he says. “I’m never hesitant to talk to her about things, and she always takes her role with students seriously.”

Coming from a small rural town in Iowa, he also remembers being one of those freshmen who hadn’t had a lot of exposure to diverse cultures. “Ebby sets herself out as an example and lets people ask her questions. She encourages curiosity. She helped me feel comfortable with her differences to the point where I don’t feel that we have them,” he says.

Luvaga sees herself as a “bridge,” helping the increasingly diverse range of students at Iowa State continue to expand their perspective. With her roots in Africa and her home now in Iowa, the sense of being part of a global community is central to Luvaga’s identity—and it’s what she imparts to her students.

Hear Ebby talk about learning communities: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EskHMhOmMwg&feature=player_embedded.