UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Grace Tiwari, an entomology and international agriculture and development (INTAD) graduate student in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, has been awarded the Future Leaders Fellow Scholarship from the Association of International Agriculture and Rural Development.

Out of the 72 applicants that applied for the scholarship, Tiwari was one of 10 invited to the annual Future Leaders Conference and was the sole winner of the $5,000 endowment to use on her research.

Tiwari said she plans to use the funding to study crop pest monitoring efforts in smallholder farming communities, including how they shape decision making in an international context. Her doctoral research combines technology, ecological modeling and biocontrol strategies to manage the fall armyworm and corn earworm — two destructive pests that cause significant economic damage and contribute to food insecurity.

“The goal is to improve how growers respond to pest pressure by making monitoring more effective in the field,” she said. “We’re currently focusing on developing a low-cost smart trap to conduct real-time monitoring of fall armyworm, so growers can make informed management decisions.”

Deanna Behring, assistant dean and director for Ag Sciences Global Faculty Affiliate, said she's thrilled to see Tiwari receive the recognition.

“We are proud of Grace’s most recent accomplishment and thrilled that she has chosen the college and our INTAD dual title degree program to help her achieve her goals of blending science with policy and action to make a difference in the lives of people around the world,” she said.

Tiwari said her interest in international agriculture came not only from her research in the United States, but also her experiences in her home country of Nepal. In the U.S., growers often have more structured systems for monitoring pests, through statewide extension programs or land-grant universities, to guide when to act.

Farmers in developing or least developed nations, by contrast, often rely on visual counts or peer knowledge to make pest management decisions.

“For my INTAD research, I’m interested in understanding how structured versus unstructured monitoring systems shape farmer’s ability to act on pest pressure,” she said.

Tiwari said she hopes to work at the intersection of science, policy and development going forward, particularly in the areas of precision agriculture, biodiversity conservation, food security and sustainability. She spoke about respecting long-standing farmer knowledge while also applying scientific tools to improve sustainability and decision-making.

“I would like to work within this interface of science, where technology and generations of traditional knowledge go hand in hand for a sustainable agriculture and food system for present and future generations,” she said.

Tiwari cited her inspiration and encouragement as coming from many different people from different walks of life, including her internship with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, where she worked with crop-protection specialists and found inspiration in people working at the forefront of agricultural development.

She also said she has been influenced by her mother, her grandparents, seniors from the University, former professors and teachers, and her current adviser Grab, Lorenzo L. Langstroth Early Career Professor in Entomology, whose research interests and goals she felt aligned closely with her own.