Growing the Next Gen of Ag Leaders
June 12, 2023 Last year, my cousin introduced me to a young college student from El Paso who was studying agriculture at Cornell University.
I was eager to meet Stephen Stresow and learn about why he chose agriculture as a career and what his college experience has been thus far.
From the start, Stresow seemed destined to choose a future that involved plants and the outdoors.
In his teens, he joined the El Paso Native Plant Society and the El Paso Rock and Cactus Club.
In 2017 when he was 16 years old, he became one of El Paso’s youngest Master Gardeners and one of only four teenage Master Gardeners in the country.
As a cross country runner in high school he become more aware of nutrition. He also adopted a plant-based diet.
“I’ve always been interested in sustainability and the environment,” Stresow tells me.
While he did his part to recycle and be more mindful about humans’ impact on the land and natural resources, he saw agriculture as a way to directly make a difference on the issue of food security.
“You can take action. Plant a garden. Do something that would benefit the pollinators,” he says. “I also started to see the ties between agriculture and nutrition, labor, and healthcare, and how agriculture is at the core.”
When it came time to choose a college Stresow began searching for schools with highly rated nutrition programs.
“There was a lot of good vegetarian research coming out of Cornell, but I really wanted to study agriculture, and luckily for me they offered that, too.”
Currently, Stresow is a Master of Professional Studies (MPS) student with a focus in Plant Systems within Cornell’s School of Integrative Plant Science.
His concentration is in Agroecology and Food Systems.
According to his school profile, “My time at Cornell has helped me refine my interests and I hope to bring an agroecological lens to the produce industry,” he says.
This past year he also worked towards his Certified Crop Advisor credential and the American Society for Horticultural Science Associate Professional Horticulturist credential.
This summer, Stresow will start his Ph.D. in the Hayden lab at Michigan State University as an MSU University Enrichment Fellow and C.S. Mott Sustainable Ag Fellow. He will be working on nutrient management in vegetable systems with an emphasis on agroecological management practices.
As for the future, Stresow says: “I’m going to stay within academia because it allows me to combine my interests related to research, teaching and extension.”
The topic of how to attract young people to the agriculture industry is one that gets a lot of attention. Stresow’s passion for the environment and improving our food system is one that several young people have mentioned to me as their reason for being attracted to agriculture.
During July’s Tech Hub LIVE event we will have a panel discussion on attracting and retaining talent and explore what young ag leaders are looking for from future employers in the industry.
In the meantime, I’m looking forward to connecting with Stresow again the next time he’s in town. Maybe he can share some tips on how I can keep my prickly pear cactus healthy.
Let’s get growing!
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