The University of Kentucky’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environment offers a $500 Book Scholarship to a student within its college as a part of Intercultural Awareness Day, “Women in CAFE – Empowering Our Future,” a celebration of all that have contributed to the empowerment of women, including educating women on overcoming gender barriers and championing diversity and inclusion on campus and in the community. The theme of the Essay Contest is, “We are CAFE: How I Contribute to the Empowerment of Women in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment.” 

This year, a MS Soil Science student in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, Mahtaab Bagherzadeh, won the CAFE diversity essay competition with her essay entitled, “Do you have a nickname?”  Her essay gives encouragement to women and minorities, "...to seek out diversity and inclusion, and to lead by example; to show the young women of agriculture and beyond that they are not alone."  Her essay may be found by following this link: Diversity Essay. Mahtaab is advised by Dr. Rebecca McCulley, Professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences & Director of the Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability and the Environment. Congratulations to Mahtaab for her accomplishment and bringing awareness of the challenges women aspiring to be in agriculture face today.