Tracy Farmer Scholars Program Applications for the current year are closed. Applications for the 2027-2028 fellowship period will open in Spring 2027.
The Tracy Farmer Scholars program supports undergraduate, graduate, and professional students at the University of Kentucky conducting research in environment and sustainability across the disciplines. Scholars are supported by funding from the Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability and the Environment, a cross-college research institute in the Office of the Vice President for Research.
The goal of the Tracy Farmer Scholars Program is to increase student participation in environmental and sustainability research at UK across colleges, programs, and disciplines.
Meet the 2026-2027 Cohort
Amanda Carrithers
Amanda Carrithers is an Animal Science major and Entomology minor from Bardstown, Kentucky. She works in Dr. Hannah Tiffin’s lab, where she studies sustainable pest management in livestock systems. Growing up on her family’s beef cattle farm shaped her interest in animal health, ecology, and Extension outreach. Amanda is passionate about supporting Kentucky agriculture and plans to pursue veterinary school after completing her undergraduate degree.
Tracy Farmer Scholars Project
Evaluating Commercial Parasitoid Wasp Products for Sustainable Fly Control in Kentucky Livestock Systems
This project tests commercially sold parasitoid wasp products to see how well they control flies that bother cattle. By comparing these products to known lab‑reared species, the research will show which options are accurate, effective, and worth producers’ investment. The goal is to help Kentucky farmers choose sustainable, non‑chemical fly control methods.
Anish Penmecha
Anish Penmecha is a researcher from Frankfort, Kentucky, specializing in microbiology and anti-virulence strategies. Outside the lab, he stays active on the volleyball court and the soccer field. Anish balances his scientific background with a passion for ancient Mesopotamian history. In his free time, he enjoys exploring local food scenes.
Tracy Farmer Scholars Project
Use of small molecules to inhibit quorum sensing in Klebsiella pneumoniae
This research focuses on disrupting the way harmful bacteria communicate and coordinate their "attacks" on the body. By using specific molecules to jam these signals, we can stop the bacteria from causing illness without killing them, which helps prevent the development of antibiotic-resistant superbugs.
Cat Lamb
Cat Lamb is a sociology PhD student from Wicomico Church, Virginia. They are passionate about research that explores human relationships to the environment and food. Cat focuses on entomophagy (eating insects), which they first encountered through cicada-eating events in Appalachia. They are excited to expand the impact of this research through international collaboration in Mexico. When they’re not eating and writing about bugs, Cat spends time gardening, rock climbing, making art, and restoring vintage furniture.
Tracy Farmer Scholars Project
Ants to Oranges: A Comparative Study of Entomophagy in Mexico and the United States
As a potentially sustainable and nutritious food that has interchangeably provoked repulsion, stigma, and fascination, edible insects represent a complex sociocultural conundrum. This project uses historical archives, participant observation, and other qualitative methods to compare entomophagy (eating insects) across the United States and Mexico: two neighbors with strikingly different relationships to insects as food. By examining how culture, politics, and history shape what people are willing to eat, this research aims to offer recommendations for imagining more resilient food systems.
Ella Shields
Ella Shields is a senior undergraduate studying Horticultural Sciences at the University of Kentucky, where she conducts research in the Sapkota Lab focused on improving strawberry production through disease resistance. Born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky, she is passionate about supporting local agriculture and developing more sustainable cropping systems. Outside the lab, Ella enjoys backyard gardening and spending time with her two cats.
Tracy Farmer Scholars Project
Screening Strawberry Cultivars for Resistance to Neopestalotiopsis to Support Sustainable Strawberry Production in Kentucky
I study different strawberry varieties to find those that better resist a fungal disease that has been devastating for Kentucky growers and the broader strawberry industry. By identifying stronger, more resilient plants, this work can help increase yields and reduce the need for chemical inputs. Ultimately, my goal is to support more sustainable and reliable strawberry production in Kentucky.
Isabel Shirey
Shirey is an artist and educator from the Ozarks where she grew up immersed in the outdoors. She approaches her work through a textile-based lens and is guided by her communion with the natural world in both metaphor and material. A weaver by heart and a self-taught hide tanner, she seeks expression of her mental preoccupation with softness, flexibility, and hiding. Her downtime is spent outside, contra dancing, thrifting, or trying out a new recipe.
Tracy Farmer Scholars Project
The Enchanting Repository of Materiality on Earth
This project emphasizes the material research of untapped and discarded materials in our community - often sourced from food byproducts such as sheep, deer, and fish skins. By working with farmers, hunters, hide-tanners, gardeners, and other food providers, I aim to build unlikely communities and ethically supply material for my own studio practice. Through my work, I implore the viewer to consider the enchanting materiality of “waste” and how humans can show prudence with the storehouse of materiality on Earth.
Jessica Ojiugo Nwafor
Jessica Ojiugo Nwafor is a doctoral Anthropology student at the University of Kentucky, USA, specializing in disaster and space/extraterrestrial anthropology. Jessica’s work and research have focused on gender-based violence and the disaster, gender, livelihood, and migration nexus in West Africa, East Africa, and South Asia. She was also a researcher on two United States Agency for International Development-funded projects investigating disaster vulnerabilities across several regions. Her current research examines risks associated with space exploration near spaceports, focusing on how communities interpret environmental change across spaceflight activity, conservation, and coastal hazards. She also studies space junk and its environmental and health implications within terrestrial and extraterrestrial environments.
Tracy Farmer Scholars Project
Risk Perceptions at the Convergence of Spaceflight Activity, Conservation, and Coastal Hazards in Merritt Island and Titusville, Florida
The project examines how people living near space launch sites understand and interpret risks in a multi-risk environment. It focuses on how spaceflight activity, conservation policies, and coastal hazards come together to shape what risks people notice, prioritize, and respond to in everyday life. The goal is to better reflect community perspectives in environmental risk and disaster planning and decision-making.
Lexi Gauger
Lexi Gauger (she/her) is a current PhD student in the Gonthier Lab in UK’s Department of Entomology. She grew up on a small family farm outside Cincinnati, OH, where she learned to love the natural world and the process of growing food. Her research examines the relationships between bee health and crop yield in diversified agroecosystems. Outside of work, you can find her in her home garden with her adopted pitbull, Tadpole.
Tracy Farmer Scholars Project
Advancing understanding of bumble bee colony health in diversified agroecosystems
Bumble bees are essential pollinators on farms and natural landscapes, but are threatened by many stressors, including a lack of diverse and nutritious flowers for food. My research project uses large-scale net systems to manipulate floral resources available to bumble bees within outdoor enclosures. I use this system to understand how bumble bee health and crop yield are influenced by floral availability.
Lucca Madeo Cortarelli
Lucca Madeo Cortarelli is a final-year PhD candidate in environmental toxicology in Dr. Olga Tsyusko’s laboratory within the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. Originally from Brazil, his journey through California, Baja California, Texas, and Rhode Island led him to the University of Kentucky, where he earned his B.S. in Agricultural and Medical Biotechnology and stayed to pursue his doctorate. Outside of the lab, Lucca enjoys photography, watching movies and TV shows, and building Legos.
Tracy Farmer Scholars Project
Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) toxicity assessment of nanocomposite membranes for PFAS degradation using Caenorhabditis elegans.
This project ensures that nanomaterial-based membrane filters used to treat ‘forever chemicals’ (PFAS) in our water do not introduce new contaminants into the environment. By applying a Safe and Sustainable by Design approach, we verify that these materials remain environmentally safe throughout their use. This research validates that these new solutions for PFAS treatment are effective without creating any unintended risks.
Motunrayo Oladele
Motunrayo Oladele is a Ph.D. candidate in Chemistry at the University of Kentucky, specializing in environmental and analytical chemistry. Her research focuses on developing sustainable technologies for water remediation using microdroplet chemistry and PM2.5 emission studies. Originally from Nigeria, she is passionate about addressing global air-water quality challenges and advancing solutions that support public health. Outside the lab, she enjoys baking cakes, sewing clothes, going to the gym, and bringing energy to social gatherings.
Tracy Farmer Scholars Project
Aerosolized Microdroplet Chemistry for Degrading Emerging Water Contaminants
This project explores how tiny airborne water droplets can speed up chemical reactions to break down harmful pollutants. At the surface of these droplets, reactions behave differently and can happen much faster than in regular water. By understanding how these droplets work, this research aims to develop quicker and more sustainable ways to clean contaminated water.
Skylar H. Gillies
Skylar, a native Kentuckian, is pursuing a master's degree in Forest and Natural Resource Sciences at the University of Kentucky (UK). Skylar graduated from the Lewis Honors College and earned a B.S. in Natural Resources and Environmental Science from UK in 2024. They are passionate about sustainability and the environment, learning new things, and spending time with friends and family. Skylar loves outdoor activities such as hiking, climbing, and kayaking in their free time.
Tracy Farmer Scholars Project
Assessing the Effects of Wildlife Habitat Planting on Wild Pollinator Diversity in Missouri
This project enhances ongoing research by incorporating techniques for direct data collection on local bee populations over time. We will use standard insect sampling methods to sample and identify bees at our study sites. Ultimately, this project will provide insight into how common land management strategies impact wild pollinator diversity in the Midwestern US, a critical region for biodiversity and agricultural productivity.
Md Himel Ahamed Joy
Joy is an international student from Bangladesh with a strong passion for global food security. In his free time, he enjoys playing football and other physical sports. He aspires to become a researcher in plant genetics, focusing on GMO crops to address hunger and combat climate change. Through his work, he hopes to ensure that every person has access to their fundamental right to food.
Tracy Farmer Scholars Project
Water-Smart Tomatoes: Seedling-to-Fruit Responses to Drought Across Wild and Cultivated Tomato Diversity
We are studying how different varieties of tomatoes respond to drought at various stages of growth. By understanding these responses, we aim to identify the most drought-tolerant types and uncover the genes involved in drought response. This knowledge could help develop improved tomato varieties that require less water and grow more efficiently under Kentucky conditions, helping conserve natural resources.
Muhammad Usman Yousaf
Usman is a Chemical Engineering PhD researcher specializing in membrane-based separations, with a focus on developing advanced materials for water purification. His work aims to address environmental challenges such as the removal of persistent contaminants from water. Outside of research, he enjoys hiking in the great outdoors and is an enthusiastic table tennis player.
Tracy Farmer Scholars Project
Regenerable Photocatalytic Membranes for the Sustainable Removal and Degradation of Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
The project focuses on tackling one of water treatment's toughest challenges- PFAS, commonly known as "forever chemicals". These persistent pollutants are notoriously challenging to eliminate, so we are developing a filtration material that not only captures them but also breaks them down using light. The result would be a more reusable and sustainable approach to deliver cleaner, safer water.
The Experience
Being a Tracy Farmer Scholar is more than just funding. TFISE provides scholars with access to exclusive resources, beneficial connections, fun events, and much more.
What to expect:
- Networking with peers across disciplines
- Introduction to research resources across the UK Community
- Social activities with complimentary food
- professionalization opportunities, including lunch-and-learns, headshot sessions, CV and professional website design feedback, etc.
Program Details
Eligibility
All current undergraduate, graduate, and professional students in good academic standing at the University of Kentucky conducting environmental and sustainability-related research are eligible to apply.
We encourage applicants to think broadly about the definitions of research, environment, and sustainability. For example:
- Students in the creative arts might conduct place-based research to inform an installation piece, stage production, or novel
- Students in engineering might research the built environment to inform our understanding of how to build long-lasting infrastructure
- Students in the humanities might conduct archival research on how human understanding of nature has changed over time
- Students in law might conduct research in collaboration with community groups about environmental issues that affect them
These examples are only intended to be illustrative; many other research projects could qualify.
If you have any questions about whether your research could qualify for the Tracy Farmer Scholars program, please feel free to reach out to tfise@uky.edu before submitting your application
Research Mentor
Students must have a UK faculty or staff research mentor supervising them during the timeframe of the Tracy Farmer Scholars Program. Student applicants are responsible for securing a research mentor.
Timeline
Program Period
- Graduate and professional students are eligible for summer stipends.
- Undergraduate students – eligible for stipends during the academic year (fall, spring, or both semesters).
Call for applications released: Friday, March 6, 2026
Application deadline: Friday, March 27, 2026
Notification of decisions: Friday, April 17, 2026
Graduate/Professional student funding paid out: bi-weekly May-August
Undergraduate student funding paid out: bi-weekly August-May
Amount
All Tracy Farmer Scholars receive a stipend worth up to $6000.
- Graduate students – eligible for $2,000-$6,000 and must submit a letter from their Department Chair, Director of Graduate Studies, or graduate advisor describing their funding situation for the program period.
- Undergraduate students are eligible for $3,000-$6,000 for either the fall, spring, or both semesters of the following academic year.
Application Requirements
Basic Information
The application form will ask for basic information about you and your educational background.
Research Statement
All applicants must submit a research statement written for an audience outside their field that includes:
- Title page
- Description of the project
Specific instructions for undergraduate research statements:
- 750-1000 words, not inclusive of title page and any citations
- Title page with:
- Descriptive title
- Student researcher name
- Student department, school, college
- Research mentor name
- Mentor department, school, college
- Research overview with:
- The general interest area that you and your mentor(s) have identified as the focus of your research experience.
- What specific activities are planned for your research experience
- What activities/experiences you bring that might be relevant to the research you are planning to do
- What your goals are for involvement in research (e.g., written products, involvement in lab meetings, artistic output, writing sample for graduate school, etc.)
- Explanation of how the research area relates to environment and sustainability
Specific instructions for graduate and professional student research statements:
- 1000-1500 words, not inclusive of title page and any citations
- Title page with:
- Proposed research project title
- Student researcher name
- Student department, school, college
- Research mentor name
- Mentor department, school, college
- Research description with:
- Background
- Research goal(s)/hypothesis(es)/question(s)
-
Explanation of how the research area relates to environment and sustainability
-
Methods/research activities
- Anticipated outputs (e.g., written products, conference presentations, etc.)
Letter of Support from Your Research Mentor
Tracy Farmer Scholars must have a UK faculty or staff member as a research mentor who commits to supervising the scholars’ work for the duration of the program.
Scholars’ research mentors are automatically offered affiliate status with the Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability and Environment. Affiliate status provides benefits, including access to research funding, support for programming and research spotlights, and an expansive professional community of environment and sustainability researchers at UK.
Please ask your research mentor to submit a letter of support via email to tfise@uky.edu. Letters of support need not be longer than a paragraph and should confirm the mentor’s availability and intention to provide supervision and guidance throughout the program period. The letter should be on UK letterhead and is due on the same date as the rest of the application materials.
For Graduate and Professional Students ONLY: Funding Letter from Department Chair, DGS, or Graduate Advisor
Whenever possible, graduate and professional students are expected to use Tracy Farmer Scholars funds to supplement departmental and grant-based sources of funding.
Please ask your Department Chair, Director of Graduate Studies, or Graduate Advisor to submit a letter via email to @tfise@uky.edu either 1) stating how much summer funding you are receiving from your department, grants, or other sources of funding, or 2) confirming that there is EITHER no available summer funding from your department, grants, or other sources of funding OR available funding cannot be used for the research project being proposed. The letter should be on UK letterhead and is due on the same date as the rest of the application materials.
Submit Behind-the-Scenes Content
The Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability and the Environment would love to highlight the incredible work you’re doing through your funded projects! If you have any behind-the-scenes content such as photos, videos, or updates from your fieldwork, events, or even day-to-day activities, we encourage you to share it with us.
12 students selected as 1st cohort of Tracy Farmer Scholars
The Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability and the Environment (TFISE) at the University of Kentucky selected 12 students for the inaugural cohort of Tracy Farmer Scholars conducting research in environment and sustainability.
FAQ
My research focuses on areas outside of Kentucky. Am I eligible to apply for the Tracy Farmer Scholars program?
Yes. Your research must be related to environment and sustainability, but does not have to focus on Kentucky.
Do I have to be enrolled in coursework during the summer to receive the Tracy Farmer Scholar funding?
No, you do not have to be enrolled in coursework during the summer that you receive Tracy Farmer Scholar funding. You must be a UK student in good standing.
My funding situation is complicated, and I am not sure if I am eligible to apply for the Tracy Farmer Scholars program. What should I do?
Please email tfise@uky.edu with questions about your specific funding situation prior to submitting your application. We will review and respond to your questions as quickly as possible.
Does the Tracy Farmer Scholars program provide tuition or other financial support?
The Tracy Farmer Scholars program pays stipends directly to the Scholars, which recipients can use however they like. It does not pay for tuition or any other expenses directly.