Ethan Rice

 

As a Master of Professional Studies (MPS) student at Cornell University, Ethan is interested in taking his engineering background and developing low tech methods for improving production in rural agriculture. During his time in Zambia, he saw the challenges the local farmers faced in his community, including limited access to new and improved technology, high prices of seeds and inputs, and a fragmented local market for products. Ethan would like to work on taking agricultural and human produced waste and boosting crop production in an effort to tackle these problems. He is focused on using circular loops to minimize waste and add beneficial inputs back into the agricultural cycle to promote economic prosperity, improved nutrition, environmental sustainability, and gender equality. Ethan saw firsthand the importance of community engagement at the grassroots level, with a focus on outreach, extension, and capacity building.