The New Harvest-Culley Carlson Award
An award designed to help late-stage students transition into careers in cellular agriculture.
2024 - Ongoing
There are very few individuals who are specifically trained in cellular agriculture who wish to work in this new field.
The New Harvest-Culley Carlson Award was designed to help those trained in adjacent fields make a leap into cellular agriculture. As an interdiscipline, there are many individuals with deep expertise in areas adjacent to cellular agriculture who are eager to apply their knowledge to create sustainable and ethical food systems.
This award was inspired by the New Harvest Dissertation Award, and collaboratively designed with the Culley Carlson Foundation.
Awardees have been selected and projects are currently underway.
NEW HARVEST-CULLEY CARLSON AWARD
Overview
The New Harvest-Culley Carlson Award was designed for students in doctoral programs or other similar level professional degrees (e.g. J.D.) who discovered the field of cellular agriculture late in their training.
The award will provide financial and professional support for the awardee to apply their skills to cellular agriculture and make connections within the field.
Applicants could be from any field of study, such as biology, engineering, computer science, sociology, policy, economics, or law (just to name a few). Applicants must show how their expertise is relevant to cellular agriculture and have a clear vision of how to apply it.
Awardees have been selected and projects are currently underway.
NEW HARVEST-CULLEY CARLSON AWARD
Awardees
André Valkenburg
André is completing his PhD in bioprocess engineering at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.
This PhD work has focused on producing surfactants using yeast fermentation, replacing these traditionally petroleum-based products with more sustainable, bio-based chemicals.
Through the NH-CC award, André aims to apply his experience in the development and scale-up of innovative biological and chemical processes to advance cultured meat.
André will learn mammalian cell culture techniques and explore the development of a living microbial-based scaffold, designed to enhance the differentiation of cells into texturized products.
André’s efforts also aim to establish the first academic laboratory using mammalian cell culture for food in South Africa!
Omowunmi Odeyomi
Omowunmi is a PhD student in agribusiness and applied economics at North Carolina A&T State University with a specialization in risk management in agricultural production.
Her PhD research addresses improvements in agricultural production and sustainability in light of the effects of climate change, with a focus on boosting agricultural insurance adoption among underserved Southeastern United States producers.
She is passionate about increasing sustainable agricultural production and solving food insecurity, which led her to an interest in cellular agriculture’s potential.
With the NH-CC award, Omowunmi is looking to utilize her background in data analysis to study the environmental and economic impacts of cultured meat.
NEW HARVEST-CULLEY CARLSON AWARD
Progress Timeline
Jun 2024 - New Harvest announces a call for applicants for the New Harvest-Culley Carlson Award. The application criteria and process can be referenced here.
Dec 2024 - Awardees are announced: André Valkenburg and Omowunmi Odeyomi. Research is underway.
NEW HARVEST-CULLEY CARLSON AWARD
Funders
The New Harvest-Culley Carlson Award is funded by the Culley Carlson Foundation.
The Culley Carlson Foundation (CCF) is committed to empowering pioneers in innovation aimed at protecting our planet and its flora, fauna and fungi.
Contact
If you have questions or would like to get in touch regarding The New Harvest-Culley Carlson award, please contact Bre Duffy at breanna@new-harvest.org