Minnesota Youth Institute ignites passion for global solutions at CFANS

May 22, 2025
Student Life
Campus Affairs
Jeff Stamp with MNYI 2025 students.
Jeff Stamp, teaching professor in the Department of Applied Economics (4th from left) with MNYI student participants.

On May 14, the University of Minnesota’s College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS) welcomed 84 high school students to the St. Paul campus for the 2025 Minnesota Youth Institute (MNYI). Representing 25 schools and researching issues in 51 countries, students gathered to explore global challenges and local innovations through immersive, hands-on learning.

The event included remarks from Tom Vilsack, CEO of the World Food Prize Foundation, former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, and former Governor of Iowa. Vilsack welcomed the students and emphasized the importance of youth engagement in solving global food and agricultural challenges. 

Throughout the day, students participated in six dynamic immersion sessions led by CFANS faculty and researchers. The most popular session, Can You Still Achieve the American Dream?, guided students through an exploration of economic mobility using real-world data and interactive simulations inspired by the work of Harvard economist Raj Chetty. In Controlled Environment Agriculture, students toured 70,000 square feet of greenhouse space, learning how controlled systems support sustainable crop research and even propagated their own spider plants.

Drew Carter and Erik JOerres.
Drew Carter (left) from the Department of Food Science and Nutrition, and Erik Joerres from the Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, engaged with students during the MNYI immersion activities. 

Other sessions included Environmental Impact of Your Favorite Foods, where students calculated the greenhouse gas emissions of pizza ingredients using Environmental Life Cycle Assessment tools, and Tracking Fertilizers From Farm to Faucet, which gave students hands-on experience collecting water samples to study nitrogen leaching. In Of Rotting Fish and Flesh-Eating Beetles, students explored the role of insects in decomposition and the power of curiosity in scientific discovery. Meanwhile, Sustainable Future of Food offered a behind-the-scenes look at food innovation labs and the development of environmentally friendly food ingredients.

MNYI sign.
A sign welcoming 84 MNYI participants from high schools across the state to CFANS and the St. Paul campus. 

In addition to the immersions, students participated in roundtable discussions with experts and professionals from across disciplines. These conversations provided a platform for students to share their research, receive feedback, and engage in meaningful dialogue about global food security, sustainability, and innovation.

Students selected from 21 global topics for their research papers, with sustainable agriculture, malnutrition, poverty, and renewable energy among the most popular. Their work reflected a deep commitment to addressing complex issues such as climate change, food insecurity, and water scarcity.