Team Pennsylvania report<\/a> in 2025 that showed only a small share of the grain processed in the commonwealth is grown in Pennsylvania, despite the state\u2019s significant concentration of grain-processing industries, said Kelly Kundratic, agriculture director for Team Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n\u201cThis project will assess the interest and capacity to expand such processing, at what scale and for which markets,\u201d Kundratic said. \u201cThe findings will help leaders make more informed business retention, expansion and investment decisions by identifying where strategic processing investments could strengthen Pennsylvania\u2019s agricultural economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kolapo is collecting data from grain processing operations of all sizes, covering a wide range of grains, including corn, soybeans, millet and sorghum, as well as ethanol.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe results will be used to make recommendations to policymakers as to whether we have a sufficient supply of these facilities, if there is a need for more supply and infrastructure in certain places, and if so, the location,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Rachel Phillips, senior vice president of impact and innovation for Team Pennsylvania, said Kolapo is well suited for the project. Admission to the team is competitive, and those selected must reflect the organization’s shared values.<\/p>\n
\u201cKenny showed his insatiable curiosity from the beginning of the interview process,\u201d Phillips said. \u201cHis desire to be a top-notch researcher and support decision-makers in driving long-term change in the agriculture sector comes through in all he does.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kolapo traced his interest in agriculture to his youth. He grew up growing maize on his family\u2019s sustenance farm in Nigeria and quickly discovered how challenging it can be to produce a crop.<\/p>\n
He said he remembers the devastating effects of insect damage and being amazed at how tiny pests could cause so much crop damage.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy interest in agriculture and entomology began when I was about 8 years old,\u201d he said. \u201cOne year, all of a sudden, our farm was infested by tiny little insects called fall armyworm. I could not believe how something so tiny could be so destructive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kolapo earned his bachelor\u2019s degree in microbiology from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, in Nigeria and has worked as an entomologist and plant pathologist for the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, also located in Oyo State, Nigeria.<\/p>\n
At Penn State, his research focuses on ways to make crops more resilient to insects and environmental variables such as drought. He is particularly focused on plant-insect-microbiome interactions and on developing plants that may require less pesticide and perform better under adverse weather conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis research could be a big game changer here in Pennsylvania and across the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
His academic adviser, Flor Acevedo, said his work ethic and commitment to improving agriculture made him a good fit for the graduate program at Penn State.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s ambitious, and he wants to do things to the best of his ability,\u201d said Acevedo, associate professor of entomology. \u201cWe don\u2019t yet know where his research will go, because we are just now doing the experiments, but we value his hypothesis and his goals to improve crops.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kolapo said he\u2019s honored to study at Penn State and is a big fan of the athletic teams and University culture. After he earns his doctoral degree, he wants to put his research to work to benefit U.S. agriculture and other countries, including his home country.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love working in the lab, and I want to continue doing research that improves the agricultural system,\u201d he said. \u201cI believe Penn State is one of the best places to study, and I am very thankful for the opportunities I\u2019ve been provided.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. \u2014 Penn State graduate student Kehinde \u201cKenny\u201d Kolapo is finding innovative ways to make a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":255031,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-255030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}