Alejandro and Consuelo Huerta, immigrants from Michoac n, Mexico, and Salinas residents, spent a lifetime working in the fields so their three daughters didnâ??t have to. So, when the youngest one informed them she wanted to pursue a career in agriculture, they were puzzled.
A first-year doctoral candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Huerta has just been awarded a research fellowship from the National Science Foundation, one of the coveted 2,000 that are granted each year. The three-year fellowship comes with a $30,000 annual stipend, $10,500 cost-of-education allowance and $1,000 international travel allowance.