Ibukunoluwa Ajayi-Banji, a doctoral student in the NDSU Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, has received the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers John C. Nye Graduate Fellowship.
Her faculty adviser is Kenneth Hellevang, professor and interim chair of agricultural and biosystems engineering.
The fellowship is a competitive recognition designed to encourage underrepresented minority doctoral student participation in the organization and aid minorities pursuing doctorate degrees in agricultural and biological engineering. Ajayi-Banji was one of two selected in the nation to receive the fellowship.
Ajayi-Banji has presented two oral papers at ASABE professional society international meetings describing her research and the results obtained, and a third paper has been accepted for presentation this summer.
Ajayi-Banji’s research has focused on improving soybean storage for farmers.
Farmers experience a significant amount of green or semi-green soybeans in their harvested soybean crops when an early frost occurs. During the first two years of her research, Ajayi-Banji examined the color and quality changes in immature soybeans during laboratory and field-drying and different storage conditions. The research provided information on how to manage green and semi-green soybeans in the field before harvest and during storage, which has been used by an NDSU Extension specialist to provide recommended procedures for farmers who experienced an early frost.
Ajayi-Banji is currently evaluating the allowable storage time of two soybean varieties at four moisture levels at typical storage temperatures.
Nigeria’s continuing struggle with post-harvest losses is the motivation for her research.
Through her studies at NDSU, she is gaining expertise and developing information that will reduce food losses and help feed the world population.
“Understanding the relationship between critical environmental and storage factors has been very helpful in understanding storage time of foods and agricultural products. The ability to be able to use this basic understanding to provide indigenous solutions to tackle our food shortage, losses and insecurity problem in Nigeria is a dream for me,” Ajayi-Banji said.
She is an officer of the local chapter of Alpha Epsilon, the ASABE honor society. Members serve as mentors for both undergraduate and graduate students. She is also active in a newly formed graduate student organization.
Ajayi-Banji earned her bachelor’s degree in food engineering and Master of Engineering in agricultural and biosystems engineering. She has been a UCodeGirl STEM mentor in the Fargo-Moorhead area, making technology learning fun for girls.
In addition, her passion for helping young girls and her community development involvement in Nigeria gave Ajayi-Banji a platform to serve as a community panel speaker for the 2020 North Dakota Women’s Business Center leadership program.
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