Graduate Student Spotlight: Xinyuan Shi
Xinyuan Shi joins the Center for Agroforestry’s online masters program from Syracuse, New York where she works as an urban agriculture educator through Cornell Cooperative Extension. Last November, she co-authored a comprehensive review paper on assessing the sustainability of silvopasture systems around the world with Dr. Ashley Conway, UMCA’s silvopasture faculty. She recently appeared as a guest on the Savanna Institute’s Perennial AF podcast, highlighting her agroforestry apprenticeship in 2020 with Route 9, a chestnut cooperative in Ohio.
Xinyuan comes to UMCA with a bachelor’s degree in environmental sciences from Cornell University. After graduation, she served as a volunteer with the PeaceCorps in Zambia, as well as an AmeriCorps volunteer after the pandemic required her early return from overseas.
“Since coming back from Zambia, I was very interested in continuing to learn more about agroforestry,” said Xinyuan. “UMCA’s online program offered me the flexibility to work on my master’s while gaining experience in the field.”
After graduation, she hopes to work in agroforestry extension while operating a small, diversified farm on the side. In the meantime, she’s focusing on accumulating more knowledge on agroforestry systems and policies. One of the most valuable courses she’s taken so far is Ecological Principles in Agroforestry, co-taught by Dr. Sarah Lovell, former UMCA director, and Dr. Mike Gold, UMCA associate director.
“I feel like it is filling in a lot of my knowledge gaps on the interactions between different species in an agroforestry system as well as landscape design,” said Xinyuan.
With just a few more courses left until she completes her degree, Xinyuan is slated to graduate in summer or fall of 2023.
Listen to Xinyuan’s conversation with Jacob Grace of the Savanna Institute: