About Us

LaGuardia Community College was awarded a four-year grant of $250,000 from the US Department of Agriculture for Project SEMBRAR: Growing and Diversifying the Next Generation of Urban Agricultural STEM Leaders (2021-24). The award is made through USDA’s Hispanic-Serving Institutions Education Grants Program.

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Through a network of 21 College Now high-school partners and John Bowne High School’s Agriculture Department, Project SEMBRAR will recruit high school students into two new A.S. level tracks in the Environmental Science Program – Urban Sustainable Agriculture and Animal Science – within LaGuardia’s Department of Natural Sciences. In addition, it will offer students paid summer experiential learning opportunities with partners such as the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, Oko Farms, City Growers, Newtown Creek Alliance and Kingsland Wildflowers. 

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Project SEMBRAR is led by Dr. Preethi Radhakrishnan (Project Director), Professor of Biology; Dr. Holly Porter-Morgan (Co-Director), Professor of Biology; and Dr. Nicolle Fernandes (Co-Director), Professor of Nutrition and Culinary Management.

 

Project support is also provided by LaGuardia’s ASAP and College Now programs and the LaGuardia Office of Institutional Research and Assessment.

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