SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Dr. Annie Kinwa-Muzinga and Dr. Keren Brooks, professors in the Regina Roth Applied Agriculture and Food Studies Department, received awards from the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) at the annual conference in Las Cruces, New Mexico in June.

Dr. Annie Kinwa-Musinga, professor of agribusiness, received the 2023 Educator Award. Dr. Keren Brooks, assistant professor of agronomy, was awarded the 2023 Graduate Student Teaching Award.Dr. Annie Kinwa-Muzinga

The 2023 Educator Award recognizes Kinwa-Muzinga for her dedication and excellence in teaching agriculture at Morningside. She has received one prior award from the NACTA, the NACTA Teaching Award of Merit in 2020.

“I have learned that it is difficult to change the world at once,” Kinwa-Muzinga said. “However, if I can affect the life of one or two students, with the spillover effect, they will continue to influence others.”

Kinwa-Muzinga has been at Morningside since 2018 and has been an integral part of the development of the agribusiness curriculum. Her research interests cover a broad array of projects related to agriculture and the scholarship of teaching, including service-learning projects for women in agriculture and agricultural growth and development. Her most significant publication is on Gender Assessment of the Agricultural Sector: The Case of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The research was in collaboration with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

Brooks joined the Regina Roth Applied Agriculture and Food Studies at Morningside in July. Her award, the NACTA Graduate Student Teaching Award, is a criterion-based and reviewed by a committee of NACTA members. To qualify for the award, a graduate student must have been involved in classroom teaching at the postsecondary level for at least one year.

Dr. Keren BrooksBrooks was an undergraduate teaching assistant in crop science at Kansas State University and participated in the Graduate Teaching Scholars Program while being a Ph.D. candidate at Virginia Tech University. She taught World Food Crops and Agricultural Global Food Security and Health classes.

“The joy I experienced teaching crop science lab is what motivated me to pursue graduate school; and it was the hope of teaching future agriculturalists that incentivized me to finish my degree,” Brooks said. “I love to showcase the wonder of plants and explain how soil sustains life. I’m excited to inspire the next generation of plant and soil scientists at Morningside University.”

The Morningside University Regina Roth Agricultural and Food Studies program prepares students for careers in agricultural and food studies, agriculture education, agribusiness, environmental policy and law, agronomy, and food safety.