REU Project

African American incarceration rates have risen since the beginning of the war on drugs, and Black Americans account for a majority of new HIV/AIDS cases. Our project looks at issues facing African Americans, especially male incarceration, environmental racism, and HIV/AIDS, and examines how these issues affect the sustainability of Southern Black communities. From our research we hope to improve HIV/AIDS awareness and testing procedures. Standardizing testing procedures in prisons could help to decrease the rate of new HIV/AIDS infections.

Personal Information
I was reared on a beef and sheep farm in Greenville, VA and am a senior at Virginia Tech in the College of Agriculture. Agriculture is my passion, my life, and my industry. I showed market steers, market lambs, and breeding sheep for several years and own my own sheep. I continue to help on the family farm when possible and hope to preserve it for future generations.
Some of my school activities include Sigma Alpha Agricultural Sorority, Hokie Football, and good times with good friends (i.e. shopping, hiking, movies, and eating). Other hobbies are reading, music, sewing/crafts, farming, and now possibly Southern cooking.
Last summer I worked as a teaching assistant in the Agricultural Economics major at the Virginia Governor’s School for Agriculture, where I supervised three high school research projects. This spring I worked on a research project correlating sale price and catalog characteristics of rams sold in a local sale to determine sale trends.