The past year conducting research with the Community Research Fellowship has been extremely eye-opening and rewarding for me. I had the opportunity to become involved with a diverse set of experiences related to the research I conducted, as well as explore new avenues for this research. Food insecurity is a multi-dimensional issue, and this research…
Tag: Alex Firestine
The Third Chapter of my Food Insecurity Research: Surveys and Vacant Lots
Hey everyone! My name is Alex Firestine (he/him) and I’m a junior here at Pitt. I’m triple majoring in Finance, Accounting, and Business Information Systems, with certificates in Leadership & Ethics and Data Analytics. Since my freshman year, I’ve been working on a project to measure regional food insecurity in partnership with a local nonprofit….
The End Only Marks a New Beginning
As I begin to write this final blog post, I can’t help but reminisce on all the amazing mentors I’ve had throughout this project during the spring and summer. I’ve had the opportunity to meet inspirational people and form connections with professionals in an industry I desire to pursue a career in. This experience has…
Learning a Language is Hard, Especially When Nobody Speaks It
Throughout the course of this fellowship, I’ve had the amazing opportunity to meet influential mentors, learn and develop technical and transferable skills, and pursue a project akin to my personal passion. Entering this project, I knew the value of the interdisciplinary approach. It is one I adopted for my academic plan and a crucial component…
If You’re Not Networking, You’re Not Working
A research network is an essential component of a research project, as an established network of mentors, colleagues, advisors, and fellow researchers can be valuable in the development of a project. Finding answers to difficult questions and addressing complex social issues cannot be done by one individual alone, and instead can be achieved through collaborative…
The Challenge of Communicating Research to a Diverse Group of Stakeholders
This past semester, I took a seminar in the honors college that focused on fundamentals of research and how to communicate findings. During this seminar, I learned the value of thought-out research communication and how to overcome some of the barriers that may hinder the effectiveness of this communication. It is a considerable task to…
The Necessity of Equitable Access to Powerful Data
This summer, I’ve embarked on an interesting journey to learn the true extent to which data drives community outreach and intervention. This tool embodies the intersection of politics and data, and represents the coordinated efforts of many prominent community stakeholders. Throughout the process of developing and eventually launching this new version of the Food Abundance…
The Future of Food: Building Resilient Food Systems (Introduction)
Background My name is Alex Firestine, and I’m a rising sophomore from Montgomery County, Maryland, which is about half an hour outside of Washington D.C. I’m pursuing a double degree in Finance and Political Science, with a minor in Economics and two certificates: one in Leadership & Ethics and the other in Business Analytics. My…