Chobani Scholars Selected

The Chobani Scholars program has awarded a total of $80,000 in scholarships to four University of Idaho students who are pursuing careers in agriculture, including its first two recipients from the College of Engineering.

Chobani Scholars awards $20,000 scholarships distributed over four years, granting priority to students from the Magic Valley who intend to pursue a career in food production and the dairy industry and may not have the financial means to attend college on their own.

Chobani, the maker of America’s No. 1 yogurt brand, operates one of the largest yogurt manufacturing facilities in the country, located in Twin Falls, and has offered the scholarships to U of I students from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) since 2018. This year’s cohort has been expanded to include students from a variety of degree fields connected to agriculture and food production, including students from the College of Engineering.

“Kudos to Chobani for stepping up and working with us to develop this impactful program that lifts gifted students, Idaho agriculture and the state’s important dairy sector,” CALS Dean Michael Parrella said. “This is an ideal partnership between academia and industry that’s established a pipeline of creative minds to fill in-demand positions in agribusiness while expanding opportunities for Idahoans.”

Of the students in the first Chobani Scholars cohort, who earned their bachelor’s degrees in the spring of 2023, two are currently in their second year of veterinary school at Washington State University, one is selling John Deere farming equipment, one is a reproductive specialist for a dairy genetics company and one is a U of I graduate student studying dairy science.

“Chobani’s recognition of the collaboration between agriculture and engineering is a testament to the industry’s leadership in food production, sustainability and resource management,” said Suzie Long, dean of the College of Engineering. “These scholarships maximize our students’ ability to contribute to innovations that will change the way we think about our food, our health and our world.”

The new cohort brings the total number of U of I Chobani Scholarships to 25.

About the 2024 Chobani Scholars

Jack DeJong of Wendell is an agricultural economics major with an emphasis on agribusiness. “Agriculture and the food industry are extremely important to the economy of Idaho. The agricultural and food industries of Idaho are large contributors to the economy in the form of jobs, revenue, taxes and exports. I hope that by earning my degree in agricultural economics I can help sustain the agricultural industry in our area. There are so many avenues that my degree could lead me toward. Farming, dairy, banking, commodity sales and risk management are just a few of them. I want to explore all my options, and I believe attending University of Idaho will be the best place to prepare me for my future in agriculture.”

Megan Taber of Shoshone is a mechanical engineering major with a minor in animal science. “The Chobani Scholarship enables me to prioritize my time in favor of my education. Growing up on my family’s dairy and crop farm, the intimate realities of farming are an intrinsic aspect of my life. I was drawn to engineering through experiences with heavy equipment on the farm. I want to be a part of the new era of advancement in ag machinery and the automotive industry. I am a member of the U of I Clean Snowmobile Challenge Team and am currently leading a project for implementing a vehicle emissions control strategy on our competition sled to ultimately reduce the emissions output of our machine.”

Tori Albritton of Filer is a mechanical engineering major. “Before joining a robotics team and competing in the global nonprofit robotics program FIRST Robotics, I did not believe that I had a place within agriculture. I grew up on a small farm. I know the life. But I’d never successfully kept a garden alive and have always been too queasy to go into veterinary medicine. Robotics might not be the typical route for agriculture, but it’s what sparked my interest in mechanical engineering to pave the way for innovation in agriculture and to continue allowing agriculturalists to feed the rest of the population. As a first-generation college student, the only way for me to attend college has been through sheer grit and determination. Every late night I’ve worked and opportunities like the Chobani Scholarship have allowed me to continue to pave a pathway for not just my own future, but also for my younger siblings. As I continue my education, my driving force is knowing that I will one day get to join the 2% that feeds the other 98% of the nation, but from an engineering perspective.”

Kaycie Theurer of Buhl is majoring in agricultural education. “Watching my ag teacher throughout the years, I discovered that I have a passion for advocating for agriculture. I finalized my decision when I got the opportunity to do an ag in the classroom lesson with my local third graders. There were about 100 kids and watching the way they asked questions and got involved made me realize I want to do this for the rest of my life. Honestly, it's sort of scary going into this field, but I know that's why I need to do it. Now more than ever, our society needs to be reminded where their food comes from, and that’s why ag education is so important. I hope to continue bringing agriculture into society one student at a time.”

Published in Catching Up with CALS