How the SSWD Center Made a Difference in this Student’s Life
The center’s spring symposium propelled Shermaine Critchlow into a doctoral program at an HBCU.
Nearly a decade ago, Shermaine Critchlow held a bachelor’s degree in international relations while working as a senior lab technician at a South American university.
Today, Critchlow is a doctoral student at Tuskegee University, thanks to her work with American researchers and a recent conference organized by the Student Success and Workforce Development Center based at North Carolina A&T State University.
“I was looking for a community that would support my ideas, and the SSWD Center’s Spring Symposium helped me find that,” Critchlow said. “I want to be seen as someone who can contribute meaningfully to the scientific community, but first and foremost I must be heard. I believe I will be heard at an HBCU such as Tuskegee.”
Critchlow came to Tuskegee from her native Guyana, where she worked as a plant microbiology and pathology technician in the Agriculture Laboratory at the University of Guyana. While employed by the university, she earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations because she enjoyed public speaking.
But her heart remained in science, and she continued to work at the lab. When two professors from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff connected with her university to study diseases in sweet potatoes, Critchlow leaped at the opportunity to do field research. She waded through flooded terrain while dodging snakes and other wildlife as she analyzed sweet potatoes in three commercially producing regions of Guyana.
“I’d never had those experiences, and I loved every moment of it,” Critchlow said. “I knew this was what I wanted to do.”
With a scholarship through her work with UAPB, Critchlow earned her Master’s of Agro-technology and Business from the University of Guyana in 2022. That same year, she moved to the United States to attend UAPB. There, she continued her research in pathogenic viruses in sweet potatoes and earned a Master’s of Agricultural Relations in 2024.
Shortly before Critchlow finished her master’s at UAPB, her mentor, Nina Lyon-Bennett, Ph.D. — assistant dean for academics at UAPB’s School of Agriculture, Fisheries & Human Sciences and a member of the SSWD leadership team — urged her to attend a conference in May.
This three-day event was organized by the SSWD Center, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The center is working to extend and enlarge education and career pipelines so more students are prepared to enter 1890 land-grant institutions and advance into graduate education programs and careers in food, agriculture, natural resources, human sciences and STEM.
The 2024 Spring Symposium — “From Now to NextGen: Recruiting, Retaining and Training Our Agricultural Workforce” — was held at Tuskegee University, a school Critchlow was interested in attending to pursue her doctorate. But some colleagues had urged her to look at schools outside the HBCU world. Unsure what to do, Critchlow was prepared to restart her search for a program.
But a conference speaker opened Critchlow’s eyes to the possibilities and potential of the HBCU experience at the Ph.D. level. That speaker was Levon T. Esters, Ph.D., the dean of the Fox Graduate School and vice provost for graduate education at Penn State. Ester, who earned his master’s degree in agricultural education from North Carolina A&T, is also co-author of the 2024 book, “HBCU: The Power of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.”
After hearing Esters speak and reading the book, Critchlow enrolled at Tuskegee. She’s currently pursuing a Doctorate in Integrative Biosciences with a focus on plant sciences and biotechnology. She is being advised by Marceline Egnin, Ph.D., a professor of plant and soil science whose research has contributed to improving the nutritional and protein content of sweet potatoes.
After she completes her doctorate, Critchlow said she wants to earn a postdoctoral fellowship and teach full-time at a university. She also wants to serve as a mentor to pay forward the guidance and advice she has received from faculty throughout her academic career.
“The SSWD Center conference was the game-changer for me,” Critchlow said. “After I heard Dr. Esters’ presentation, I unequivocally decided that Tuskegee was the university I was going to attend. This was the institution where I wanted to have my Ph.D. experience.”