Leading with Research and Impact at Purdue
Name: Jemima Baributsa
Hometown: West Lafayette, IN
Major & concentration: Agricultural Economics
Minors or certificates: Data Science
Why did you come to Purdue: Honestly, it was close to home, and they had the best ranking for the programs I wanted to study/participate in when I went to college.
Favorite Purdue tradition: Fountain runs!
Top three influences at Purdue:
- All my academic advisors, LeeAnn, Jo and Andy
- MANRRS Purdue
- Undergraduate research
Top five memories of your time at Purdue:
- Giving undergraduate poster presentations and research talks
- MANRRS Purdue treasurer
- REEU Summer Program
- Trivia night at the TAP
- Serving at Westwood
Places you have been as a Purdue student:
- Madison, Wisconsin, for the ASAS Conference
- Atlanta, Georgia
- St. Louis, Missouri
- Chicago, Illinois
Favorite club/organization: MANNRS Purdue
Favorite student-led event/initiative: Hog Roast
Favorite Purdue event: Football games; I love the energy around campus, especially after a win!
Favorite social activity: Painting, drawing, dancing, and so much more
Favorite place to study: ABE
Favorite place on campus: CoRec and the public library
Favorite thing about CoA: The great community of people. Everyone is always willing to help, and because Ag is so broad, there are a lot of us cross disciplines to help one another with research and other projects.
Favorite thing about your major: The versatility; I can do so much and learn from other disciplines of ag by asking economic-based questions.
Favorite class: AGEC 451 Econometrics
Favorite professor: It's hard to choose. I wish I had an answer. All my professors and advisors have been outstanding and look after their students very well.
Coolest project: Making a documentary to educate people on A.I. and its applications in agriculture, from row crop farming to animal farming and agricultural education.
Three biggest accomplishments:
- My internship with Bayer as a data scientist
- Competing in spoken undergraduate research talks/poster presentations at Purdue and other universities.
- Winning first place at a regional impromptu speech competition in Chicago
- Publishing 3+ abstracts as an undergraduate researcher and working on research papers.
Things on your resume not listed above:
- Proficient in R and Python to build models and other visualizations
- Works in Tableau, Power BI and Alteryx to build visualizations for reporting purposes
Career goal: Hopefully, get my PhD and conduct research for different companies/government.
Advice for underclassmen: Find the things you are grateful for every day. It can be anything because your mindset will really carry you through difficult situations. Even if you have the skills, thinking you can’t do it will thwart your success. Don’t compare yourself to others; it never ends well.
Biggest takeaway from Purdue: Explore campus and all the clubs and organizations we have to offer; there is so much to do here!
