U.S. Department of State – US Mission to the UN Agencies in Rome
Clayton Elbel is from Spring Branch, Texas, and a senior pursuing a B.S. in Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University, concentrating on international trade and public policy. He is also pursuing a combined degree program between the Department of Agricultural Economics and the Bush School of Government and Public Service, completing a Master of Public Administration. He has won multiple honors, including the Texas A&M University Phi Kappa Phi Outstanding Junior, the Dean’s Excellence Award for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and is a Gathright Scholar. Clayton has had heavy involvement on campus, including the Student Government Association and the Memorial Student Center while serving as an ambassador for the Department of Agricultural Economics and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Additionally, Clayton currently helps lead the Farmlink Project, a national student movement that connects farms with surplus produce to food banks. Over the past nine months, he has helped coordinate the placement of over ten million pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables. Clayton has applied his coursework in his internships with the Fertilizer Institute, the Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture and Development, and the U.S. Department of State this upcoming summer. He is interested in the interaction between agricultural policy, international trade and economics, and American foreign policy. He hopes to pursue a career understanding the policy and market challenges facing our food system and hopes to attend law school after graduation.