Emily Ecker ’26 awarded Rotary Global Grant to support graduate study in Scotland

Elon alumna Emily Ecker ‘26 has earned a Rotary Global Grant from the Piedmont District 7690 Rotary Club. The $30,000 grant supports graduate study outside of the United States for those studying within one of Rotary’s seven areas of focus: peace building and conflict prevention; disease prevention and treatment; water and sanitation; maternal or child health; basic education and literacy; community economic development;and the environment.

With Rotary’s support, Ecker is currently earning her Master of Science in Food Security from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland so she can fulfill her mission of strengthening local and global food systems through sustainable, ecological practices.

Ecker is the seventh Elon student in six consecutive years to receive District 7690’s Rotary Club’s Global Grant; the only recipients since 2021 have been Elon students and alumni. She follows Faith Leslie ‘21, Allison Potter ’22, Kiara Hunter ’23, Megan Curling ’23, Ava de Bruin ’23, Nazaneen Shokri ’24, and Holly Miranda ‘20. All recipients since 2022 have had at least one major in public health, a testament to the Department of Public Health’s ability to successfully prepare leaders who address the most pressing public health concerns of the 21st century.

This opportunity is not limited to public health majors, though, and all interested Elon students and alumni should contact the National and International Fellowships Office for more information about the application process. Applications will be due in mid-December, and the office will start supporting applicants in early November.

An undergraduate experience ‘rooted in collaboration’

Ecker arrived at Elon as a Teaching Fellow prepared to major in elementary education, but everything changed for her after taking one course: Introduction to Public Health. She started to observe the intersections between education and public health and realized that a career in the field would allow her to meaningfully combine her interests. Soon after, she declared a double major in public health and international & global studies with a minor in French and joined the Global Partnership Scholars Program (formerly the Periclean Scholars Program) to put her newfound passion into practice.

As a Global Partnership Scholar, an experience she calls “an honor and one of the most meaningful parts of [her] Elon experience,” Ecker spent three years learning about building ethical partnerships locally and abroad. She traveled to Jamkhed, India twice to work on the Comprehensive Rural Health Project, and served as a peer mentor to a younger cohort of scholars traveling to Sri Lanka. These experiences, paired with Ecker’s semester abroad in Denmark, helped shape her into an ethical, global citizen.

In addition to her international experiences, Ecker also knew she wanted to complete undergraduate research to make a long-term impact locally. Under the mentorship of Scott Morrison, professor of education, Ecker worked extensively with the Morrowtown Community Group, a grassroots organization in a historically Black Burlington neighborhood. Founded in 2017 by Lydia Jones and Joyce Moore, MCG’s mission is “to educate, empower and encourage individuals through acts of service and giving.”

Ecker’s project included two years of Community-Based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR), an approach that makes community members equal partners in the research process. She spent months attending community meetings, volunteering at the garden, and surveying residents to understand their needs. Ecker then worked in partnership with Morrison and Ashlie Thomas—a gardener, author, and nutrition scientist—to create “Rooted Together,” a free eight-week program for children in Morrowtown that combined gardening, literacy, math and nutrition lessons. She also worked to co-create service-learning opportunities so more Elon students can get involved with the garden in the future.

“Bringing more professors and students to the table to support Morrowtown and its garden reflects the importance of putting the ‘co’ in collaboration,” she said.

In addition to these impressive achievements, Ecker also served as the co-president for the French Honors Society and an Elon 1010 Peer Educator. She credits her successes to her wide range of Elon mentors.

“I am fortunate to have mentors across public health, education, engineering, environmental science, French, and the International & Global Studies Program,” she said. “My primary mentor, Dr. Morrison in the School of Education, profoundly influenced my Elon experience. My interest in food systems began with our research project, and his mentorship is part of the reason I am pursuing a master’s in food security. Equally as important, Molly Green, Amanda Tapler, Scott Wolter, Jacob Rutz, Sophie Adamson, Olivia Choplin, Mussa Idris, Waseem Kasim and Andrea Sinn also shaped my undergraduate experience through a deeply interdisciplinary lens. They continuously supported and challenged me to reach my full potential, and I would not be where I am today without their mentorship.”

An alignment of values

With these rich experiences under her belt, it only made sense that Ecker would continue to pursue advanced education in the field of public health, which is how she discovered the Master of Science in Food Security at The University of Edinburg, a program that combines foundational training alongside valuable international fieldwork placements. Ecker knew this was the next best step for her but needed support to make it a reality.

By working with the National and International Fellowships Office, Ecker learned about the Rotary Global Grant and the natural ways it aligned with the work she’d already done.

“I was motivated to apply because Rotary’s values and goals align closely with my own values and academic aims,” she explained. “I found a scholarship and a community that truly values serving others, which is what I have tried to do through my work with the Morrowtown community and my on-campus leadership. I chose Rotary because it supports selfless future leaders and global citizens who will make an impact.”

This alignment was also clear to the Piedmont District 7690 Rotary Club, and after a rigorous application and interview process, Ecker heard the news she’d been hoping for: she was the next recipient of the $30,000 grant. Now, Ecker is in the second month of her graduate studies at Edinburgh.

“I am thoroughly enjoying my modules. I am taking two core modules, Frameworks to Food Systems and Sustainability in Food Production, along with an elective called Sustainable Entrepreneurship. It has been amazing to finally study the theories, history, and vulnerability assessments of food security in depth, while also learning about the entrepreneurial and business side of the food system,” she said.

Looking ahead, she is eager to complete her dissertation project and an international field trip with her master’s cohort in April. While her dissertation ideas are still in development, Ecker hopes to focus on topics like sustainable business models in food systems or entrepreneurship and resilience in food-insecure communities. The international field trip will take place in Morocco, where she will learn about a new food system and visit international and local food security organizations.

Outside of the classroom, Ecker has loved exploring Edinburgh with her flatmates and members of the Rotary Club of Braids. One of the hallmarks of the Rotary Global Grant is the connections that are forged with local chapters so recipients feel welcomed and supported during their transition abroad.

“My Rotarian international hosts, Duncan, Paul, and Anne, have been a supportive community,” she said. “Duncan even picked my parents and I up from the airport when we arrived! My family was also invited to attend a Rotary luncheon to meet the Braids chapter. I could not think of a more wholesome welcome to a new country!”

While Ecker is still deciding what comes after the Master of Science program, she might go straight to work within international food security, or perhaps continue on to earn her PhD—her commitment to improving the lives of others is steadfast and clear. She is already well on her way to becoming precisely the kind of “selfless leader and global citizen” that Rotary International seeks to amplify.