Doctoral Student Leads Grain Processing Project for Team Pennsylvania

Jul 30, 2026

By Chris Kick

Penn State graduate student Kehinde “Kenny” Kolapo is finding innovative ways to make a difference for Pennsylvania agriculture and beyond.

Kolapo is a dual-title doctoral degree student in entomology and microbiome sciences in the College of Agricultural Sciences, where he conducts research on plant pest and disease resistance.

This summer, he has taken on a special role with Team Pennsylvania, a public-private nonprofit organization that advances economic growth in the commonwealth. As one of three summer fellows, he is spending eight weeks helping accelerate economic growth in Pennsylvania. The team is co-chaired by the governor and a private-sector leader, with a focus on creating economic opportunities for Pennsylvania in agriculture, energy, manufacturing, robotics and technology, and life sciences.

Kolapo, of Ibadan, Nigeria, is leading a statewide assessment of Pennsylvania’s food processing capacity, with a focus on grain milling and processing.

This project follows a Team Pennsylvania report in 2025 that showed only a small share of the grain processed in the commonwealth is grown in Pennsylvania, despite the state’s significant concentration of grain-processing industries, said Kelly Kundratic, agriculture director for Team Pennsylvania.

Source : psu.edu

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