Seng worked with MDP Associate Director, Dr. Hilary King on a USDA-funded research study on Assessing the Relationship between Farmers Market Management and Farmers' Economic Viability and Quality of Life. Seng's role entailed using qualitative interviews with farmers to identify the values and priorities that shape their management practices. His research found that small scale farmers prioritize soil health over short-term profits, which leads them to embrace regenerative agriculture and circular economy models. Seng contributed data that enabled the team to compare different marketing approaches, such as Community Supported Agriculture and farmers’ markets, showing that farmers interviewed prefer market systems that sustain social networks and community ties.

During his summer in Kyrgyzstan, Aaron engaged in qualitative research to examine the programmatic impacts of a nongovernmental organization, Bio KG, which aims to promote organic farming through social entrepreneurship and a rights-based approach. By means of interviews, focus groups, and participatory observation, Aaron elicited data on farmers' perceptions, knowledge, and attitudes as well as barriers and incentives to adoption. Categorization and coding enabled the inductive identifications of key themes and drivers from the rich narrative data base.

For their summer practicum, Max worked with a research group from Cambridge University on an evaluation of a Menstrual Health and Hygiene (MHH) project implemented by UNICEF in Tanzania, a country where Max has spent several years, including as founder and Director of Behavior Change and Impact Evaluation of the Maji Safi Group (MSG), a health-education nonprofit focusing on Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene, Menstrual Hygiene Management, and Neglected Tropical Diseases. In addition to their contextual knowledge of the country, Max benefited from having worked with the Cambridge University team since 2021, which offered the unique opportunity to engage in a complete research project cycle, from creating the study design and tools, through data collection, to the current stages of data analysis and manuscript writing.

Becky's summer practicum with CARE Ghana focused on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and women's economic empowerment through entrepreneurship promotion programs. Her concern about the growing prevalence of GBV in rural Ghana motivated her to contribute to the development and finalization of CARE Ghana's Program Strategy and Rapid Gender Analysis Framework. Becky also had the opportunity to contribute to two other projects - Adwuma Pa (Good Work Ethics) and Women for Change (W4C) - which support women's income-generation activities, Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA), nutrition demonstrations, financial literacy and adult education to empower vulnerable women and girls in cocoa farming communities.