UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Alejandra Armesto Gómez, a graduate student in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, received a 2025-26 Ardeth and Norman Frisbey International Student Award at a recent ceremony hosted by Penn State Global.
The award honors one undergraduate and one graduate international student for contributions to international understanding through academic, athletic, extracurricular and/or community involvement.
Armesto Gómez, of Bogotá, Colombia, is pursuing a dual-title degree in education, development, and community engagement and international agriculture and development.
During her time at Penn State, her research interests focus on the intersections of gender and sustainable international agricultural development. Her dissertation, titled “Negotiating Territory: Indigenous Governance and Development Policy in Colombia and Chile,” which contributed to her receiving the award, explores the intersections of national policies of land governance, gender and indigeneity in Latin America.
Her faculty mentors have noted that Armesto Gómez continues to have exceptional dedication to research, teaching and global engagement, making efforts to bridge academic knowledge with real-world impact across international contexts.
In her nomination letter, Kaitlyn Spangler, assistant professor of community development and engagement and Armesto Gómez’s faculty adviser, described her as a remarkable student and scholar. She added that through her research, Armesto Gómez is not only advancing academic scholarship focused on more equitable agricultural education but also amplifying the voices and experiences of rural and Indigenous women in land governance and environmental justice.
“Alejandra’s academic excellence, leadership and commitment to international collaboration and understanding embody the values and vision that this award seeks to promote,” Spangler said. “She is in the top 1% of students I have worked with, and her research agenda and academic record remain consistently outstanding.”
Beyond her academic achievements, Armesto Gómez has been a vital supporter of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s World Food Forum Youth Food Lab North America, hosted at Penn State, where she has helped connect students and researchers with global food system challenges.
Her leadership as a delegation leader for the FAO’s Gender, Water and Land Initiative and her roles in graduate student organizations, including president of the Education, Development, and Community Engagement Graduate Student Organization, underscore her commitment to inclusive dialogue and global collaboration, nominators said.
Another faculty member who supported Armesto Gómez for the award was a member of her dissertation committee, Maria Spencer, John and Patty Warehime Entrepreneur in Residence, who noted in her letter of support that Armesto Gómez’s contributions span academic, extracurricular and community domains. Spencer added that Armesto Gómez has published research on housing finance, remittances and rural development, and has presented at international conferences on gender equity in agricultural education.
“Her work consistently reflects a commitment to equity, sustainability and intercultural understanding,” Spencer said in her nomination letter. “In every aspect of her graduate journey, Ms. Armesto Gómez has demonstrated the qualities this award seeks to honor. She is a scholar, educator and global citizen whose work is already making a meaningful impact — and whose future contributions promise to be even more transformative.”
Armesto Gómez’s future aspirations include continuing research and engagement related to gendered and Indigenous rights in educational policy, particularly through the lens of international agricultural development.