For Assistant Professor Gabriel Burks, orienting his work and study around human needs isn’t just a hopeful ideal, it’s a priority. It’s why he spent years in STEM education. It’s why he co-founded a company that developed a sustainable option for farmers to protect their crops from frost. It’s why he came to Notre Dame to teach the next generation of engineers and scientists. And it’s what took him to Nairobi this summer to conduct a symposium that gathered scholars and government leaders to tackle urgent food and climate challenges.
As an expert in polymer physics and entrepreneurship at the intersection of agriculture and technology, a question fueling much of Burks’ research is “How can we develop better polymers and plastics that are not harmful to the environment but also serve a purpose in agriculture?” While he’d done extensive research examining the impact of frost on crops, he was interested in studying the opposite threat: heat stress. To do this, he felt it was important to go directly to a source. “So many times we make assumptions about what the needs of people are,” he explains. “For me, interacting with the people that I intend to impact is so important to inform my science in the most accurate way possible.”
With the support of the Notre Dame Global Sub-Saharan Africa Research Collaboration Grant, Burks organized the Food Equity and Agriculture through Sustainable Technologies symposium, referred to as ND-FEAST. Shortly after receiving the grant, he reached out to Notre Dame Nairobi Director Jackie Oluoch-Aridi, who provided invaluable help planning the event and connecting him to people in the region. They found a host institution in Strathmore University, a partner of Notre Dame, who also assisted with many of the major logistics.
Once he was on the ground in Africa, his discussions with colleagues quickly affirmed the value of getting first-hand accounts. It turned out that temperature wasn’t actually a concern for their farmers. What impacted their crops most was their unpredictable rain season. With just a few conversations, his whole approach changed. Rather than let this discourage him, his response was, “Let me turn off those preconceived notions and start over.”
Throughout the course of the three days, Burks led and participated in discussions on a variety of topics related to food insecurity and climate resilience. Oluoch-Aridi detailed the success of the symposium, stating in a LinkedIn post shortly after: “The energy in that room affirmed that science, community, and courageous leadership can shape a more just and sustainable agricultural future.” While the majority of the talks were held at Strathmore University, Burks also made time to travel to nearby universities and research sites, prioritizing face-to-face time with the communities he hoped his work would impact. He shares that his visit to Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology (JOOST) in Bondo, just outside Kisumu, was especially eye-opening:
“It was cool to see how connected they are to the community. They’re providing pathways for the technologies that they make to be immediately available and usable by the communities next door,” he says, sharing the example of how they’ve given the community resources to raise silk worms, and then trained them to use the silk cocoons to make products that they can sell. “It’s so integrated and there’s so little time wasted.”
Burks also visited Dandora, a province that the Holy Cross Congregation has been active in for years, running an elementary school under the Holy Cross Parish as well as several development initiatives to support the community. During his visit, Burks met with physicians and Holy Cross priests who work to educate and heal the community built around all of Nairobi’s municipal waste streams.
Burks’ interactions with African colleagues and communities provided not only academic insights but also vital motivation for continuing his research. “Just thinking about how your science can immediately impact the lives of so many people, it’s invigorating,” he says. These experiences provided fuel for his own personal mission of redefining what it means to make an impact as an academic scientist.
Already, there are projects in motion that are a direct result of the symposium and Burks’ time in East Africa. One of the immediate outcomes, responding to a need to foster more research collaborations, is the East African Research Collaborative. “We’re putting together this list of scientists who are working in agricultural technology, and then sharing it out in hopes of forming collaborations around similar research interests,” Burks explains. “For me personally, I’m writing proposals with several people now that hopefully will get done before the end of this year for funding to do some advanced work.”
While this work is currently focused in East Africa, the scale of the issue of plastic waste is much larger, and Burks’ ultimate goal is to develop polymers that support food security globally. For this reason, a highlight of Burks’ trip was his visit to the United Nations Office at Nairobi, where he met with scientists and staffers to talk about the global mission of plastic waste. “The UN gives an arm to reach this global community of agriculture.” He shares how his visit led to invitations for more collaborations—and was a moment of personal achievement: “To think a small-town guy is at the United Nations doing things on a global scale, it doesn’t feel real sometimes.”
For Burks, his time abroad was important not only for what he gained there, but for what he’ll bring back to his classroom. “What we’re doing is opening doors, diverse doors for our students to walk into,” he shares. “Being able to research and to go meet people internationally and appropriately contextualize your work, it’s so connected to the University’s mission—and the students will get behind that.”
Originally posted at nairobi.nd.edu by Jessie Carson on September 23, 2025.