News and Press

Rooted in agriculture, driven by passion

by Latasha Ford

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Aftab Siddique, Ph.D., works with Thomas Terrill, Ph.D., to develop an app to help farmers.

Surrounded by farming, Aftab Siddique’s childhood in India was deeply intertwined with agriculture. This early exposure sparked a keen interest that would ultimately shape his future.

“My grandfather was a government employee, but he loved farming,” he said. “I remember he had a piece of land with dairy cattle, goats and sheep.”

A visit to his uncle’s house with his younger brother and sister also included learning how to care for the farm animals. These enjoyable experiences stayed with Siddique as he pursued a bachelor’s degree in biotechnology in India and later decided to continue with graduate studies. Due to limited options, he looked for institutions known for small ruminant (goats and sheep) research in the United States.

“I landed on Fort Valley State University’s (FVSU) website and applied to the animal science program,” Siddique said.

As the oldest sibling, this was monumental because he was the first in his family to attend college.

“When I expressed that I wanted to study abroad, they did not think it was possible because we were not that well-established in terms of finances,” he said. “Plus, when you have a farm, you don’t know when things are needed.”

He decided to take a chance to follow his passion for agriculture and technology. When he received an acceptance letter from FVSU, it filled his family with joy and confidence in his future.

“It was a great feeling,” Siddique said, smiling.

While at FVSU, his area of study focused on developing iron-fortified goat milk cheddar cheese.

“I learned a lot of instrumentations and worked with electron microscopy, fortification and textual analysis,” he said. “That helped me a lot when I went to Auburn University for my Ph.D.”

The FVSU graduate earned his degree in animal science in 2017 and completed his doctorate in food sciences (poultry) in 2023. He was pleasantly surprised to see his parents, wife and other family members joining the Zoom call for his dissertation defense presentation.

“My professor didn’t tell me,” Siddique said, recalling the touching moment. “They popped up on the screen, and in the middle of my presentation, I started to cry.”

He added it’s also special that his wife, Dr. Sanower Warsi, is a FVSU and Auburn graduate. She earned both degrees in entomology and is an FVSU postdoctoral researcher. Like his wife, Siddique returned to his alma mater in 2023 as a postdoctoral researcher in the College of Agriculture, Family Sciences and Technology.

He said he knew that he wanted to return to FVSU not only to do research but also to teach. He experienced the impact of educating students on artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analytics when studying for his Ph.D. and while at FVSU.

“I want to take all that I have learned and empower our young people or instill those same skill sets within them,” Siddique declared. “I have always wanted to come back to Fort Valley to work. I fell in love with this place.”

He noted the importance of teaching AI because of the knowledge gap.

“I want to fill that knowledge gap by developing these types of courses and educating students about what the industry wants. This will give them an extra edge that will set them apart from others,” he said. “Our undergraduate students have that potential. I saw this potential when I was a master’s student.”

Siddique said AI is a technique, but there is always a chance for error.

“You can never replace a human counterpart,” he said. “If you have a human, you can make the processing 100% accurate. It’s like ketchup – it makes your food tastier, but it does not replace your whole food.”

In addition to teaching, Siddique values the freedom to explore and implement innovative ideas through his research.

“I take every day as a challenge to be first. I want to put FVSU first in everything,” he emphasized.

Siddique pilots a drone to inspect a Georgia farmer’s land from above.

He commended his supervisor, Dr. Thomas Terrill, an animal science professor, for his support. The duo is developing an app to benefit farmers growing sericea lespedeza, a high-tannin forage, in Georgia and beyond. Their research involves AI to manage invasive plant weed species through advanced image recognition technologies. The app will give farmers a simple way to use their cell phones to take pictures and identify if a plant is a weed or sericea lespedeza.

Siddique has also published more than 10 abstracts, and his involvement as an FVSU student researcher included presenting at various conferences and winning awards.

Reflecting on his journey, he shared that his motivation comes from not wanting his students to face the same challenges he experienced in India, where there was a lack of capable instructors.

“Biotechnology started in 2007 in India. There was only one college that offered an engineering degree in biotechnology. What I have observed over there is that it’s a booming field, but not a whole lot of people are there to teach it,” he said.

For this reason, Siddique wants students to learn from his experiences.

“I love teaching,” he said. “When I was a senior in high school, I tutored students just for fun. Even during my second year of college, I tutored first-year juniors in organic chemistry and modern analytical techniques.”

These encounters further fueled his passion for academia as he strives to inspire and cultivate the next generation of scientists.

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• Categories:
• FVSU Agriculture College

• Tags:
• Alumni

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