Nikki Kohly was one of the first Norman E. Borlaug Leadership Enhancement in Agriculture Program (LEAP) Fellows.  During her fellowship, while she pursued a Masters in Education, Ms. Kohly integrated community-based agricultural research and development work by the World Agroforestry Centre and other CGIAR centers with the environmental education work being conducted at Rhodes and Cornell Universities.  The objectives of her research were to 1) to explore the role of agriculturally based school-community links in facilitating environmental learning and action in southern Africa and the US, and 2) to develop guidelines to support agriculturally-based environmental learning that promotes social change and sustainability. 

Dr. Marianne Krasny at Cornell University and Dr. Festus Akinnifesi at the World Agroforestry Centre, SADC-ICRAF in Malawi mentored Ms. Kohly.  During her fellowship, she also spent a semester at Cornell University and visited the World Agroforestry Centre.  Ms. Kohly conducted fieldwork in New York City, Malawi and Zambia.