US (CA): Student uses hydroponics to sow seeds of hope

Sheyna Burns (Oakes '26) stepped foot on a farm for the first time during her first undergraduate quarter at UC Santa Cruz in the fall of 2022.

"I was a bit breathtaken by it," she said about seeing the UCSC Farm for the first time.

Burns, 32, transferred to UCSC from Compton College as a sociology major with the goal of becoming an attorney. However, learning about UCSC's Center for Agroecology led her to change her path toward studying agroecology and building sustainable food systems.

She said she has always been drawn to helping people and initially wanted to enter the medical field. After learning about ethical harms associated with the pharmaceutical industry, she became interested in pursuing law.

While she was pondering her career choices during the COVID-19 pandemic she conducted online research about holistic approaches to address health issues through nutrition. Through her research, she noticed that many Black and brown communities do not have access to proper nutrition, which contributes to health issues such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes.

"I believe food is a basic human right and all people should have access to it regardless of color, creed, or location," Burns (pictured right) said. © Nick Gonzales/UC Santa Cruz

Burns said she connected the dots between her passions for food justice, healthcare, and agriculture when she became acquainted with the resources available through the Center for Agroecology.

"Seeing the land and finally having access to it flipped a switch inside me; everything suddenly became clear," she said. "This felt like where I was meant to be," she said.

"You can free someone from jail, fight for their rights, and invest in their education, but if you're still poisoning them, it all becomes meaningless," she said. "I think food is the answer."

Burns said the agroecology department staff and faculty have been receptive to her goals and passions, even if they are outside of their specialities. Burns is focusing her degree on controlled environment agriculture (CEA) and studying hydroponics.

Hydroponics is one method of CEA, methods where plants are cultivated in controlled spaces like greenhouses, converted buildings, or shipping containers, rather than outdoors in soil. Hydroponics is a technique of growing plants using water-based nutrient solutions instead of soil. She decided she wanted to focus her studies, research and agricultural business plans on hydroponic crop production, drawn by its lower barriers to entry and greater sustainability.

"It's efficient and if done sustainably it can transform the food industry," Burns said.

She said that many farming techniques are labor-intensive and she believes that the land and the people who work in or around agriculture need a break.

Hydroponic farming uses less land and provides greater environmental control. Burns, who is determined to grow pesticide-free crops, explained that owning a traditional farm plot could expose her crops to pesticide drift from nearby farms.

Burns has made the most of the agroecology program at UC Santa Cruz. She has developed her own research lab and is working on creating a food hub for socially disadvantaged farmers.

On top of school, research, and running her own organizations Burns is also a single-mother of a 13-year-old and 11-year-old who she homeschools.

Sankofa Sky Farm and Farm Fresh Markets
On campus, Burns started her own research farm called Sankofa Sky Farm, named after the© Nick Gonzales/UC Santa Cruz Ghanaian Akan symbol, "Sankofa," which means to look to the past to know where you are going, or to inform the future. She conducted a research project on the farm with the help of 22 other undergraduate students in 2024 to grow 12 different crops hydroponically. The research is under her lab, the Huey P. Newton Lab to honor Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense and UC Santa Cruz alumnus.

Burns is testing how different crops grow using synthetic nutrients and fish effluent. Burns also studied the effects of sound and how plants grow under 432 hertz, which is the same frequency as a bird chirp. This research project was inspired by a scientific theory that the songs of birds vibrate at an ideal frequency to promote plant growth. She purchased a singing bowl that was tuned to 432 Hz, recorded it, and played it on repeat for the plants.

As part of her commitment to expanding access to research opportunities, Burns said she conducted these projects to reach students who might not otherwise have such experiences. Through grant funding, she has been able to provide six scholarships to students in her lab.

Burns is motivated to help expose CEA to more people, especially those in her community so that the agriculture practice can benefit everyone.

"When doors open for Black folks, it opens for everybody," she said.

In addition to her research, Burns is an entrepreneur and has been working on developing a food hub called Farm Fresh Markets, which would help socially disadvantaged farmers sell their goods. Farm Fresh Markets will operate as a food hub offering aggregation, distribution, and marketing services, as well as grant writing, grant administration, and farm management support.

In exploring where to launch her first hub, Burns is considering Santa Cruz, the Bay Area, or Los Angeles County, with plans to later expand to satellite hubs across the state. She said 10 farmers have already expressed interest in working with Farm Fresh Markets. Additionally, she recently applied for a grant through the California Department of Food and Agriculture to help fund the food hub and expects to hear back in June.

Burns has funded her lab research through UC Santa Cruz's Carbon Fund Grant and has won the $20,000 award twice, once in 2024 and again in 2025. The UCSC Carbon Fund is a granting body that funds student and staff projects that reduce humans' carbon footprint.

Looking forward
In an effort to bring together Black farmers, ranchers, growers, community members, youth and their allies, Burns is organizing the first annual California Black Farmers Conference, which will be held at UC Santa Cruz from September 11 to 13. The event is hosted and fiscally sponsored by Santa Cruz based non profit, Square One Foundation, and will feature a keynote speaker, wellness offerings, CBFC award show, farmers market, farm tour, youth engagement activities, and more.

Burns is set to graduate with her undergraduate degree in 2026 and is applying to continue her graduate studies at UC Santa Cruz in the fall. She said she intends to pursue a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies and work under Professor Anne Kapuscinski where she will further her research growing food in fully controlled environments.

Burns was recently appointed to the Commission on the Environment by the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on April 29. Her four-year term will end in April 2029. The Commission on the Environment advises the board of supervisors and makes recommendations on ways to improve and protect the environment to ensure the long-term environmental sustainability of the county.

Through her studies at UCSC, Burns observed a clear imbalance in how agricultural history is presented, often spotlighting a single group and excluding others. She said she is committed to changing that by writing academic papers and books, and by developing innovations within the field of agroecology.

Burns hopes her work will inspire and motivate others from marginalized communities to pursue careers in agroecology.

Source: UC Santa Cruz