Unearthing the Future Viewing Party

Delaware Valley University was founded on the philosophy of combining “science with practice.” This led to DelVal creating the acclaimed E360 program, which has caught the eye of Lexicon of Food and BBC StoryWorks. DelVal brings students and faculty together to follow their passions. Charley Silfee ’25, experienced this firsthand. Her parents were not farmers themselves; this meant she had to learn with them how to truly work on a farm. Through the years growing up, she realized that agriculture was her passion and something she loved doing. That’s what led her to come to DelVal and find her mentor Dr. Jacqueline Ricotta, chair of the Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture.

BBC StoryWorks heard of the award-winning E360 program and reached out to DelVal to discuss participation in the upcoming series Unearthing the Future. In early planning discussions, it became clear the perfect duo to feature was Silfee and Dr. Ricotta. Students and staff got to watch the six-minute feature in the LSB auditorium on Wednesday, January 28. This video truly highlighted everything that makes DelVal special. Silfee spoke about how she overcame her shyness by taking on leadership roles, like becoming the president of Plant Breeding Club. Dr. Ricotta praised DelVal for the hands-on experience that students can obtain. 

“DelVal is special because we have these amazing farms as part of our living laboratories. This allows our students to get lots of hands-on experience,” said Dr. Ricotta.

The video was incredibly inspiring to those that were in the auditorium that day. 

“I thought the video showed DelVal's core beliefs of how experience is key to getting into the workforce,” said Eli Freier ’27. “DelVal is so successful they have even been recognized by the BBC.” 

Another student spoke about how the video taught them something they never knew before. 

“I would say, the video did an excellent job of establishing where the college came from and how it progressed into teaching the previous generations on how to farm,” said Spencer Smith ’26.

The opportunity DelVal was given by Lexicon of Food and BBC StoryWorks Commercial Productions allows the world to see how over a century of work has allowed for thousands of young adults to pursue their interests.

DelVal’s video in the Unearthing the Future series can be viewed at delval.edu/bbcstoryworks.

To learn more about the DelVal E360 program visit delval.edu/cspd/e360.