My first week as an intern - by Makayla Kret

My name is Makayla Kret and I am a student at the University of Maryland studying Agricultural and Resource Economics with an Agribusiness concentration. I am interested in working for the United States Department of Agriculture one day. This summer I will be working at the Anne Arundel County Extension office as an intern. My Mentor is Ronald David Myers, and he has been working in Extension for many years. His expertise is in fruits and vegetable crops, agronomy field crops, weed science, pesticide use and safety, no-tillage technology, and pasture and hay production. He also conducts fruit and vegetable research at the University of Maryland Upper Marlboro Research and Education Center. During my time here, I will be assisting Mr. Myers and Gretchen Sumbrum with the 4-H program as well as helping my mentor with the new Urban Farming Research Clinic. This project is a two-acre plot of land located just a few steps away from the office. Here he plans to grow pumpkins, sunflowers, Indian corn, and popcorn.

During my first week, I learned more about the garden located next to the office. This garden is taken care of and supported by the Master Gardener Program. I was able to talk with our Master Gardener Coordinator, Rachel Carey, and learn more about what this program offers. It was very interesting to see different projects they have worked on in the past.

My mentor and I talked about different challenges facing agriculture and challenges coming up as he works on the Research Clinic. I learned more about the history of the farm that our office is located on as well. He used to live and work on the farm years ago while he worked there. Learning about the U.S. Naval Academy Dairy and what he did while he worked there was very interesting. The area where the Urban Farming Research clinic is located actually used to be his garden back when he worked on the U.S. Naval Academy Dairy Farm.

We also visited a strawberry farm that was experiencing some problems this week. We inspected the plants and berries to determine what could be wrong after we arrived. We decided to take a plant sample to the UMD Plant Diagnostic Lab to confirm what was causing the problems. During this time I learned what anthracnose is and how it can damage infected plants. I know the communication skills, professionalism, and knowledge of agriculture I will learn during this internship will be fitting to many aspects of my career. Learning about all programs that are currently offered by Extension gives me a better understanding of Agriculture as I continue through my education. I have already learned so much in my first week, so I know I will have so many opportunities to learn more. I am so excited to see what the rest of this summer has to offer!