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One of the fistulated cows on the campus farm |
On July 6th and 7th, the internship cohort and some of the program coordinators got to go on a two day excursion to University of Maryland Campus where we were able to meet with UMD and Extension faculty and educators, as well as tour some really interesting labs and facilities! I am currently a student at UMD and I was very surprised that all of the places we were able to visit were places that I had not been to before, and some of them I didn’t even realize were on campus. One of the first facilities we visited was Dr. Izursa’s aquaponics laboratory within the ENST department. As a plant biology major, I have always been very interested in aquaponic systems, especially when it comes to the sustainable production of different food resources. This was something that I did not realize was even on campus, and being able to see the lab and learn about the research that is going on within the department was extremely fascinating to me.
Another one of the facilities that we were able to visit was the plant diagnostics laboratory, which is run by Dr. Karen Rane. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to learn about this lab, especially considering that some of the coursework that I will be taking for my major will deal with plant pathology and learning about plant diseases. I personally thought that it was really interesting to learn that the lab is connected to Extension and works with farmers in the local area to assist them in diagnosing plant diseases, as opposed to the more traditional research-based lab that I am used to on campus.
One of my overall favorite aspects of the campus visit was all of the faculty we were able to meet and the networking opportunities that we made along the way. Since I started school within the college of AGNR at UMD, I have been continuously blown away by the students and staff that I have been able to meet. The college is full of brilliant, kind, and knowledgeable people that never fail to bring opportunities to students and work passionately to support Maryland agriculture. Although I have had many chances to meet people within the college, I treasure any opportunity I can get to be introduced to more AGNR and Extension staff. I love being able to learn about the career paths, research, and job positions that different people hold within the university and within Extension, especially when there is a conversion of those two. Being able to see some of the inner-workings of how the college and extension are connected directly at UMD was a great learning experience for me, and also gave me the opportunity to see how my future career could mold to be fit into both the college of AGNR and Extension.
As we are nearing the end of this internship, it was also fantastic to finally be able to meet the other interns in person and hear about their personal experiences throughout the course of this internship. I can genuinely say that I am very honored to be involved in this experience alongside these other really amazing students, along with the program coordinators that have worked so hard to make this internship such a valuable experience.
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The view from the top of the green roof we were able to tour on the Atlantic building |
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The setup from Dr. Izursa’s aquaponics lab |
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