Ag and Natural Resources « OSU Extension Internship Program

Greetings fellow farmers and lovers of Agriculture!

My name is Mia Claire Koljian and I am one of the summer interns for the Oak Creek Center for Urban Horticulture at Oregon State University. I am currently a senior working on my bachelors degree of science in botany with a concentration in ecology, evolution, and conservation. I am located in Corvallis and I am hoping to obtain a master’s in plant pathology. In my future I see myself working in environment stability by studying and preventing plant diseases. I have a goal of working in laboratories to study invasive pests and pathogens and their impact on the environment they are in.

Mia Claire Koljian at Oregon State Oak Creek Center for Urban Horticulture Photo: Mia Claire Koljian

When going into the summer term I knew that I wanted to be working on a farm, and I was very lucky to be provided the opportunity to work on the Dry Farm through the Extension Service Program at the Oak Creek Center for Urban Horticulture. So what is Dry Farming? Dry farming is crop production without irrigation during a dry season. It is a practice that emphasizes production and growth with as little intervention as possible. I have greatly enjoyed my time working on the dry farms so far and have been extremely supported as a worker by my supervisor Lucas Nebert. Under Lucas’ guidance I have learned so much about the processes of the dry farm and all the foundational techniques of farming. It is a goal of mine to become more knowledgeable in the processes of organic farming and working on plots of land, and I feel that I am able to achieve this with the Dry Farm Program.

So far we have been doing necessary upkeep of the land like weeding, pruning, and planting. One of my favorite tasks that I’ve been working on is planting cucumber melons next to the pollinator garden at the Oak Creek Center for Urban Horticulture. Starting your mornings by being out in the sun and listening to the sounds of nature has been such an excellent time for me. One of the other tasks I have enjoyed doing is assisting my supervisor Lucas with his project on studying drought resistant corn. The working hypothesis is that by inoculating a corn plant in its early stages with an endophyte, it will be able to assist the corn plant in becoming more drought tolerant and being able to grow and produce a fruiting body under those conditions. Endophytes are bacteria or fungi that live between living plant cells. They can have symbiotic relationships and aid in stress tolerance for the plant. I have found this very interesting to work with because it can provide foundational work for what I want to study in my future career. I am hoping to learn more information about organic farming plant microorganisms during my time with the dry farm.

Hi! My name is Isabella Brown, but I go by Bella. This summer, I’m interning with the Oregon State University Extension Service in Benton County, focusing on Extension Communications. I’m about to enter my senior year at Oregon State University, where I’m pursuing a degree in agricultural business and food management, which I will complete next year.

Bella Brown Running Barrels — Bella Brown running barrels at the 2022 BRN4D National Championship Finals. Photo: Julia Smith Photography 2022

I’m particularly interested in a marketing career within the agricultural sector and hope to train and breed horses on the side. I’ve lived in the Pacific Northwest my whole life. As a child, I was active in 4-H in Columbia County, where I rode horses in multiple disciplines and studied hippology for a year before dedicating myself to showing horses in other associations. During high school, I spent my summers working at farm stands and farmers’ markets, selling delicious Oregon strawberries and connecting with local farmers.

Through my internship with OSU Extension Communications, I hope to learn more about the Extension Service’s impact on the communities it serves. Although I’ve always had a personal and professional connection to the agricultural community, I didn’t grow up in an agricultural area and wasn’t familiar with the OSU Extension Service until I started school at OSU.

I’m just beginning my internship, but I’ve already enjoyed meeting various individuals and teams within communications and learning how I can contribute to marketing efforts this summer. I’m excited to dive deeper into the Extension Service’s work and help market it to the public. I’ll be working on numerous marketing projects this summer and look forward to creating some amazing content to share with all of you

Hello! My name is Sienna Mahaffy, and I am so excited to be interning for the Oregon State University Extension office in Coos County this summer. I recently completed my freshman year at Oklahoma State University, where I am majoring in animal science with minors in agriculture business and equine enterprise management. It is great to be back home on the Oregon coast after an incredible, but long, year in Oklahoma. After spending nine years in 4-H showing livestock, I am looking forward to continuing to be involved through this internship.

Sienna Mahaffy (left) and Elissa Wells (right) help set up the new swine wash racks — Sienna Mahaffy (left) and Elissa Wells help set up the new swine wash racks. Photo: Jason Wilson

Growing up as a fifth-generation dairy farmer and a nine year 4-H member made agriculture incredibly important to me, and I hope to share it with others this summer. In the three weeks since I have started working, my focus has been on 4-H. I have set up small animal judging contests, assisted with small animal weigh-ins, and helped organize and prepare for the county fair, which is a large undertaking. As I continue in the internship, I am looking forward to working with the other Extension agents and assisting them with their projects. In the coming weeks I will help with making garden beds for local youth groups, running nutrition classes with SNAP-Ed, and conducting research in cranberry bogs.

This summer I am looking forward to learning how the county fair is made possible. I have already helped with some small projects in the office to prepare, but things are about to get busier. I will learn how the shows are organized, and the schedules made. I am excited to work with the 4-H kids, families, and volunteers to make fair a success! Some project ideas that I have been considering are all related to the county fair. I could assist with the livestock judging contest, a huge undertaking to run on one’s own, but I could help make things easier for my supervisor. Another possible project is the Milk Drinking Contest, a fun event for 4-H members and the community. Following the years we didn’t have fair during COVID the contest has struggled restarting, but I would love to bring the Coos County Fair tradition back to its former glory!

A tall, leafy plant rises from a black container. — A pear tree that was uprooted for my pear disease diagnosis project. I replanted it with little hope it would survive, but seeing it overcome its struggles filled me with happiness.
Photo credit: Jasmin Lama

Hello, I’m Jasmin Lama. I just finished my summer internship at Southern Oregon’s Research and Extension Center in Jackson County. I can genuinely say that it was one of the best experiences of my life. I learned so much about plant pathology, along with making unforgettable memories.

Focusing on my projects was one of the aspects of my internship that I enjoyed the most. As I mentioned in my last blog, my major project was to identify the cause of why pear trees in a Southern Oregon orchard were dying. Preparing and plating these pear tree samples took many hours of dedicated hard work. After observing them for 2 weeks, I concluded that Diaporthe eres was the causal agent. I researched this species extensively and worked hard on the lab report I submitted after my internship. For about 2 weeks, I participated in processing hundreds of frozen samples for our lab. This took up most of my days, but I gained new skills and had much fun. It gave me a great sense of accomplishment once I finished. Participating in pear shoot blight measurements was also a highlight of my internship. Observing the hemp plants for my hemp management project was also a big part of my internship. Watching them prosper, consistently watering and giving them their designated treatment was one of my favorite parts this summer.

This was an incredible experience. I want to thank the amazing mentors who made it all possible. Anupa Gaire, Joseph DeShields, and especially Achala KC, my supervisor, were like walking encyclopedias of plant pathology knowledge. They helped me learn way more than I ever thought was possible. I am so grateful for their support in the plant pathology lab.

Presently, I have transitioned into my junior year of high school. This experience has enriched my understanding and left a lasting mark personally and intellectually. Monthly meetings provided insight into the ongoing projects of my mentors, amplifying my appreciation for the field. Field trips and meeting new people from all over the county added depth to my experience. However, the most memorable experience was our road trip to Woodhall Vineyards just outside of Corvallis. It was an incredible experience being able to work in such a large vineyard and I will never forget it.

Approaching this new academic year, I’ve gotten tanner thanks to all the sunshine. More importantly, I’m grateful for the knowledge I gained from this internship. I hope to return soon. It was an amazing experience that I will cherish forever. I am excited to use the skills and knowledge I gained to positively impact the future.

A metal table filled with lab supplies. — Lab table in Milton-Freewater, setting up to conducted sugar, pH and TA measurements on wine grapes.
Photo credit: Melinda Cramp

Hello once again! It’s hard to believe I am in my last week of this internship. I’d like to believe I’ve come a long way since I started in mid-June, and I’m happy to say that I’ve continued to learn new skills since my last blog post in August. Some of those new things I’ve learned include taking the sugar content, pH and titratable acidity (TA) of wine grapes. To find the amount of sugar in wine grapes, we use a tool called a refractometer that measures how the grape juice bends light. This tells us the sugar content, and when the ideal harvesting time will be. Finding the pH of wine grapes is fairly simple with the use of a benchtop pH meter. Finally, to calculate the TA of wine grapes we use a pH meter, sodium hydroxide (NaOH), and burette to slowly drip in the NaOH into a known mixture of grape juice and water until the pH meter reads a certain number. Once that number has been met, we do some simple math to find our TA. All of this work has been done in Milton-Freewater with my supervisor Cody Copp and fellow intern Aiden Wiggins. Who knew so much went into growing grapes and making wine!

Three people walk through a field of young hemp plants. — Setting up for a hemp field day at CBARC with fellow interns Mazon Langford, Gabbie Fertello, and supervisor Alan Wernsing.
Photo credit: Melinda Cramp

Like I mentioned in my previous blog, I also spend some of my time at the Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center. One new skill I’ve acquired in the last month is learning how to tell apart male and female hemp plants, and how to harvest and clean hemp plants once they’re ready. Hemp can be used for fiber, seed and flower. Additionally, my supervisor at CBARC, Don Wysocki, taught me all about land surveying and how to apply it in the real world.

This internship has truly taught me numerous life skills and field skills. I am thankful for all the opportunities that I have received from OSU and my supervisors. It was such a wonderful experience being able to work right in my own community.

– Melinda Cramp

Rows of young hemp plants on black weed barrier. — Hemp plants when they were first planted two months ago.
Photo credit: Aayusha Subedi

Hello! I am Aayusha Subedi from the Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center (SOREC) here in Jackson County. This summer has gone by in the blink of an eye, and I cannot believe I am at the end of my internship. Over the past two months, I have learned many new things and have created many lasting memories.

In mid-July I prepped over 150-plus grapevine samples for DNA extraction for Grapevine Red Blotch Virus detection. During this time, I also collected pear tree samples for my pear disease diagnosis project. I prepped and plated samples for the experiment, which was to identify why the pear trees were dying in the first place. I had been tasked to write a lab report on this experiment and its outcomes. In August, I worked on a hemp disease management trial. For this trial, I planted 60 hemp plants and monitored them for a month, observing them for any symptoms. I also went to a hemp farm multiple times this summer because a similar experiment was being conducted there as well. Towards the end of this internship, I worked on completing my report.

Rows of hemp plants. — Hemp plants now.
Photo credit: Anupa Gaire

Two highlights from this summer as an intern were picking blackberries with other interns and going on a treehopper collection excursion. The treehopper collecting was surprisingly fun; however, they are hard critters to catch (like the name suggests they like to hop away a lot). They were being collected as a part of a Grapevine red blotch virus detection experiment. I also enjoyed walking around the garden located close by.

I am incredibly grateful for being able to take part in this program. Going into this position I was unsure about what to expect. One main thing I have learned a lot about is Grapevine red blotch virus and its effects on grapevines. This experience also taught me a lot about standard lab procedures and how to engage with others in a laboratory setting.

Now that I have completed my time here as an intern, I want to give my thanks to my wonderful supervisor Achala KC. I want to thank her for allowing me to work in her lab and for inviting me into the field of plant pathology. I would like to thank the amazing people who work at the SOREC, such as Anupa Gaire and Joey Deshields for helping me around the lab. I am truly thankful to have been able to receive this opportunity this year. This is an experience that will remain with me in the future. I hope to be able to come back and do this again. Once again thank you to everyone who helped make this internship and summer an incredible experience!

Seven kids in artist smocks work at a long table covered in paper. — Kids get messy with activities at 4-H STEAM summer camp.
Photo credit: Sofie Carlson

Hi again, it’s Sofie Carlson, welcome back to my blog! I am in the final week of my incredible experience as the natural resources intern at Lincoln County Extension. Let me give you an update on the projects I’ve been working on this summer:

I continued composing the monthly newsletters that my supervisor, Evie Smith, sends out: Small Farms TLC Newsletter, which provides relevant information for small farms and ranches in Tillamook, Lincoln and Clatsop counties; and LC Master Gardener’s Newsletter, which contains information and expertise to help our Master Gardeners (and any other readers) meet local challenges. In total, I helped put out six newsletters!
I finished redesigning an updated brochure for Lincoln County Local Foods that will deliver information on all of the producers in Lincoln County conducting farm direct sales at the four local farmers markets in our county: what they sell, how to contact them and when the markets are I am really proud of the final version and can’t wait to see the printed copies make their way into the community. I joined in on one more Cooking Matters Tour at the Newport Farmers Market, with our FCH/SNAP-Ed Program Coordinator, Beatriz Botello, and Nutrition Education Program Assistant Jennifer Pettit. I hope that the brochure I created can draw more attention to Lincoln County’s farmers markets and the valuable tour that Beatriz and Jennifer give.
I collected more blueberries and blackberries at Gibson Farms! I ended up completing seven collections at six different sites within the blueberry farm, contributing data for a larger ongoing research project that monitors a pest called spotted wing
I did my last round of maintenance on a project called Juntos en el Jardin, which is a community garden located at the Newport This has been rewarding work and I am glad to have been involved in making the garden a more accessible space. I also joined Sea Grant marine fisheries educator Angee Doerr for four Fridays, with her Shop at the Dock program. I greeted and organized the tour groups for the guides to then teach families about Newport’s commercial fisheries through a tour of the port.
Lastly, I attended the Kids’ Garden Fair at the Lincoln City Demonstration Garden and assisted 4-H Youth Development Program Leader Shelley Spangler with one of her summer camps. These two experiences helped solidify my love for working with
youth and being outside learning about the natural world.

Picture of a dock in Oregon, with a sign over a walkway that says Port of Newport, Dock 5. — Shop at the Dock gives tours of the fishing boats, gear, and fisheries associated with Port Dock 5.
Photo credit: Sofie Carlson

As my time in Oregon comes to a close, at least for the time being, and I reflect on my summer, I want to give a huge thanks to my supervisor, Evie Smith, for her support and guidance. I have absolutely loved working with her and I could not have asked for a better role model to mentor me in this position. I would also like to thank all of the people I worked with at the Lincoln County Extension office; it was an amazing work environment, and I will miss working there! Lastly, I want to thank my aunt, Emily Blume, for telling me about this opportunity and letting me live with her and her family for the past two months in this beautiful state.

I will soon be heading back home to Vermont, where I will be starting a new job as a Naturalist Educator at North Branch Nature Center in Montpelier. I am excited to begin the next chapter of my life, teaching environmental education to youth in my home state.

A black box with a tall orange flag sits in a field. — Vole bait box in a tall fescue field.
Photo credit: Sprout Mahoney

Happy summer, blog readers! This is Sprout Mahoney, a soil science student entering their final year at OSU. I am so grateful I had the opportunity to intern with the OSU Extension office in Linn County. Working with Christy Tanner, the south valley Extension field crops agent, has educated me about how science fits into agriculture and how Extension helps to bring research with the community.

One project I got to participate in is Mint Pest Alert, a publication that goes out to mint growers around Oregon. Every week I visited mint fields to collect insect samples to identify pests and do population surveys. This information is vital for targeting pests at the right time in their lifecycle. Using precision treatments at the proper time helps to prevent broadscale pesticide use that can harm beneficial insects.

I was able to witness another research project happening in a local clover field where treatments for the clover seed weevil were being studied. It was fascinating to see researchers work together during the harvest and weighing of clover seed. Measuring the seed weights of the different plots can determine which treatments led to best yields, and conclusions can be drawn to which treatments were most effective against the weevil.

Aerial images of a field. — Aerial image of a vole bait box (left center) surrounded by healthy and damaged tall fescue plants. NDVI image of the same area (right), with green showing healthy growing vegetation and yellows/reds showing damaged vegetation and bare soil.
Photo credits: Christy Tanner and Sprout Mahoney

Another project was related to gray-tailed moles and their damage to grass seed fields. Vole damage in the Willamette Valley can be extensive and there are limited ways for growers to tackle the vole challenge. The study being conducted is to research the effectiveness of different vole baits and if these baits can be applied in above-ground boxes rather than directly into burrows. The tamper-resistant bait boxes are more cost-effective and also more directed, targeting the voles and limiting the risk of rodenticides to other vertebrate wildlife. I was able to join in multiple visits to tall fescue fields where these boxes were placed with different baits. We measured not only the amount of bait consumed at each plot but also took aerial photographs of the fields by drone. Analyzing this drone footage is another tool being used to measure stand growth and identify areas of greater or lesser damage.

The summer is a busy time for grass seed farmers in the Willamette Valley as they cut, dry, collect and process their crop. While doing field visits, I got to watch the different steps of this process and then research it further as I wrote an article about grass seed harvest for Extension’s “Growing” publication. My article informs the public know what is going on once the combines leave the fields.

I have greatly enjoyed my summer internship and all the activities I have been able to be a part of. The skills I have learned, the information I have gained, and the people who have inspired me will help to shape my future in agriculture. I look forward to continuing my academic and professional journey knowing that the OSU Extension Service is there to help the community in so many ways.

A young man inspects a fruit tree in an orchard. — Kieran King at a peach-plum orchard, assessing the health of the fruit trees on the owner’s property.
Photo credit: Hayley White

The summer has gone by so fast, but I’ve learned so much throughout this season! I’m now in my last weeks of my Oregon State University Extension Service Small Farms Program internship, and what a great experience it has been. I’ve been able to help with a wide array of projects, ranging from public outreach via social media to data collection in agricultural trials.

The biggest project that I’ve worked on was my activity for the Polk County Fair. I had to figure out how to make an activity that was engaging for kids and related to agriculture. I settled on making my activity about beneficial arthropods (insects, spiders, etc.), since that was something that I would have been interested in when I was young. I designed trivia cards for kids to read and set up an area for them to draw. This turned out to be an effective outreach strategy as parents would have to wait for their kids to do the activity and ended up taking some of our outreach materials. While I definitely learned a lot about how to perform effective outreach from this project, I ended up learning a lot more about insect anatomy than I ever thought I would.

The hand of the photographer reaches out to a dog who sniffs it. — Greeted by a dog at a research donor’s property during a site visit. Photo credit: Kieran King

One of my favorite things that I’ve gotten to help with is the Olea project. I’ve had the opportunity to go to North Willamette Research and Extension Center in Aurora and collect data on OSU’s 400-plus olive trees , assessing fruit set and collecting leaves for tissue samples. In the process, I’ve been able to meet many interesting people, including donors and active researchers. NWREC is also just a beautiful place to be on a sunny summer day!

Over the course of my internship, I’ve come to have a greater appreciation for everything that goes into public outreach. Everything from social media posts and email campaigns to manning and preparing a fair booth takes so much time and effort that isn’t usually seen from an outside perspective. Many of these things take hours to prepare and design, but people engaging with them may only see them for a few seconds at a time. Even so, the unseen work that goes into outreach is worth it, because we are able to bring OSU Extension’s amazing services to people in need of advice and assistance.

I’m very grateful for all that I’ve learned over the summer. I learned how to confidently communicate and bond with people in a professional environment, which are skills that I wanted to work on going into my internship. I’ve also learned a lot of practical information and skills, from noxious weed identification to the use of website building programs. I’ve learned things that I never expected to. Even though I might not use all of them in my future career, I feel like a much more well-rounded person because of these learning experiences with OSU Extension.

Finally, I’d like to thank my supervisor Hayley White for making my internship such a positive experience. Her guidance and compassion helped me stay on course throughout the internship, and she always affirmed the value of the work I did. I couldn’t have asked for a better boss at my first job!

– Kieran King

A woman kneels in the grass to feed a black and white baby goat with a bottle. — Sophia Nowers feeding a two-day old baby goat on a recent farm tour. Photo credit: Teagan Moran

Hello, again. I’m Sophia Nowers, the summer intern for Oregon State University Extension Service’s Small Farms Program and Community Horticulture in Benton, Linn and Lane counties. It is hard to believe that I’m already in the last week of my internship. The past month has sped by in a blur of events and activities. I have tabled at the Benton County Fair, helped on Small Farms farm tours, gone to OSU field days, and worked with Master Gardeners to publicize some of their events and talks. Between writing up summaries of events for sharing on social media and in Extension publications, I have also been working on an article about the OSU Dry Farm Project and its community involvement through the Dry Farming Collaborative.

It has been fantastic to explore Extension this summer, especially as an OSU student in the College of Agricultural Sciences. I have had the opportunity to make so many connections with professors, researchers, and members of the community and it has given me a strong sense of what I might want to do in the future.

There have been so many highlights, from getting to bottle feed a two-day old baby goat to attending the Organic Grains & Pulses Field Day and several Master Gardener events. My favorite part of my internship was learning how Extension bridges the gap between communities and the university, connecting researchers with farmers and business owners, community members with resources about gardening and homeownership and farmers with each other. I am grateful for the opportunity to help publicize Small Farms Program and Community Horticulture’s events and activities.

The project that I am proudest of is my article about the OSU Dry Farm Project. For the article, I interviewed the lead researchers of the project, Lucas Nebert and Matt Davis, visited two of their dry farm sites, and in the process learned a lot about dry farming and its challenges in Oregon.

I am grateful to my supervisors, Teagan Moran and Brooke Edmunds, for their support and guidance this summer, and to everyone I met through this internship. I have greatly enjoyed exploring some of what Extension has to offer and realizing that there is so much more!

OSU Extension Internship Program

Category Archives: Ag and Natural Resources

OSU Extension intern finds foundational work for later careers

OSU Extension Communication intern looks at community impact

Longtime 4-H’er joins Extension Internship

An Incredible Summer Filled with New Experiences

Internship taught me numerous life and field skills

Very thankful for the opportunities I received this summer!

Incredible experience as the natural resources intern

OSU helps our farmers and our communities in many ways

A more well-rounded person because of the learning experiences with OSU Extension

Extension is a bridge from the OSU campus to communities

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