Linn County « OSU Extension Internship Program

Extension has been a part of my family since before I was born. My family has been preserving food for decades. My mom learned from her mom and mother-in-law, and I learned from her. As my mom looked for safe canning recipes in the early 90’s, she turned to the Extension Service for help. From Extension, she found a recipe for salsa that would become a part of my family’s summers for decades. In April of 1990, according to the date on the bottom of the paper, my mom picked up a recipe for salsa. The salsa recipe, in a packet with a couple of other recipes printed on pink paper, became a family staple. We have made that salsa, using that same paper, for 34 years now.

Emily Braibish assisting at an informational Extension booth. Photo: Otillia Schreuder

Now, as a college student exploring my options, I have also turned to Extension, though for slightly different reasons. As I look for possible career paths and avenues of study, the OSU Extension service is where I have landed. A career in Extension connects research with the public. It helps farmers, families and the surrounding community use new ideas to solve real problems. My goal is to work as an Extension agent who shares useful knowledge, supports local growth and builds strong community ties.

Emily Braibish, OSU Extension intern in Benton and Linn Counties. Photo: Otillia Schreuder

Extension work plays such an important role in the community by acting as a bridge between the academic work of universities and everyday people. Extension programs serve as a critical link between academic research and the practical needs of local communities. By translating complex scientific data into accessible, actionable tools, Extension agents empower individuals and businesses to implement proven best practices.

My own desire to work within Extension programming stems from a deep commitment to meaningful community service and public impact. I want to build a career where my daily efforts directly improve the lives of the people around me; Extension provides the perfect framework to turn that goal into reality. By working at the crossroads of education and community, I look forward to giving back to the community, helping my neighbors with their questions, and equipping families with the tools they need to thrive.

-Emily Braibish, OSU Extension intern in Benton and Linn Counties

Hi everyone!

My name is Callie Bradshaw, and I am entering my third year at Oregon State University studying public health with a minor in communication. After earning my degree, I hope to pursue a career in healthcare administration, where I can help improve patient experiences and make healthcare more accessible and effective. This summer, I am thrilled to be interning with Oregon State University Extension’s Master Food Preserver (MFP) program, working with both the Benton and Linn County communities.

Callie Bradshaw smiles for her senior photo. Photo: Starr Photography

I’ll admit that before this internship, my knowledge of food preservation extended little beyond basic food safety. I quickly learned that there is so much science, planning, education and outreach involved in helping people preserve food safely. One of the biggest surprises has been discovering just how many ways OSU Extension Master Food Preservers serve Oregon communities. Whether answering food preservation questions, teaching workshops, supporting volunteers, or creating educational resources, I’ve seen firsthand how research-based information can make a real difference in people’s lives, especially when it comes to food security.

One of my favorite projects has been designing educational displays and interactive materials for community outreach events. I enjoy combining creativity with education, and this project has challenged me to think about how to communicate food safety information in ways that are engaging and easy to understand. I’ve also had the opportunity to organize Master Food Preserver equipment and resources, assist with workshops and learn about the planning and coordination that happen behind the scenes.

Master Food Preserver volunteers smile for the camera at the Food Preservation booth for the Mennonite Heritage Day. Photo: Callie Bradshaw

As the summer continues, I’m looking forward to attending farmers’ markets, community events and workshops where I can connect directly with members of my community. I’m excited to see the educational displays we’ve created in action while continuing to learn from the dedicated MFP volunteers. I hope to use every event as an opportunity to strengthen my communication skills and gain confidence in community outreach. Although food preservation is different from the healthcare setting where I hope to work someday, this internship has shown me how closely education and public health are connected. Helping people make informed decisions about safely preserving food is another way of promoting health and preventing illness. That perspective is something I plan to carry with me throughout my career, making me even more grateful to have the opportunity to learn and serve my community this summer!

Hello again everyone! My name is Forrest Pratt, and I am wrapping up my Oregon State University Extension internship for the summer. I have had the great pleasure and privilege of working under the SNAP-Ed program in Linn and Benton counties.

Oregon State Extension "Blender Bike". Stationary bike that powers a blender. — Oregon State University Extension “Blender Bike”. Photo: Forrest Pratt

I have spent this summer supporting Food Hero’s community outreach programming. This has given me lots of opportunities to practice planning events and learning from previous events to plan to make future ones more successful. Putting on programs with a food component was new to me, so I learned a lot about how to make the tasting events go well. I always enjoyed bringing the food I made out to people in the community. Providing recipe tastings at farmers markets gave people the chance to try something new and gave me a chance to talk to them about how to include more fruits and vegetables into their lives.

In addition to the farmers markets, I’ve had a few opportunities to teach nutrition lessons to local youth camps and clubs. These events are always a lot of fun, and it’s very rewarding to chat with kids and families about healthy eating! One of the highlights of these classes has been bringing our blender bike, which blends a smoothie when the bike is pedaled. The kids are always very excited to try it and are more open to trying a new food when they were a part of making it.

My experience this summer has also opened my eyes to what goes on behind the scenes to make this kind of work happen. I got to learn about and help with a lot of the planning, preparation and collaboration that is necessary to get these events out to the public.

Overall, this has been a great summer of learning for me. I have a greater understanding of nutrition and food equity issues, and I will bring that with me into my future work in education and community outreach. I’m so grateful for all the people I worked with this summer – everyone at Extension has been so kind and welcoming and their support has made this summer so much easier and more fun!

Hi everyone! My name is Forrest Pratt, and I am interning with Oregon State University Extension Service in Linn and Benton counties this summer. I am working with SNAP-Ed and supporting the Food Hero program. I am a senior at Oregon State University, where I am pursuing a double bachelor’s degree in zoology and education, and I will be a student teacher in a middle school science classroom during the upcoming school year.

Forrest Pratt serves "Strawberry Swirl" at Food Hero booth at Farmers Market. Photo: Vonda Peters — Forrest Pratt serves “Strawberry Swirl” at Food Hero booth at Farmers Market. Photo: Vonda Peters

So far, I have focused on Food Hero outreach at farmers’ markets with Extension. I have also worked on a few other Food Hero outreach projects in community resource centers. Food Hero promotes accessible healthy eating by sharing recipes that are nutritious, low-cost, and easy to make. The website also has information about food safety and storage, gardening, and physical activity. We bring samples of these recipes that use in-season produce to the markets for people of all ages to try. We encourage people to try making them and to explore what else Food Hero has to offer. I love talking with the people at the markets about the recipe, the market, Food Hero, or anything else they want to talk about. My favorite part is seeing the different reactions kids (and adults!) have to trying something new.

I’ve also met with other people who work for the Extension Service in Linn County, and had chances to learn about what they do and support some of their work. I am exploring careers for myself in formal and informal education, and I am especially interested in community outreach. Interning with the Extension Service is providing me with a new perspective on what this type of work can look like. It is also offering me opportunities to practice event planning and facilitation.

In a few weeks, I will be teaching a local youth club a lesson about energy as it relates to food intake and physical activity. One of the parts of this position that I am enjoying the most is the ability to connect with a variety of people, and to promote healthy eating and an active lifestyle to many different people in my community. As the summer goes on, I am looking forward to taking on more of the planning responsibilities of our outreach initiatives and participating in more farmers’ market events.

Hello! My name is Marie Guthrie and I just wrapped up my second year at Oregon State University. I am majoring in apparel design and have been loving all my design-based classes. I would love to go into historical textile preservation or historic costuming as a career. I love sustainable fashion and learning more about making clothing accessible. In my free time, I enjoy learning dying arts such as tatting, crocheting lace and sewing to help preserve family traditions and history.

I am from Albany, Oregon, and am excited to serve my community this summer.

I did 4-H as a child and it taught me a lot about sewing, leatherwork, and fiber arts. This is part of what kicked off my interest in the arts. I want to give back to the program that was a huge part of my development as a child. I still draw back on my experiences from the program to create artwork.

I am helping with the Linn County fair and doing what I can to make the lives of the Linn County Oregon State University Extension Office workers a little bit easier. Currently, I have been working on preparations for the county fair such as getting all the auction cards and ribbons ready. Part of this will include helping set up and run the Cupcake Wars and the Flower Arranging contest. I have already learned so many valuable office skills and am excited to see all this preparation pay off in big ways. I am happy to lend a helping hand, no matter if it is making 500 copies or making sure all the superintendent books are up to date.

This summer I would like to improve my leadership and event coordinating skills. Organizing and leadership are two things that are a bit out of my comfort zone. I can be quiet and a bit shy but I am going to push myself out of my comfort zone this summer. Jodi Hill and Andrea Leao have helped me gain confidence in myself and my ability to make decisions. With the support from the Extension office, I am confident that I am set up for success.

A woman sit at an outdoor table covered with a black Extension Service tablecloth and gives the thumbs up sign. — Ava Cordle at the OSU Extension booth.
Photo credit: Olivia Jacobs

Hello everyone! I am already in my last week of my summer internship with OSU Extension’s groundwater protection program. I have really enjoyed getting to learn more about well water and getting to go out in the community to test water for nitrate. I have had the opportunity to grow by planning and attending events throughout the summer. It has been exciting to attend events, since I had been working on planning some of them back in May and June!

A rack of test tubes filled with water. — Testing well water for nitrate.
Photo credit: Ava Cordle

Some of the different events I went to this summer were Harrisburg Sounds of Summer, Silverton Farmers Market, the Corvallis farmers market and more! At these events we set up a booth where we offer free nitrate testing for people in the community to bring in their well water. To run a test, we take a bit of their well water and we use reagents that change the color of the water depending on how much nitrate is present. At a clinic I did at the Lacomb Grange I did 59 tests in just three hours! We also offer publications and information on well water and septic systems, and a lot of people stop by just to ask questions. Attending these events was my favorite part of the internship. I found it rewarding after spending a lot of time planning them.

Overall, some of my favorite parts about this internship was meeting and working with the other groundwater interns, talking with community members and getting to attend events all over Benton, Linn, Lane, Marion and Lincoln counties. I have learned so much about well water over the past few months. Coming into this internship I had never had well water and did not know much about the care of well water. I also gained skills in community outreach, creating flyers and postcards, and got to learn about the 4-H program by volunteering to help at Extension booths at fairs.

– Ava Cordle

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 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!

A smiling young woman in a gray shirt and khaki pants reaches over to touch plants. — Sophia Nowers on a recent farm tour.
Photo credit: Teagan Moran

Hello, my name is Sophia Nowers, and I am the summer intern for Oregon State University Extension Service’s Small Farms Program and Community Horticulture in Benton, Linn and Lane counties. I am a rising junior at OSU, where I am majoring in agricultural sciences. I hail from Alaska and love seeing all the different crops that can be grown in the Willamette Valley. In my internship, I work with OSU Extension faculty in the Small Farms Program and in Community Horticulture to publicize Extension activities, build small farm community networks and support Extension events in Linn, Lane and Benton counties. Most of my time is spent touring Master Gardener projects, interviewing farmers, researchers and volunteers and writing articles about OSU Extension events and programs.

I just started the fourth week of my internship and highlights so far include helping at the Oak Creek Center for Urban Horticulture Open House, touring the Benton County Master Gardeners’ demonstration garden at the Benton County Fairgrounds, and getting to see Commonplace Farms’ operation near Corvallis. It has been eye opening to see the research being done by OSU Extension and how it translates into useful knowledge for farmers, gardeners and the community.

My big project has been writing an article about the Dry Farming Accelerator Program for publication by OSU Extension. It has been fascinating to learn about the dry farming research that is being done at the university and how it is being shared in the broader Oregon farming and gardening community. The program brings together small farmers and hobbyist gardeners from across the state to do dry farm trials of tomatoes, squash and corn and share their dry farming experiences. It is great to see how the program combines research and community building, and it has given me some great ideas for my agriculture thesis!

In the rest of my internship, I am looking forward to seeing some local small farms, learning more about the Dry Farming Collaborative, tabling at the Benton County Fair and interviewing more Master Gardeners about their projects and activities. OSU Extension does so much in so many areas that there is always more to learn. I love how its work intersects with public health, environmental issues, water management and so much more. I can’t wait to get out there and learn!

A young woman holds a test tube filled with water and smiles. — Olivia Jacobs at the Sweet Home Farmers Market
Photo credit: Kelci Free

Hi, my name is Olivia Jacobs and I work under Chrissy Lucas-Woodruff in the Groundwater Protection Education program. I just finished my third year at Oregon State studying Ecological Engineering, which is directly connected with my work. Last term, in my ecohydrology class, we learned about the two types of aquifers and how wells interact with local hydrology. In my internship, I have learned much more about how human interactions with the environment improve or diminish well water quality. Next week I get to learn more about septic systems — yay!

Looking over the shoulder of a woman holding a colorful well water testing kit. — Testing well water for nitrate.
Photo credit: Kelci Free

After two weeks with OSU Extension, I have done four events, three of which included testing the community’s well water samples for nitrate. I love being a part of people’s journey to learn more about their groundwater and care for their home water systems. And, of course, seeing the excitement around Extension and meeting folks from all over Oregon is always a treat!

Through this internship, I want to learn about what is important to the members of all the counties we serve. I want to educate as best I can while learning about the intricacies of human-environment interactions.

Alongside this internship, I also work year-round as an Academic Coach at the Academic Success Center at OSU. My work mainly involves helping my student peers with their academic goals and insights. I get to work with folks with different backgrounds, learning styles and perspectives on the world around them, which is my favorite part of the job. I hope my communication skills as a coach translate to my interactions with the community this summer.

OSU Extension Internship Program

Category Archives: Linn County

OSU Extension intern shares how a 34-year-old salsa recipe connected her to a career path

OSU Extension intern explores the vital link between education and health

Eye opening experience for Extension summer intern

Intern explores careers with OSU Extension

OSU Extension Linn County intern builds on past 4-H knowledge

Opportunities to grow by planning and attending events

OSU helps our farmers and our communities in many ways

Extension is a bridge from the OSU campus to communities

Exploring Agriculture and Community in Linn, Lane, and Benton Counties

Educating people about groundwater

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