OSU Extension Internship Program «

Hello y’all!

This is Johanna Simonson talking to you from Douglas County Extension Service.

Two women in an office hug and smile at the camera. — Oregon State University Douglas County 4-H Program Coordinator Kelly Simonson and Oregon State University Extension Service Summer Intern Johanna Simonson.
Photo Credit: Johanna Simonson

This summer I was granted the wonderful and fulfilling position of being an intern at Oregon State University Extension Service in Roseburg, Ore. I mainly work in the 4-H sector, but my internship also includes tasks that allow me to help other sectors of Extension. This allows me to complement my studies in Agricultural Science through a focus on agricultural education to the public. Additionally, I get the unique opportunity to work alongside my mom. How cool is that?! I save on gas, too.

This summer I have already gotten to experience so much. My responsibilities, lately, have mainly included updating, revising and editing documents and older county fair displays, which has strengthened my creative muscles in new ways. Additionally, I attended my first 4-H Extension meeting and proposed an idea that eventually was declined; however, I am proud of the courage I took to propose that idea. I can already see so much growth in my confidence in this internship.

I also have been able to prepare for the county fair and see the background of what goes into making fair happen every year. I have been a part of 4-H since I was in fourth grade. After high school, I bred and grew my own flock of sheep for 4-H youth, and then also helped my younger brother with his project. I had never considered the hard work and dedication that went into the fair every year. I hope to experience as much of 4-H extension as I can in as many settings as possible through this internship.

A woman in an orange shirt sits at a desk and sorts through pages in a binder. — Oregon State University Extension Service Summer Intern Johanna Simonson.
Photo Credit: Nikita Morales

Being around my co-workers, I see nothing but hard-working, dedicated, persevering and get-er-done people. I am constantly inspired by them and look to them for guidance and encouragement.

This summer, my internship will include multiple facets. A main portion will be preparing for the county fair. Another portion is helping with the Cloverbud day camps. I desire to grow my knowledge in youth ag curriculum through this internship, so I am very excited to experiment with that in the Cloverbud camps.

The last portion is fair week and fair take-down. Through all of these different opportunities, I am looking forward to expanding my knowledge in the office, on the procedures and routine of 4-H Extension and diagnosing and analyzing where things can be improved to build upon my knowledge of problem solving and efficiency in the workplace.

Overall, I hope that through this internship I will be able to see the direction I want to take in the agriculture major that either is or is not on my Extension path. I hope to also expound upon my ability to communicate agricultural issues to the public and educate youth as well.

May y’all be blessed!

-Johanna Simonson (soon to be Junior at Oregon State)

A group of 14 young people on bleachers. — Camp counselor training.
Photo credit – Deb Warnock

Hello, my name is Jacob Falk. This summer I will be a summer intern in the OSU Extension office in Wallowa County. I am a student at the University of Idaho pursuing a degree in agricultural education with a minor in veterinary sciences.

I grew up in Wallowa County and was heavily involved with our local 4-H program. I worked closely with Debi Warnock on 4-H projects and building leadership skills. When she suggested this internship to me, I was interested to see how Extension education would differ from traditional classroom instruction. Being able to have a well-rounded concept of everything involving my career path will encourages me to make a sound, well-rounded, long-term career decision that will be productive and enjoyable.

I have been working at the Extension office for a little over a month. So far, I have had the opportunity to interact with almost every Extension program Wallowa County has to offer. I have been able to monitor the population of armyworm in the county with our forestry and natural resources agent, planned youth events and participated in multiple 4-H leadership activities with our 4-H Youth Development agent and began helping with our local SNAP-Ed program with the Family Community Health program. Overall, my experience so far has been greatly diversified and my work has been fulfilling and encouraging!

I am eager to keep working and I’m finding I’m most interested in the 4-H Youth Development Program. I am excited to keep helping to plan 4-H events and interact with a high quality youth who are driven to learn.

Three women stand outside a barn, smiling at the camera with their arms around each other. — Left to right, Shyann Vance, M’Kenzie Kirchner and Daisy O’Hearn at the Lincoln County Fair.
Photo credit Brittany Williams.

Hello, my name is Daisy O’Hearn and I am currently serving as an OSU Extension intern for Lincoln County. As a political science major with a double minor in legal studies and nonprofit administration, I have always been eager to explore the nonprofit sector more deeply. I am excited about this internship as it offers an amazing chance to explore this field, specifically focusing on my involvement in the 4-H program.

The county fair, which took place from June 30 to July 2, has been the highlight of my internship so far. This event has been instrumental in honing my skills and gaining invaluable experience. Before the fair, I organized a clinic where I was able to teach young individuals how to shear their sheep and offer them essential tips for a successful fair experience. During the fair, I played an active role in helping set up and manage the 4-H segment, ensuring smooth operations and memorable experiences for participants. I took on various responsibilities, including assisting our Extension agent, supporting judges and serving as a reliable point of contact for any questions or concerns.

This internship offers me several rewarding opportunities. First, it provides valuable insights into the behind-the-scenes aspects of the field and the OSU Extension Office. I also have the privilege of giving back to younger individuals, just as other adults did for me when I was in the program. Furthermore, I’ve had the chance to collaborate with fellow program alumni and individuals I grew up with who are all returning to Lincoln County to contribute and provide assistance.

Looking ahead, I am thrilled to embark on an exciting journey of creating clinics and workshops that will greatly benefit the youth in our county. These informative sessions will aim to equip the young individuals in Lincoln County with valuable skills and knowledge, empowering them to thrive in their respective fields. I have plans to make these workshops accessible online, ensuring they serve as a lasting resource for future generations of students. Lincoln County is actively supporting the future success of the 4-H youth by equipping them with the necessary tools for achievement.

The possibilities that are ahead in this internship are exciting and I am happy to learn more about OSU Extension Service!

A woman stands in a booth with small plastic cups of food for sampling. — Madeline Breiling representing the Food Hero program at the farmers’ market.
Photo credit Heidi Van Kirk

My name is Madeline Breiling and I’m an OSU Extension SNAP-Ed intern in Umatilla County. I just finished my first year at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, majoring in Mathematics. I grew up in Umatilla County and am excited to be back and helping in the community this summer!

A woman directs three young children as they ride a bicycle powered food blender. — Teaching kids using a bicycle powered blender.
Photo credit Karen Wagner.

I had never heard of OSU Extension before applying for this internship, but I am very excited to join the Extension internship team. So far in my internship, I’ve had the opportunity to assist with Athena’s Farm to School program and hand out samples at the farmers market.

I look forward to continuing both projects and starting a Food Hero table at the summer meal site in Pendleton.

Cooking and gardening have always been hobbies of mine, so I am excited to be able to continue these passions as a job this summer. I enjoy community engagement and volunteered at an afterschool program in Charleston last year, so I look forward to continuing to help in the community.

A young man sits in front of an orange wall with OSU Extension Service Wasco County written on it. He is holding up nature journals. — Keon Kiser at home in the Wasco County office of OSU Extension Service.
Photo credit Chelsie Gibson.

Welcome to my first blog post for the summer of 2023! I am Keon Kiser and I have just completed my second year studying environmental engineering at Oregon State University. If you are an avid reader of OSU’s intern blogs, then you may recognize me because I am returning for my second year as an OSU Extension Service intern in The Dalles, Wasco County. Once again I will be working alongside Lu Seapy, my supervisor, and the other interns in the 4-H STEM department helping to plan and manage STEM summer camps and assisting Jacob Powell, a wheat crop researcher, with his wheat-nitrogen absorption research.

As of this writing, I am beginning my third week of work and already I have helped manage the Aerial Robotics Camp, where we have taught youth basic safety, programming and controller drone skills. Coming up, I will be very busy leading a VEX IQ Workshop to help middle-schoolers prepare for the upcoming VEX IQ Competition, co-leading 4-H hikes along the Columbia River Gorge, managing a Protobot Camp to teach youth how to solder electronics, and assisting with many other STEM camps throughout the summer.

I returned to this internship for a few reasons. First, it was a ton of fun to work with my colleagues to create learning opportunities for youth in the STEM field and to watch them grow in technical skills and excitement for STEM and learning in general. Secondly, I get to be around a familiar community and I can continue to support my community by providing fun and new experiences for the youth. Finally, I am put in situations where I am challenged to improve many skills, like managing a workflow, leading conversations and cooperating with individuals.

To wrap up, I am very grateful for the opportunity I’ve been given to work with such great colleagues and community. The office mentality at the Wasco County OSU Extension Service is one where everyone has the same goal in providing the best learning opportunities as we possibly can for our community. Working for Extension not only has given me a greater appreciation and drive for community service, but it has also prepared me with skills and confidence for taking leadership roles in my future endeavors as a student at OSU and as an engineer in my career.

A smiling woman poses in front of a paper sign for the Washington County office of OSU Extension. — A warm welcome at my new desk.
Photo credit Destiny Driessen.

Hello everyone, my name is Destiny Driessen and this summer I will be working with Oregon State University Extension Service in Washington County. While I opted to not take summer classes, I am still an OSU student pursuing a major in sustainable horticulture and a minor in botany. I will mostly be working with 4-H staff members to ensure the youth involved in these programs are safe, included and engaged in activities. A lot of my time will be spent at various fairs across the county, helping and learning in any way I can.

While it’s still the first week of my internship and I’ve been going through the mundane activities that entails, I feel a growing excitement to attend fairs in the upcoming weeks. The first fair I will be attending is the horse fair, which should prove to be exciting. I hope to improve my abilities to communicate with people I may not know and to gain a sense of the amount of work that is put into these events. I have always held a passion for everything that nature has to offer, including plants and animals. And I believe it’s of the utmost importance to get youth excited about respecting nature and working with it in order to have enjoyable learning experiences. Nature has so much to offer, and society seems to increasingly ignore that. Youth are our greatest asset in changing the world and preserving nature.

A young woman stands outside and holds a bouquet of brightly colored flowers in front of her face. — Can’t forget to smell the flowers.
Photo credit Destiny Driessen.

While participating in this internship, I hope to learn a multitude of things. However, there are a couple that I am especially invested in. First, I aim to gain confidence in my abilities to communicate and connect with people in order to help spread knowledge. I would also like to hone my leadership skills so that I feel comfortable working with a diverse group of people and am able to keep them engaged. Last, as my summer project I hope to get an idea of what it’s like to create a seed packet that is both visually compelling and informative to the public — possibly, a seed blend for attracting native pollinators or a mix of edible native plants. I believe all of these goals will help me in my future as they are skills that will help connect me with people who have similar career paths and serve as a basis for my continued learning.

I am excited to be here and ready to serve my community.

A young man with a beard stands in front of a snowy forest — Back home and ready to work
Photo credit: Kieran King

Hello, my name is Kieran King, and I’m an intern with the OSU Extension Service this summer. I just finished my first year of college at OSU as a physics major, so I’m finally back home in Dallas. I’ll be working primarily on outreach for the Mid-Valley Small Farms Program with my supervisor Hayley White, as well as helping with the Olea research project.

So far, I’ve been able to work on my program’s newsletter for the month of June, where I’ve written information for farmers in an accessible format. I’ve also been working on outreach materials for the upcoming Small Farm School, as well as data entry for the Olea project. It’s been an interesting first week, and certainly a great start to this learning experience.

I don’t know the first thing about agriculture, but I decided to take this internship as a way to learn more about my community and to help the people in it. I’ve benefited from the hard work of local Polk and Marion County farmers my whole life, so it only seems fair that I put in work that might make their lives a little easier. I’ve already gained a deeper appreciation of the community in my own county through site visits to local farms. Seeing the amazing places and people in Polk County has made me excited for the rest of my internship! While I ultimately won’t end up in a public service or outreach-oriented job, it will definitely be a meaningful experience

Wide shot of a large mint field with farm in the background under a cloud streaked bright blue sky — Oregon peppermint field
Photo credit: Sprout Mahoney

Hi there! I am Sprout Mahoney, one of this summer’s crop of OSU Extension Service interns. While I have my senior year of Crop and Soil Science coming up, I will be working with Christy Tanner, the Linn County field crops specialist, for the next few months.

I got an early start this spring and have already helped with some research projects. Linn County is known for its grass seed and one of these projects has been based out of a local tall fescue field. Experimenting with different vole baits, observing signs of vole damage, and assessing drone imagery of the field via GIS software have been a few ways my learning has gotten out of the classroom and into some outdoor experience. I’ve assisted with different aspects of the research, from measuring samples to analyzing raw data for meaningful conclusions.

Closeup of a mint plant in a field — Mint plant
Photo credit: Sprout Mahoney

Another research project I worked on got me outdoors into some wonderful smelling mint fields! The peppermint grown in fields often becomes oil, a product that netted Oregon $34 million dollars in 2020. While mint in your garden may not have many pests thanks to its strong taste, the plants out in the field can be troubled by insects like loopers and cutworms. Monitoring these pests means using sticky traps baited with pheromone lures out in different fields and finding trends in their populations. This knowledge can help inform growers about the best times to treat pests and which species to focus on.

I am excited to be interning with Extension and working with local farmers. Agriculture always faces issues and I am interested in understanding people’s struggles and help bring solutions. I am especially looking forward to learning more about GIS applications in agriculture. I always want to know more about our soils!

A young woman in a berry colored Six Flags sweatshirt smiles from a hammock — Ava Cordle relaxing before work
Photo credit: Ava Cordle

Hello everyone! My name is Ava Cordle and I am a second-year student attending Oregon State University-Cascades in Bend, studying environmental science with an applied ecology option. I grew up in Albany and therefore have good knowledge of the Willamette Valley. I am excited to work with OSU Extension groundwater protection education in the Well Water Program this summer and learn how to ensure well water is safe.

So far, I have started this internship working remotely in Bend but have taken a dive into the world of well water. There have already been many eye-opening moments for me as I have not experienced owning and taking care of a well and there is a lot to it. I have learned a lot about what effects nitrate can have and how important it is to check your well water regularly to stay safe. I have been spending a lot of time setting up our summer community outreach calendar with events like farmers markets all around Benton, Linn, Marion, Lane and Polk counties.

Free nitrate screening at the Aumsville Saturday Market on July 15 at 9:00. — Nitrate screening for well water in Marion County

I am very excited to see what I will learn more throughout this internship and all the people I will meet. I currently do not know what I want my career to look like. I feel this internship will teach me a lot and hopefully show me what I am interested in or not interested in for a future career. If you are interested in getting your well water tested, we will be having lots of booths this summer. I hope to get to meet some of you and make sure your drinking water is safe!

A man in an orange shirt sits under a canopy at an outdoor table, surrounded by signs and papers about well water testing. — Ahad Aziz stresses the importance of well water testing at the Independence Farmers Market in September. Photo by Morgan Neil of the Polk Soil and Water Conservation District.

This summer, I was given the opportunity to integrate public health initiatives into the OSU Extension Well Water Program with Chrissy Lucas in Benton, Linn, Lane, Marion and Polk counties. I was fortunate enough to interview several healthcare professionals, public health and environmental science professors and groundwater experts to learn more about the intersectionality of health promotion and disease prevention. I was able to interact with individuals from several different county health departments, the Oregon Water Resources Department, and professors at the Oregon Health & Science University and Portland State University who specialize in science implementation, public health policy promotion and control interventions.

To help bring more awareness to the Well Water Program I collaborated with the different Extension Service offices and with campus resources to design and display posters and encourage the public to get their well water tested. I also helped with the Be Well Project study in Jackson County and sent out many letters and postcards to the five counties about upcoming nitrate screening clinics.

With my internship coming to an end, I’m writing a final report for Chrissy and the Southern Willamette Valley Groundwater Management Area Committee on how information relating to nitrate and other contaminants in domestic wells can be shared with other healthcare professionals. What I have learned is that well owners who perceive themselves as having more control over the problems within their wells are more likely to test and perform well maintenance.

A big shout out to Chrissy, my fellow interns Briauna Herrick and Kelci Free, Nicole Mason, the office specialist in the Extension office in Benton County; and many others for their enthusiasm and for helping me grow. Before this summer, I think I had gone to only one farmers market, but with this internship, I was able to visit many farmers markets, meet a huge variety of people that I probably would never have interacted with and I gained valuable knowledge from their experiences.

OSU Extension Internship Program

Extension service runs in the family

Getting a well-rounded view of Extension in Wallowa County

Empowering youth in Lincoln County

Hello everyone!

Round 2! Let the 4-H Fun Begin!

I’m excited to be here and to have such an opportunity!

A great start to this learning experience

Finding solutions for grass and mint crops

Learning all about well water safety and planning for events

Internship helped me gain valuable knowledge through experience

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