Oregon Coast « OSU Extension Internship Program

Astoria-Megler Bridge. Photo by Luke Brockman.

Hello, readers! Luke Brockman here, and it’s now the middle of August. My position as an intern with Extension’s Forestry and Natural Resources Fire Program is soon coming to an end. Oregon’s fire season, however, is in full swing. Just about all of the Pacific Northwest is in historic drought conditions, and more than 18 wildfires are still burning in our state. Incredibly, and thanks to the collaborative efforts of so many people fighting to contain them, a few major fires including the Bootleg Fire in Southern Oregon, are close to 100% contained. Working for the Fire Program has been hugely informative for me, not only in my understanding of the work that goes into forest management and fire education but also by awakening me to the hugely diverse array of geographic areas that make up our state, each of which requires collaboration between many different agencies in order to properly manage.

Working for Extension has also been an amazing professional experience. I’ve learned more fully the importance of teamwork, communication, and creative problem solving, in a refreshingly professional setting. Something that surprised me about my supervisor (who holds the title Regional Fire Specialist for the Coast Range) was the spectrum of different groups he collaborates with, and his ability to lead and provide appropriate input no matter the situation. Much of the work of the regional fire specialists involves doing planning, meeting with other specialists and partners, and doing a ton of technical writing. In the classroom, doing such planning and collaborating (especially via Zoom) can feel sort of dull, when questions are posed and sit lingering in the air waiting to be answered.

My experiences this summer in the myriad of collaborative group settings allowed me to witness the ability that Extension professionals have to provide guidance, information, and problem-solving relative to their specialty areas. It was especially refreshing to see this sort of collaboration and problem-solving applied to a field with obvious, and growing importance and sensitivity: Oregon’s forests, and the people who inhabit the land and play important roles in the use of our natural resources.

What I wish for you all to know about Extension is that it’s really, truly, a resource for the benefit of your community. The people who inhabit the Extension office in your county are very knowledgeable and inspiring, and the work they’re doing behind the scenes is important and impactful. The challenges we face in our changing environment are vast and complicated, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned from my experience in Extension, it’s that there are so many people working on solutions, right here in our state!

Hey all!

Chloe Hull here, updating you from Tillamook County. I am halfway through the internship, and I have learned and done a lot. Most of my time so far has been structured around getting to know community partners and building those relationships for the future. This last week I was able to sit in on a workgroup with Master Gardeners on how to increase inclusivity into the program and the work that they are doing. It was interesting being able to hear folks getting involved on the planning level and discussing the things that they have personally learned over the past several months and their ideas on moving forward into the future.

Sun-scalded tomato plants from recent Oregon heatwave.

As you may remember from my last post, I have been working on researching different listserv services and gathering contact information for food producers all across the north coast. With all of this research, last week we were finally able to send out our first couple of emails! I have already gotten several positive responses from folks on the listserv, and I am excited to continue being involved with sending out resources for these producers. One of the emails that we sent out last week had resources and information about fire preparedness and heat stress on plants, livestock, and workers. It is important to get these resources out to folks and work to develop a community of collaboration to become more resilient as more extreme heat events occur.

Lastly, I am excited as the Tillamook County Fair (Aug. 10-14) gets closer because I will be hosting a 4-H exhibit. I have never gotten to host a county fair booth, so it has been a learning experience for me as I gather information and develop content and activities. I have some experience with youth engagement and development, but this will be new in that it will be a larger audience than I am accustomed to. I look forward to it though and I hope you will come say hi if you are in the area!

Steeply sloped grassland in Manzanita. Photo by Luke Brockman.

Hello, world!

It’s mid-July, and my time thus far as an intern with the Fire Program at OSU Extension Service has been very fun and informative. Oregon’s Coast Range is a heavily forested and culturally diverse part of the state, and as such, the communities that inhabit this region serve to benefit greatly from the expertise and outreach that Extension fire specialist Aaron Groth and the rest of the fire team provide.

On July 5, Aaron and I took a trip to beautiful Manzanita to meet with a few members of the local homeowners association, who had a lot of questions about preparing their community for the threat of fire. Their neighborhood rests upon a steeply sloped grassland with a stunning overlook of Nehalem Bay State Park, extending all the way south to Rockaway Beach and beyond. It was interesting to hear the concerns of these community members and the caution they were taking in preparation for their next HOA meeting.

Considering the increasing intensity of wildfire season and especially last year’s Echo Mountain Complex Fire, which burned parts of Lincoln City, it’s becoming more and more important to prepare for the worst. I’m beginning to see how Extension serves the communities in Oregon. People need science-based, realistic advice to inform their communities of pertinent issues affecting the state. Extension recognizes this need and applies the expertise that OSU creates.

Last week, I sat in on a meeting as Aaron presented fire information for members of the Spanish-speaking community in the Lincoln City area. As previously mentioned, the Echo Mountain Complex fire shocked Lincoln County last year. Recognizing that this community lacks the language-accessible information about both pre- and post-fire preparedness, Extension was able to make a meaningful impact thanks to Aaron’s Spanish fluency and the work that the Fire Program is here to do. It was also great Spanish listening practice for me!

Hello everybody, my name is Luke Brockman, and I’m humbled and excited to introduce myself as an intern this summer in the OSU Extension Service. I’ll be working under the supervision of Aaron Groth, Extension regional fire specialist for Clatsop and other northern counties in Oregon’s Coast Range. I’ll also be working alongside the rest of the team members in OSU’s Extension office here in Astoria.

Here’s a little bit about myself: I’m 23, and I’m a senior at OSU. My primary area of study is biocultural anthropology, with a bachelor’s in sustainability. I’m originally from Kodiak, Alaska – a large island in the Gulf of Alaska, situated due south of the opening of the Cook Inlet. My family moved to the small town of Triangle Lake, Oregon (about 50 miles southwest of Corvallis) when I was still an infant, but during the course of my childhood, I spent enough time visiting Kodiak to consider it home.

It’s late June, so normally I would typically be on a commercial salmon fishing boat somewhere around Kodiak Island, searching tirelessly for salmon returning to their streams to spawn and continue that amazing, cyclical spectacle of biology. This summer will be the first since I’ve graduated high school that I’ll be staying in Oregon instead, and I couldn’t be more excited to get to work with Aaron.

When Aaron is in the field doing community outreach, speaking at workshops and at meetings with stakeholders, I’ll be there too – shadowing him, meeting people, and taking notes in my journal. Already I’ve gained insight into both the career world at large and into the work of OSU Extension, as well as the Oregon community of forest owners and stewards. Although I’m not a student of Forestry and natural resources, I’m confident that the curriculum in both of my undergraduate fields of study will prove useful in assisting with the projects and concerns of the boards and individuals that Aaron and I will be interacting with this summer.

I think it’d be awesome to have the chance to write a newspaper article having to do with fire awareness and education, and the diversity of landowners and stakeholders in the Coast Range. I love both writing and doing field research and I’m particularly inspired by ethnography and analog photography (one of my main creative outlets). Prior to stumbling upon this internship opportunity, I knew very little of OSU Extension. I assumed that the office in Astoria was some sort of liaison for researchers working at OSU to access resources and an office space. Now that I know what OSU Extension really is, and what its goals and objectives are for our diverse Oregonian communities, I’m very honored to be part of an organization whose community-oriented philosophies align so closely with my broader ethical ideals as a person.

Anita McNally recently completed an internship in the OSU Extension office in Lincoln County.

Hello again! As my time here at Lincoln County Extension is coming to a close, I’ve realized how much I have learned from this experience and am grateful to have this internship opportunity. During my time being here I have learned numerous skills and have observed what a career at OSU Extension looks like.

Working on my assignments, I’ve built professional confidence in conducting interviews, experience in writing and creating brochures, as well as a deeper understanding of Extension’s purpose and goals. I really enjoyed working with my supervisors and team. They were very helpful, positive and supportive. My supervisors allowed me to sit in on Zoom calls which allowed me to participate in thinking outside of the box and provide input, as well as observe how everyone communicates and works together on a common goal.

I’ve helped communicate and develop information for our Eat Oregon Seafood website that we’re trying to enhance and I have updated our social media pages which support local seafood businesses and at home seafood recipes to try. I’ve learned the importance of supporting local and sustainable farmers as well as how much of an importance they are for our community, culture, and environment.

COVID-19 brought its challenges with this internship, and I would have loved to have more work days in the office or in Lincoln County. Due to these challenges it also limited the work that I could do, therefore if I was able to be in the office I may have had more assignments and in-the-field experience, as well as better connections with other coworkers and community members that I would have met in the office and field. I am glad I had the chance to go visit some local venders and the office at least once during my internship.

As my internship progressed, I was able to make connections between Extension and my environmental science major at OSU. Within this last week I was able to help call local farmers for an Agriculture Climate Adaption survey to understand what changes they have seen on their farm and how the county can help. I’ve also been taking a beginners’ short course for Introduction to Urban Agriculture, which has helped me broaden my understanding between the environment, community, and culture, and also connect this class to what I’ve been doing for Extension by helping support local foods and farmers. I really enjoyed my experience as an Extension intern and have learned a lot about Lincoln county and its community.

Carrie Harris recently completed an internship in the OSU Extension office in Coos County.

A final hello from Coos County!

Working for the OSU Extension office this summer in Coos County presented many challenges that I was happy to take-on. I began the summer assisting my supervisor, Elissa Wells, and the Coos Youth Auction Committee in putting together a virtual and in-person livestock auction. I was able to learn a lot about the work that goes into the youth livestock auctions throughout the state, and the state guidelines that would have to be followed for COVID-19 regulations. I put together a slideshow of the youth and their projects to display during the auction, as well as called bids during the auction.

Then I was able to learn a lot more about the static exhibits that are included in 4-H, while helping check them in and returning them to the youth after their judging was completed. These are exhibits that include photography and drawing, and arts and crafts. I also learned more about the clerical side of 4-H activities while helping package the ribbons to send out to the youth for their virtual livestock judging and fair entries.

I ended my internship by putting together a few contests that could be done virtually for 4-H clubs. I put together a livestock breeds identification contest, which included large and small animal species. I created separate documents for juniors, intermediates, and seniors, with the difficulty increasing respectively. I also put together an equipment identification contest which included basic tools that are used to care for livestock. I was excited to be able to put something together for 4-H youth to do virtually this upcoming year.

I would like others to know that the OSU Extension goes above and beyond to help 4-H youth and the community around them. This summer I saw the OSU Extension office be as flexible as possible with 4-H youth, as well as others helping 4-H to make things possible during difficult times. The Extension office is a great learning resource for youth in the community, and not only those in 4-H. I appreciated the opportunity to work with OSU Extension, and to learn more about it, as well as learning about new ways to help the community I live in.

Anita McNally is an intern in the OSU Extension office in Lincoln County.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to physically work in the Lincoln County office this summer due to the pandemic. However, I was able to shadow my supervisor, Pami, for a day. This gave me the opportunity to see the office as well as work in my own office space for a few hours.

The Newport docks.

We went to the Newport docks where I was able to see fresh seafood be purchased off the boat. This experience gave me a sense of what I would be doing if I worked in Newport this summer. At the docks, I would have been leading Oregon Sea Grant Extension Shop at the Dock tours, which show the public how to buy seafood from a vendor and which questions to ask the about their catch. I’ve never bought fish or seafood directly off the boat, so this was a new experience for me that I found unique.

Then we went to visit Gibson Farms in nearby Siletz, which sells grass-fed beef and blueberries. This was an eye-opening experience because I saw how close Pami was to the owner. They discussed how they were doing on the farm, what their process was, and some of the things that were happening around them. Seeing how open the farmer was to Pami, showed me that Pami’s work – helping support local farmers with things they need and staying in contact with them – made a close and professional relationship between them and built a trusting and respectful bond between them. We then participated in Gibson Farms’ U-Pick blueberries for a couple of hours until our bins were full.

Anita McNally at the Gibson Farm in Siletz.

I really enjoyed having this experience of getting to know Pami better as well as seeing what she does in the field. It allowed me to see what I could potentially be doing and the connections I would be making if I got a chance to continue with Extension.

I really enjoyed my experience visiting local farmers and seafood vendors and wish I could do it more. Working from home, I’ve been advertising the Eat Oregon Seafood website on our social media accounts and I’ve conducted interviews with Master Gardener volunteers for our blog posts on Facebook. I also had the opportunity to write a report on the benefits of local foods, which brought to light the reasons why we should support local food, the economy, and our environment.

Hello, my name is Angeleen (Leen) Somoza. I’m 21 years old and I have two younger identical twin siblings: Happy and Shai. We live with my mom in Astoria, Oregon, and I’m doing my summer internship at the Oregon State University Extension Service office in Clatsop County. I’m currently finishing my associate degree, with a major in biology, at Clatsop Community College. I’m very excited and enthused to have this opportunity to work with OSU Extension.

My favorite subjects include anthropology, biology, mathematics, psychology, sociology and religious philosophy. I aspire to be research biologist, but I also just crave experiences and to try everything. I just want to learn from my surroundings. I enjoy knowledge and structure.

My impression of Extension in Clatsop County before I started was that it was in a small office in a big building with programs such as Master Gardeners, 4-H, and fisheries. It was where I applied – and won – a Master Gardener’s scholarship in my senior year of high school in 2017.

View of Astoria and the mouth of the Columbia River.

In my Extension internship, I’ve been working with Lindsay Davis, administrative office manager and local liaison for Clatsop County Extension. I’ve been doing case studies on small businesses in Astoria from a psychological and sociological aspect. I then create social media posts, blogs and other things they need to communicate to other businesses.

I’ve become a social media “consultant” for OSU Extension in Clatson County. I meet with Joyce Senior Angulo, who works in Extension’s Family and Community Heath and SNAP-Ed programs, the Latinx/Latino Club at Clatsop Community College, and may other things. Joyce has me being a fly on the wall, so to speak, during the Latinx meetings on Mondays and she’s available whenever I have questions and concerns.

At the same time, I’m working with Lindsay with two small businesses in Astoria – Finn Ware and Forsythea. We recently had our assessment needs meetings with both businesses and we’re planning to do a few different things in social media case studies.

In the short time of working with Extension, I have felt that doing one’s research is extremely import to the Extension office. The research they’re doing is impacting the community in many ways that we as the residents are not aware of – even though most of us participate in the activities that Extension offers, such as the Clatsop County Fair, and many other events. It is very eye-opening as an Astorian and an Oregonian.

Carrie Harris is an intern in the OSU Extension office in Coos County.

Hello again from Coos County!

So far, the internship in Myrtle Point has been an interesting adventure. One of the biggest projects that I have helped my supervisor Elissa Wells with was the 2020 Coos Youth Livestock Auction. We assisted the auction committee in coming up with ways to still have the auction this year while making sure to follow state safety regulations regarding COVID-19.

Carrie Harris (left) helps a 4-H youth exhibitor with weigh-in at the 2020 Coos Youth Livestock Auction.

Since the number of people attending the auction in person needed to be limited, it was decided that the youth wouldn’t attend with their animals. In order to have visual representation of the youth with their projects, both pictures and a video of the youth were displayed on screens during the auction. I took on the project of putting together one of the presentations to display during the auction.

There were 126 lots to sell, which meant finding the correct picture of the youth on a flash drive and recording the correct name and animal weight onto the presentation. The auction ended up being a success, all the lots sold, and it was amazing to see such a small community come together to support their youth during such a hard time.

Carrie Harris takes bids during the 2020 Coos Youth Livestock Auction.

I am seeing the mission of OSU’s Extension Service being met by completing outreach in the community, and still finding ways to complete programs while following state safety regulations. Despite the county fair being canceled, the Extension office was still able to accept the usual static exhibits to be evaluated by judges. The exhibits varied from plants to photography and artwork, baking and sewing and stitching, and even animal pelts. It was cool to see the wide variety of interests that 4-H youth have, and their creativity displayed in their projects.

One of the big learning moments I’ve had so far is being able to talk with some of the other OSU employees and hearing what their position is in the Extension office and what made them interested in working for Extension. It has been interesting learning all the different components that go into the Extension office and all the different ways that it helps the community and the youth in 4-H.

Hello From Coos County! I’m Carrie Harris, and I’m a part of the inaugural cohort of the Oregon State University Extension Service interns.

Carrie Harris

I’m currently a student at Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls, Oregon, studying pre-nursing and hoping to get accepted into the nursing program this upcoming February. I grew up in Myrtle Point, Oregon, which is also where I will be working this summer alongside my supervisor Elissa Wells.

I have always lived in Myrtle Point and grew up heavily involved in various aspects of the community. In fourth grade I joined the Coos County 4-H program, eventually becoming a youth representative and 4-H ambassador as well as an active member and camp counselor during the summer. I competed in sports throughout high school as well, primarily enjoying cross-country and track. I was also involved in the Myrtle Point FFA chapter, eventually becoming the chapter reporter and chapter president.

Carrie Harris getting ready to show her cow at the fair.

Myrtle Point is a very small town, with a population of around 2,550. Being such a small town, and my involvement in so many different activities, I quickly became known as the one to go to if anyone was looking for help. I attended school board meetings and gave reports on athletics and the FFA chapter, as well as visited elementary classes to help educate them about nutrition and agriculture. I have always been invested in helping better my community and am looking forward to the opportunity to do so this summer through the internship.

Throughout the summer I will primarily be helping with the 4-H program in Coos County, but I also hope to incorporate community activities into the internship as well. My first impression of the OSU Extension Service was that it was heavily involved in community wellness and leadership opportunities. I always appreciated the skills that 4-H taught me, and hope to find new ways to better the community. I am excited for the new experiences this summer will bring!

Carrie Harris showing a cow.

OSU Extension Internship Program

Tag Archives: Oregon Coast

Extension is a collaborative, problem-solving resource that benefits the community

Sharing information with food producers and prepping for county fair

Preparing homeowners on the coast for wildfire

Trading salmon fishing in Alaska for a summer internship in Astoria

This internship helped build my professional confidence

I learned how to help my community

Walking the docks and picking blueberries

Interesting adventure

Invested in building a better community

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