{"id":1916,"date":"2026-07-14T11:25:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T18:25:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/?p=1916"},"modified":"2026-07-15T15:36:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T22:36:17","slug":"osu-extension-intern-seeks-to-communicate-and-engage-with-the-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/2026\/07\/14\/osu-extension-intern-seeks-to-communicate-and-engage-with-the-community\/","title":{"rendered":"OSU Extension intern seeks to communicate and engage with the community"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello everyone! My name is Nakayda Jacobs, and I am a senior at Oregon State University studying natural resources with a focus in agricultural and natural resources communications. This summer, I have the great pleasure of being part of the Groundwater Protection and Education team with OSU Extension in the mid and southern Willamette Valley.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"\"\n
OSU Extension intern, Nakayda Jacobs tabling at the Millersburg Farmers’ Market. Photo: Colleen Lovdokken<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n

One thing to know about me is that I enjoy a little bit of everything and love working at the intersection of different disciplines. One of my favorite parts of this internship has been seeing how natural science and human health come together. I also enjoy working alongside a team of peers with diverse academic backgrounds, each bringing a unique perspective and\u00a0expertise\u00a0to the program. Every day has allowed me to learn something new, whether\u00a0it’s\u00a0about groundwater, public health\u00a0or what community outreach really looks like.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As part of the groundwater team, I get to apply what\u00a0I’ve\u00a0learned in soil science and water resources to real-world issues involving private well water and septic systems.\u00a0It’s\u00a0been exciting to see how the concepts\u00a0I’ve\u00a0learned in the classroom directly translate into helping communities make informed decisions about their drinking water. Working for OSU Extension has been especially rewarding because it allows me to put my education into practice while continuing to learn through hands-on experience\u00a0and community engagement.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One unexpected challenge has been learning how to\u00a0communicate the bitter\u00a0with the sweet. As someone passionate about science communication, it can be challenging when the information I share has the potential to affect someone’s daily life or livelihood. While I love spending time at community events and farmers\u2019\u00a0markets talking with people about\u00a0topics\u00a0I’m\u00a0passionate about, an important part of this work is helping people understand potential risks to their health and water quality. Those conversations require empathy,\u00a0patience\u00a0and the ability to explain technical information in a way that is both\u00a0accurate\u00a0and approachable.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout this summer, I hope to continue developing my communication skills and become more confident in having meaningful conversations with a wide variety of audiences.\u00a0I’m\u00a0excited to keep learning from my team, strengthen my outreach\u00a0experience\u00a0and continue growing as both a natural resource professional and science communicator.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello everyone! My name is Nakayda Jacobs, and I am a senior at Oregon State University studying natural resources with a focus in agricultural and natural resources communications. This summer, I have the great pleasure of being part of the Groundwater Protection and Education team with OSU Extension in the mid and southern Willamette Valley.\u00a0… Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14884,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[146,315],"tags":[312],"class_list":["post-1916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-groundwater-protection","category-mid-and-southern-willamette-valley","tag-nakayda-jacobs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14884"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1916"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1916\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1939,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1916\/revisions\/1939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/extintern\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}