Hello! My name is Elizabeth Karides and in the upcoming fall I will be a Junior at Louisiana State University! I am majoring in Plant and Soil Systems with a focus in Crop Science and I am interested in eventually working in University Extension as an Agricultural Agent. I am very excited and grateful to be participating in the University of Maryland’s Workforce Development Extension Internship.
During my internship I will be working at the Central Maryland Research and Education Center (CMREC) in Clarksville, MD. My mentors I am working with are Dr. Qianwen Lu and Dr. Xuan Wei and I will be assisting them with agricultural research projects related to biochar and salt issues on urban farms. I am particularly excited for the opportunity to draft an educational Extension article related to this research. In my opinion, one of the most exciting and fun parts about Extension work is when we get to share research-based information and help educate local producers who are looking to improve their agricultural practices. During my internship, I will be excited to not only write UME articles, but also help with field days and workshops where I’ll get to speak with local producers in-person.
During my first week, I have completed tasks including weighing out the needed biochar for my experiment with Dr. Lu and preparing mushroom substrate with fellow interns Mike Ribblett and Veda Sanhai. Mushroom substrate is the material in which mushrooms grow and we were preparing some for an upcoming workshop at CMREC focused on Specialty Mushroom Farming.
During this first week, I also travelled to Baltimore City to visit a hydroponics garden tended to by Clayton Williams, a Green Trades Instructor who works with the non-profit organization Grow Home Baltimore. The garden was beautiful and learning about how Mr. Williams was able to successfully grow all sorts of produce in an urban setting was great to learn about.
Farm and site visits are another part of Extension that excites me. Getting to go out into communities and seeing their production systems seems like one of the most fun and educational parts of the job. Not only do you get to forge connections in the community, but you get to learn about different agricultural systems as well.
Essentially, I had a great first week as a UME intern. I am excited to continue working and learning throughout this program. My mentors have been kind and helpful and I look forward to continuing to work with them in the upcoming weeks. Thanks for reading!
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