Elizabeth Karides

The third week of my internship was defined by hands-on and travel experience. Kicking off the week, I travelled to the Plantation Park Heights Urban Farm in Baltimore City. There, I assisted Emmie Woerner, a Doctoral Candidate in Environmental Health sciences, with her PhD project focused on testing the microbial quality of harvested rainwater. Along with another UME intern, Veda Sanhai, I helped collect produce and soil samples from the different treatments. We worked in a plastic high tunnel which is essentially a greenhouse. The rainwater was harvested by hitting the high tunnel and running down the side to be collected and treated for the experiment.

On June 9, I assisted Doctoral Candidate Emmie Woerner by harvesting produce samples of a salad mix including plants such as mustard and spinach. The sampling took place at the Baltimore City urban farm Plantation Park Heights. Image Credit: Veda Sanhai

During this week I also attended the AgFS Summer In-Service which saw many great examples of written and oral communication. In my opinion, the highlight of this meeting were the several research presentations delivered by UME professionals. Learning about the different projects being conducted throughout the state was my favorite part of the day. One presentation I found particularly interesting was given by Dr. Jonathan Moyle, a UME Poultry Specialist. Dr. Moyle delivered a presentation detailing his experience travelling to Daystar University in Kenya. There, he gave the local poultry producers advice on how to improve their operation in terms of efficiency, cleanliness, and food safety. In my opinion, Dr. Moyle’s presentation was a great example of effective oral and written communication. His presentation slides were organized, legible, and featured bright photos and colors to engage the audience. He was a confident and humorous speaker which made his talk even more engaging. 

Following the In-Service, I had the opportunity to attend the Maryland Association of County Agricultural Agents (MACAA) Farm Tour. On this day, I travelled to six different farms and production facilities. Along with numerous other UME employees and interns, I visited a variety of facilities and farms located primarily throughout Baltimore County. Learning about different operations including thoroughbred race horse breeding, meat packing, lavender production, and several others made this an exceptionally educational and exciting day. 

On June 11, I visited Starbright Farm in White Hall, MD during the MACAA tour. During the visit, I saw the farm's beautiful lavender fields. Image Credit: Elizabeth Karides

Another highlight of the week was working with my mentor, Dr. Qianwen Lu, and making major progress in our biochar experiment. In the research field, we marked off the spaces for each treatment with flags, spread the biochar, and spray painted labels after plastic mulch was applied to each bed. Working outside and witnessing the field transform in preparation for our experiment made this my favorite part of the week. Having the opportunity to participate in hands-on agricultural research at such a high level has certainly been a highlight of my internship experience so far.

On June 13, Dr. Qianwen Lu and I completed spray painting the plastic mulch to section off each treatment of biochar for our experiment. This was completed in one of the research fields at CMREC, Clarksville. Image Credit: Elizabeth Karides

I think it is safe to say that week three of the UMD WFD Internship has been the busiest for me so far. Gaining so much travel and hands-on experience has given me a great insight to what a career in Extension can look like. I look forward to next week where I will be travelling to the UMD College Park campus for two days of research tours and getting to know my fellow interns. Thanks for reading!