A few days ago I toured the agricultural center at UMD. It was so much fun seeing all the different types of research and projects being done at the university. Might as well go through them all.
Salisbury is definitely not this big (no disrespect though). Shannon was very kind to get meal cards for us. In the student union I tried Moby's which has really good halal food.
Leadership Training Pt I
After leaving the fleet, we all attended a leadership workshop held by Myles Alexander, the Leadership Coordinator for the Maryland Leadership Education and Development Program. I think I really started to pick up on everyone's names in the group.
We participated in a few activities. In one example, posters with the word "strongly agree," "agree," "disagree," and "strongly disagree" were hung around the room. Myles would announce a statement to which we would move to the poster based on what we thought.
Another activity involved playing card games without being able to discuss. I think this activity was focusing on how we may overestimate the role common sense plays in our lives.
The final round involved us trying to move some "project materials" (legos) from a "contaminated" container to a "clean" container. The thing is, we had to do this without touching the containers themselves. I think this activity focused on resourcefulness.
Research Greenhouse
Sydney showed us these greenhouses that were super big. It had so many bells and whistles like black tarps, sun lamps, fans, etc. There were so many types of plants especially of the ornamental variety. It really reminded me of a jungle in Jurassic Park. I think there was a large focus on wheat though.
Aquaponics Greenhouse
Now this here was pretty neat. Did you know that you can grow lettuce in water? What happens here is there are 2 tanks. One tank has plants while the other has fish.
When the fish grow in one tank they produce waste than can be used as fertilizer in the other tank. Aquaponics is a sustainable form of agriculture with many applications.
The fish here supply nutrients for the plants. I'm assuming the net is there so that they don't jump out.
Fermentation Lab
So I didn't know that there was a fermentation major. I took a biotech class last year and there was some fermentation done (wine, ginger beer, kombucha, sauerkraut). But definitely nothing to this extent. Like imagine going to a brewery... for class!
Dr. Flores did mention though that there were strict guidelines regarding consumption. Sip and spit I think was the rule which means you have cannot consume fermented alcohol.
One side of the lab. Large fermenters are put in this room.
Leadership Training Pt II
Wednesday's leadership training was led by Antonio Silas, director for the Baltimore City Extension Office. Here, he covered the basics behind leadership as well as our values. This day was definitely more focused on inner work. I think I like the coaching or participative types of leadership.
When I think of leaders, I tend to think of the "leading" part as in you are above some other people or are responsible for them. But perhaps there are different types of leadership that lend itself to more nuanced relationships such as transactional, authoritative, or participative.
I think one thing I can practice during my internship is self advocacy and taking initiative. That's how relationships form and where leadership starts for me personally.
Bioenergy and Bioprocessing
I think this type of research will be really important once we start producing too much waste to handle. Dr. Lansing had these large fermenters that contain bacteria. These bacteria digest waste and split it into its separate components!
Here is Dr. Lansing's lab space (she had like 3). Some fermenters as well as a poster are present. Apparently, you can make plastic from human waste?
Networking Mixer Lunch
This was the main event where we all got to introduce ourselves. I tried practicing my pitch but I feel like I didn't communicate my interests too clearly. But I am glad I went since it is rather rare for me to attend these types of events.
I was happy to meet a lot of new people anyway. I think this is one new step towards adulthood.
Water Quality Outreach and Wellness
Kind of sad this one didn't go through fully due to rain. But we went to collect water samples and detect for pathogens. Here are some pictures of our samples:
In the picture above you can see that all the plates do not have e. coli. If they did the water facilities would have to be notified!
Campus Learning Garden
Fortunately the rain stopped enough for us to check the garden. We ended up doing a bee activity where we studied different types of bees for a little bit. Turns out there is an apiary club at UMD!
Here is this large community garden. Apparently, there are blueberries here?
Campus Farm
I think it's really cool that a farm is in the center of a city. Unfortunately, since it rained, chickens and sheep were put inside. We did get to see the goats though.
Horses actually aren't here right now. They are in the midwest feeding on some new pastures for about a month.
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