Teagan Flaherty Week 3

This week I had a little break from the typical routine at the Anne Arundel Extension Office, as we participated in 2 days of leadership training and a campus tour at the University of Maryland, College Park. Before attending the tour, I continued to monitor and help with crop management at the urban farm research clinic on-site. We finally got rain (yay!), but before that, it was continuous watering for the tomato and blueberry plants. My mentor has also let me take part in a lot of IPM scouting outside, which has given me ample practice in the agricultural entomology work I hope to pursue after undergrad. I was even able to create a post on our social media to teach about the difference between common beneficial insects and pests!

Besides this and moving into the campus tour and training, I will first note that it was incredibly exciting to meet everyone in the internship cohort this summer. I was quick to meet multiple people I recognized or shared something in common with me. It was very nice to take multiple agriculture- and environment-related tours with a group that shared my interests. One of the first of these tours we had was in the research greenhouse on campus. This tour was especially interesting to me as my lab has our own room in the greenhouse, yet I have not been able to tour much of the facility up to this point. It was also extra special that our tour guide let me explain to the rest of the cohort how my lab grows tropical milkweed in our greenhouse. I also had no idea that the research greenhouse has indoor components, such as cooling chambers that help plants breed at a faster rate than crops typically grow in a season. Additionally, I loved seeing all the plants, especially the teaching plants for the plant science department, which had such a wide array of plants for students to learn from. Towards the end, I even had an insightful conversation with our tour guide about how she releases parasitoid wasps into the greenhouse to control pests, which I did not even know was an option.

Just one example of one of the many cooling chambers located in the research greenhouse on campus. In these rooms, researchers are able to control multiple factors such as temperature and humidity which is not always guaranteed in the outdoors. With these conditions they are able to breed crops far faster than in typical growing condition seasons.

Another tour I was able to experience was a place I always pass when I am on campus but had yet to fully tour - the campus farm. I have many peers on campus who are animal science students, so it was very interesting to learn about the various animal rotations they take and the accompanying coursework. I even learned that some of the sheep on campus get used in the dining halls! We also got to get up close to some of the newborn dairy goats on the farm and see the milking station that the students use to collect their milk. It was really intriguing how many different animals they could fit on such a small property and how many hands-on opportunities these students were given.

One of the campus dairy goats saying hello! This goat was one of the full grown goats located on campus that lives alongside some of the goats that gave birth to the new baby dairy goats. At the farm, animal science students not only learn how to take care of these animals but milk them as well!

Beyond the tours, we also attended two leadership workshops with Antonio Silas and Myles Alexander (the latter of whom is a familiar face I often see in the LCSL - Leadership and Community Service Learning office on campus!). In both of these activities, I feel I gained a better grasp of and perspective on my leadership style and values that I will use throughout the internship this summer. Antonio was great at having active conversations with us during his activity and really opened my eyes on how important active listening skills can be. Even though this was just a brief activity, I will most definitely keep this in my mind from now on and always try my best to absorb the knowledge I am given and ask clarifying questions as needed. Besides this, one of my favorite activities was done by Myles on the second day of the tour. This activity had us choose 10 of the most important values we hold for ourselves (creativity, communication, etc.) and eventually narrow this list to only 3. It was an activity I had never seen before, and it really opened my eyes not only to how my values relate to my daily life but also to the diversity of values I saw among my internship cohort. This was a really insightful activity and really gave me perspective on how I make decisions as a leader.

Me and some of the fellow interns spending time together after a long day of tours and training. We were all able to meet some of the other interns on campus, faculty, and other extension mentors at the luncheon the next day. It was nice to introduce myself to everyone!

In conclusion, this was a truly fun and exciting opportunity the internship team provided us. I know that multiple of the other interns and I have plans to hopefully keep collaborating throughout the summer and learning from each other - I think some of us wish we were all in the same office! Beyond this, I am excited to take this new knowledge with me for the rest of the summer!