Teagan Flaherty

 Hello! Welcome to my first blog post - I am sorry if I have yet to meet many of you in the cohort, I was away these first few days to be apart of my brothers wedding! 

My name is Teagan Flaherty and I am apart of the 2026 Summer Workforce Development Internship with University of Maryland Extension. I will be located at the Anne Arundel Extension Office this summer and working with extension agent Dave Myers. 

An image taken during the 2025 Cherry Blossom Season in Washington, D.C. I currently still reside in College Park and often visit my family and friends in D.C., I love the area and plan to stay here as long as I can! 

At my internship at the Anne Arundel facility, I will have access to a variety of resources to learn more about fruit and vegetable crops which my mentor is well versed in. Additionally, I will be working on different projects in the Agriculture Master Gardener and 4-H programming groups. I am especially excited to be involved with these groups, specifically the youth within the 4-H programming as I was once too heavily involved in an agricultural youth program of the National FFA Organization. Beyond these specific tasks I will be able to perform a variety of work on a daily basis with my mentor at the extension office site such as assisting with the project development and daily activities at the Anne Arundel Urban Farming Research Clinic. I am also anticipating to learn a variety of skill sets and knowledge beyond just fruit and vegetable crops as Dave Myers is also experienced in interests of mine such as pesticide use and safety. 

This photo was taken in 2024 after I received my American FFA Degree at the annual National Convention. I was able to receive this degree with other members from Maryland including my friends who served as State Officers with me from 2022-2023. 

Beyond my love for agriculture that was instilled in me through growing up in rural Harford County, I am also very passionate about environmental science. After this summer, I will be entering my senior year at the University of Maryland, College Park. I am majoring in Environmental Science and Technology: Natural Resources Management with a minor in Entomology. My interest in entomology is the main focus on my studies as of recent and I plan to apply to graduate schools for a degree in entomology or toxicology. As of now, I am working towards completing my research project in the entomology honors program in Dr. Krishnan's laboratory. My project is assessing the effects of neuroactive pesticides on the large milkweed bug. Although I pursue entomology at school, I have also personally always had interest insects in general and own a pink-toed tarantula and Madagascar hissing cockroaches as pets. I am really hopeful to pursue a career in the future that combines my love of agriculture, environmental science, and entomology together as I think they are all essential to each other. 

Beyond what I study in school, I am also involved in multiple extracurriculars at University of Maryland, specifically within the College of AGNR. I have been involved with Sigma Alpha the agricultural sorority since my sophomore year and am additionally involved in the AGNR Ambassador program along with serving as communications chair on the AGNR Dean's Student Advisory Council. I have always loved being involved in groups that promote education, leadership, and agriculture so I am not surprised I was able to find these groups in college. My 5 years in FFA and as a current alumni truly shaped a lot about who I am today. Outside of AGNR I have also been involved with Terps for Change (a service organization on campus) where I am able to volunteer in the community on a weekly basis. I also spend a fair amount of my time working on campus as a research technician in the aforementioned lab and will be working as a Visual Media Intern in the Office of Sustainability this upcoming year. 

Here I am pictured at one of our many events in my sorority: Sigma Alpha for women in agriculture. I am super thankful to be surrounded by many women interested in the same topics and to bring in my interest of environmental science. I was even able to briefly serve as our service chair this past school year.

I am super excited for this internship experience this summer and anticipate learning about a variety of new topics and skills that will be beneficial for my future career. Growing up in Harford County and being involved in FFA, I was often surrounded by employees in extension offices or the general work and programming of these offices. One of my biggest passions is to be involved with education and service on a broader level, so I knew to scout out this internship as soon as I came to UMD. As seen in blog posts like this, I know a lot of extension work is writing heavy - and I even worked with my boss in the laboratory to practice some of this writing before the internship began. So I am very hopeful to improve my writing skills in a way that conveys important scientific and agricultural information that is also accessible to someone in the public eye. I am also so excited to see the type of programming extension does with 4-H and how professionals are able to help influence the agricultural youth in what they are passionate about. Lastly, I am always looking for different ways to push my leadership skills in any opportunity I am participating in! Therefore, I am interested in seeing the workflow within the extension offices and the overall flow of extension in partner with our land-grant university along with seeing a variety of new perspectives.