Summer Internship Program: Frederick County

Primary Program Area Focus: ANR

1. Describe your plans for this internship.  (i.e. What specifically will the intern be doing?)

My vision for this internship is for the intern to learn about the wine grape industry in Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic - and potentially other woody fruit crop systems - by participating in outreach activities and stakeholder events that my vitculture extension program engages with during the growing season.  This includes organizing and hosting a summer technical meeting for our grower organizaton (the Virginia Vineyards Association), participating in on-farm field visits to help growers address production issues, coordinaing with the drafting and production of VCE publications, co-organizing monthly virtual meetings with stakeholders, participating in grapevine disease and insect pest scouting and supporting data collection efforts for ongoing extension and research projects (onsite @ the AHSAREC and in commercial vineyards), supporting program digital communications (list serv emails, email communications, social media content), and participating in a project analyzing historical records and production datasets from the viticulture program to compare historical bloom dates with contemporary dates.  There will be opportunities for the intern to work with the graduate students in my lab and with the grape pathology program, led by Dr. Mizuho Nita, and the enology program, led by Dr. Demi Perry, and support their extension efforts during the season.  This may take the form of assisting with on-farm visits, co-organizing workshops and focus groups, and more.  Additionally, my program often works closely with VCE agents and we would organize shadowing trips where the intern can spend a day with local agents to learn about their roles and other industries.

2. Describe the knowledge / skills you expect the intern to gain from this experience.

I expect the intern to gain fundamental knowledge of wine grape production systems and the primary issues and challenges facing Mid-Atlantic grape/wine stakeholders today, in additon to an appreciation of the service-oriented mission of applied research and extension programs.  The intern will gain skills critical for successful stakeholder engagement, including commnication and organizational skills, and learn how to become a successful member of a larger team working collectively towards various goals (i.e.,not only my research and extension program, but the larger wine grape team that includes me, Dr. Mizuho Nita, and Dr. Demi Perry).  Interns will learn some applied horticulture research skills and tehcniques and agricultural/biological knowledge that are relevant for an understanding of contemporary applied horticultureal research, while learning about integrated research-extension programs.  Finally, interns will also gain experience with writing and composition skills, analyticial and critical thinking skills, and engage in opportunities for career and professional development.

3. How will the intern learn about the breadth of VCE and our various program areas?

While the members of the hosting team (myself, Dr. Mizuho Nita, Dr. Demi Perry) are based in CALS and engage in research and extension efforts targeting the wine grape industry, we maintain close relationships with agents and VCE professionals who work in different program areas and geographic regions within Virginia.  My goal is to incorporate opportunities for the intern to engage with diverse VCE professionals and attend events that can expose them to other program areas outside of wine grape production; these would include opportunities to shadow ANR and Commercial Horticulture agents in different counties (e.g., Loudoun County, Frederick County, and elsewhere), visits to other ARECS (e.g., Hampton Roads AREC), workshops and conferences, and other events.  Other members of my team also maintain connections to other departments, including Food Science & Technology, and there may be opportunities to learn about other food-related VCE activities.  The intern may also interact with the members of cooperative extension services from neighboring states who I closely work with (e.g., Maryland, Pennsylvania, and more), in addition to governmental agencies involved in agricultureal outreach (e.g., USDA-ARS).