Week Four with Extension by Alison Layton

 

Cacti being grown in the research greenhouse.

This week we visited the University of Maryland College Park campus for our research tour. This tour was the first time all the interns got to meet. The first day we spent in leadership training. In our first workshop with Antonio Silas, the UME Director for the Baltimore City office, we learned about different leadership styles and how identity impacts leadership. Learning about the different kinds of leadership was interesting because I was able to label examples of leadership I have seen. What most impacted me from this workshop was the idea that good leadership must be done in various styles. How you lead will be affected by the situation and the people around you.

Our next workshop was with Myles Alexander from Maryland Leadership Education and Development Program. He took us through a series of activities to actively work on leadership skills. First, we had to work as a team to get everyone through a maze while he was periodically adding new restrictions. Then we paired up for a competitive game. One partner was blindfolded while the other was guided through an area with (unset) mouse traps and had to collect toy wheels representing "cheese." Lastly, we had a list of 12 people and had to reach a group consensus on which 12 to save. The descriptions of the people were between 1-4 words, so there was a lot of room for interpretation. Some people had roles that affected how the conversation went. These games had overarching themes of communication and knowing your and your team's skills. These games were a fun way to understand where our skills in these areas were and how we could improve them. I learned that communication is a skill I will always need to work on. It was also an opportunity to get to know each other.

 

Emily Stamper guiding me to pick up "cheese" wheels during leadership training.

That night we continued to get to know each other and had a chance to test the communication skills we had learned when we worked to put a new pair of windshield wipers on my car. Emily Stamper got them on my car and we safely got around on day two.

On the second day, we went around campus and saw labs and other agriculture-related things they are doing. First, we went to the aquaponics lab run by Dr. Jose-Luis Izursa. We got to see his studies and the different ways aquaponics can be done. This was one of the most interesting things we saw that day because I had almost no previous knowledge, so I learned a lot, including that you can grow anything in aquaponics; you just need the proper setup. We then saw how the campus deals with stormwater from Michael Carmichael. After that, we went to the research greenhouse with Sydney Wallace. I have always seen them while walking around campus, but they were very impressive up close. Inside each greenhouse, there are rows of separate rooms. Each room was automated to generate optimal growing conditions for the plants inside. The computer could complete tasks such as opening and closing windows and watering the plant based on the sensors inside. We then had a mixer where we got to network and meet interns from other programs. After that, we got to look at the plant diagnostic lab run by Dr. Karen Rane. This lab takes plants from all over Maryland to test and determine what is wrong with them free of charge. I was intrigued by all the types of tests being done in this lab, especially the large amount of microbiology, which I wouldn't usually think to do for a plant. We then learned about agriculture law with Paul Goeringer. Here we got to learn about struggles in agriculture that are commonly forgotten about. We ended the day by getting a tour of the campus farm. It was interesting to see how they run the farm and use it as a teaching tool.

This trip was an incredible experience. I met and talked to so many people with a shared love for agriculture. I learned so much, including how I can better my leadership skills and information on the vast ways what you do can be related to agriculture.

Fellow interns Emily Stamper and Daniel Gustitis working to get my windshield wipers off.