Week One with Extension by Cole Chapman

Hi, My name is Cole Chapman. I am a rising sophomore at the University of Maryland and I’m currently an environmental science and technology (ENST) major. I say currently because I’m not 100% sure it is what I want to do going forward, so I took this internship as an opportunity to expand my field of view in terms of areas of interest. In terms of the actual internship, I’m working with multiple different county offices in central Maryland on a variety of projects. My current primary location is the Frederick county extension office with Mark Townsend as my mentor. We are working with Nathan Glenn of the Howard county office and Kelly Nichols of the Montgomery county office to get me around to different locations and see if one of their projects interests me. 

Image: Me in Howard county after setting up a moth trap on one of three farms.

One consistent project across all 3 offices is crop scouting, going into fields and determining levels of pest pressure and environmental conditions affecting crop growth. One of the other things that I did was help setting moth traps in Howard county to determine if Western Bean cutworm and Fall armyworm pose a risk to sweet corn crops in Howard county. A third thing that I’m scheduled to do is help weigh and collect data on cows on June 5th with some of the other interns. In only the first week of this internship I’ve found so many potential ideas to explore and I’m sure I’m only scratching the surface of all the things I’m going to try this summer. Again, the main reason I wanted to do this internship was because I didn’t have a clear idea of what I wanted to do, so seeing these different paths has opened my eyes to new possibilities. It's honestly a little overwhelming to see all the different projects to be a part of, but once I find something that really sticks with me I should be able to pursue it with the help of my mentors.

Image: Fusarium Head Blight found in wheat while crop scouting a Montgomery county farm