The UW-Madison seeks three interns to assist with supporting and growing the Agricultural Educational Program at Harold S. Vincent High School, 7501 N. Granville, Milwaukee, WI 53224. These internships are for up to 10 weeks during the summer of 2016. Exact start and end dates are flexible, but between mid-May and late August.The deadline to apply is April 20, 2016.
Responsibilities – Intern 1: Curriculum, Project Based Learning & Marketing
• Assist in developing and designing marketing materials for internal and external stakeholders.
• Review all existing marketing materials such as flyers, pamphlets
, and handouts.
• Assist in developing and designing instructional units, assessments, and lesson plans for agriculture curriculum.
• Assisting agriculture teachers in the development and design of project-based learning activities for the upcoming school year 2016-2017.
• Participate in agriculture integration meetings.
• Assist in developing instructional activities that incorporate the theme of agriculture other content areas.
• Design and develop ideas for a small fruit & vegetable market in preparation for the fall harvest.
• Assist in the design and preparation for 2016 Vincent high school Homecoming activities.
• Prepare presentations and/or reports for the Vincent high school Agriculture Advisory Board.
• Assist Vincent high school summer school staff in designing agriculture related activities for students with moderate to severe disabilities.
• Complete other duties assigned by the Vincent high school principal or designee.
Responsibilities – Intern 2: Campus Project Support & Maintenance
• Assist with maintaining the current fruit trees, apiary, and greenhouse.
• Assist with building the community gardens / raised beds on the west end of campus.
• Prep soil beds and/or pots for seeding around campus.
• Assist with the aquaponics and hydroponics projects.
• Care for chickens and other small animal on campus.
• Assist is the planning and building livestock pens.
• Help to reassemble hoop house.
• Participate in agriculture integration meetings.
• Prepare presentations and/or reports for the Vincent high school Agriculture Advisory Board.
• Complete other duties assigned by the Vincent high school principal or designee.
Responsibilities – Intern 3: Horticulture & Urban Agriculture
• Assist MAWIB teachers with the coordination of the Vincent greenhouse.
• Design and develop a planting schedule for year round growing.
• Assist MAWIB students and staff achieve the goal of a plant in every classroom.
• Assist with the planting of DNR tree program.
• Assist MAWIB teachers in maintaining the campus landscaping.
• Assist with the maintenance, weeding, watering, and overall care of the community gardens.
• Participate in agriculture integration meetings.
• Prepare presentations and/or reports for the Vincent high school Agriculture Advisory Board.
• Assist or lead the MAWIB students who will be working in the Learn and Earn program.
• Assist Vincent high school staff with the maintenance and repair of school tractors and other farm equipment.
• Complete other duties assigned by the Vincent high school principal or designee.
Salary: $11.00 per hour.
Qualifications:
Applicant should be a rising junior or senior in education, plant or animal sciences, soil science or a closely related major. The desired applicant will demonstrate:
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Self-motivation and strong organizational skills
• Strong work ethic and willingness to complete tasks
• Willingness to troubleshoot issues and implement solutions as needed
• Ability to multi-task and manage interactions and collaborations with multiple stakeholders
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite
• Valid driver’s license
To Apply: You may apply for one or more internships. Please include the following as part of your packet:
1) Current Resume, saved as FirstnameLastname.doc or pdf
2) Cover letter which should include:
a. Your academic background (major or area of focus in school)
b. Your qualifications for each position you are applying for
c. Why you would like to be an intern on this project(s); 3) Undergraduate transcript (unofficial is fine); 4) Name, phone number and email address of two references who know you well.
All applications should be sent to Gail Kraus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison/Vincent High School at gmkraus@wisc.edu. If you have questions, please contact Gail at (262) 236-1422. Deadline is April 20th
Interns Participate in 2015 Research Projects
by William S. Mulhern
Jahn Research Group, UW-Madison
This summer, four undergraduate students have earned the opportunity to participate in the Sustainable Dairy’s 2015 Research Mentorship Program to work with principal investigators, post-doctoral research associates and graduate students at The Pennsylvania State University, Cornell University, North Carolina Ag and Tech State University and University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Each internship offers specific insight into a different area of sustainable dairy production, including manure management, greenhouse gas measurement from soils and manure, dairy cow nutrition, and microbial manure analysis. The four undergraduate students involved in these
mentorships come from diverse backgrounds, but they all share a passion
for sustainable dairy production systems.
Andrew M. Lefever is a rising senior majoring in Agricultural Sciences at Cornell University where he is concentrating on crop production and management and nutrient management. Andrew, who grew up in Lancaster County, PA, is working with Dr. Quirine Ketterings and postdoctoral researcher Dr. Amir Sadeghpour on three separate experiments to evaluate the greenhouse gas mitigation potential of manure management in grain corn, grass and alfalfa. The objective of their first experiment is to evaluate the impact of a change from nitrogen-based applications without incorporation to a phosphorus-based (crop-removal) management system with immediate incorporation of manure on corn grain yield, greenhouse gas emissions and soil health. Their other two experiments focus on the impact of surface application versus injection of manure in tall fescue and alfalfa on forage quality and yield, soil physical properties and soil greenhouse gas emissions.
Elaine Hinrichs is a senior at Oberlin College majoring in Environmental Studies and minoring in Physics. Elaine is particularly focused on issues of water quality and greenhouse gas emissions. Her internship is at The Pennsylvania State University with Dr. Heather Karsten and graduate student Alejandra Ponce de Leon, and Dr. Curtis Dell from the nearby USDA ARS Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Unit.
The team is measuring and interpreting nitrous oxide data from soils and manure storage in dairy systems. They are collecting gas samples from field plots over the course of the growing season to compare the effects of injection manure, broadcast manure, fertilizer application, and previous crops on nitrous oxide emissions from soils. Additionally, they are performing a 28-day soil incubation experiment to determine the potentially mineralizable nitrogen (PMN) in plots of corn planted after alfalfa, red clover, soybean, and rye, and how this PMN correlates to measured nitrous oxide emissions and to Pre-sidedress Nitrate Test recommendations. Ultimately, they hope their results will lead to reduction of on-farm fertilization inputs, and in-turn, reductions in environmental impacts and nitrous oxide emissions.
Noel Facey is an Animal Science major at North Carolina A&T State University. He is working with Dr. Millie Worku and Hamid Ismail to evaluate the factors affecting the detection of Methanogen DNA in cow manure. More specifically, this team is attempting to determine how the genetics of an animal and environmental stress affects the cow’s production of methane. Noel will assist with the isolation of DNA from manure from different breeds of cattle throughout the summer. Additionally, he will be collecting weather data from the NC A&T weather station and participate in PCR analysis and subsequent interpretation of the data.
Tracy Potter is a senior at Cornell University majoring in Animal Science and hopes one day to become a large animal vet. Tracy’s interest in dairy cow health led her to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she is working with Drs. Michel Wattiaux and Matias Aguerre. This team is conducting a research trial to study the effect of fiber digestibility on animal milk production, methane emissions, and efficiency of nitrogen utilization in dairy cows. As a summer research intern, Tracy is collecting milk, urine, and fecal samples inside the brand new gas sampling emissions chambers at the USDA Dairy Forage Research Center in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin. Additionally, she will conduct a meta-analysis to calculate the income over feed cost of implementing diets used in studies of nitrogen utilization efficiency in dairy cows.
While all four interns are researching separate aspects of dairy production sustainability, they are all gaining valuable research skills and knowledge. Not only are they learning how to collect and compile various types of samples, they are also learning how to accurately analyze the data and effectively communicate the findings of their research.
Information about the 2016 summer internship program will be posted on this website in January 2016.
