Mikaela Seltzer

 Hello, my name is Mikaela Seltzer, I also go by Mia. One of my favorite quotes is by Robin Williams “You’re only given one little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it.” My goals for this internship are to learn all I can from this opportunity, gain hands-on experience working in agriculture, conduct field research, collect and organize data, and function in an office setting. I am working out of the Talbot, Dorchester, and Wye REC offices for my internship. My mentors are Nicole Firellino, Shannon Potter Dill, and Emily Zobel. I will be helping Emily with an experiment on organic pesticide use on squash, collard greens, and other vegetables. I will be helping her with some plant variety trials, recording, and sorting through data. I will learn administrative skills from Shannon and how to sort survey data and find broken links. Because I am working with three different mentors, I will learn so much from all of them. I will have the chance to learn more about research and see if that is something that I would like to do as a career. I can also learn about the many aspects of field work such as counting pests and spraying, or if I want to work in an agricultural office such as Extension. I did not know a lot about Extension or what it was. I thought it only did soil tests and nutrient management plans, I did not realize that Extension also did things such as 4-H, plant and animal agriculture, and pests. I have spoken with my mentors and they have given me wonderful advice so far. They have told me that one of the important parts of this internship is finding out what I enjoy doing and what I do not enjoy doing. We talked briefly about some of the projects and I am truly excited about all of the things I am going to learn. The experience and connections I will gain through this internship will help me in my education, life, and future. It will further my education in not just agriculture but also in life skills and skills that will transfer over into the job field. This internship is giving me a headstart in acclimating to the workforce and showing me what I am really passionate about as a career. I am truly excited to meet new people and learn as much as I can.

My first day in the field. I was counting worms on collard greens with Emily, my mentor

A bird's nest two other and I interns found while Emily and Haley mixed up a pesticide that we were not able to spray because it requires a license to spray.