How is animal agriculture helping to meet the demand for healthy food?
This eight-week internship program in sustainable animal agriculture aims to inspire talented students to become the thought leaders in agricultural sustainability. Participants will engage in agricultural research within the Department of Animal Science at Cornell University with faculty mentors, covering a breadth of topics including: metabolic efficiency of production animals, reducing the environmental impact of animal production and improving farm profitability through enhancing the efficiency of absorbed nutrients, nutrient and manure management and assessment of nutrient cycling to achieving successful outcomes in both production and environmental sustainability, and reproductive biology, physiology, and genomics for both fundamental gains in efficiency and its translation to production.
Each student will have an assigned faculty mentor with a structured plan to facilitate opportunities to interact with other students and mentors through lectures, discussions, field trips, and research. One of the primary objectives will be to provide enough background so that students can investigate, experiment and be creative problem solvers in order to construct long-lasting solutions of sustainable agriculture: satisfying human food, feed, and fiber needs and contribute to biofuel needs; enhancing environmental quality and the resource base; sustaining the economic viability of agriculture; and enhancing the quality of life for farmers, farm workers, and society as a whole. Experiences will be structured in training students to take new initiatives, make informed decisions and be accountable for the outcomes.
Internship Details
Sustainable Animal Agriculture for 2050 will run from June 3rd, 2019- July 26th, 2019, at Cornell University’s Ithaca campus in Upstate New York. Interns will be provided with housing in the dormitories and meal plans at the dining halls. Interns will also receive a $350/week stipend. Students travelling from distances greater than 500 miles to Ithaca may be eligible to receive funds to assist with travel costs.
Students are expected to participate in morning lectures, afternoon discussions, and mentored research Monday-Friday during the eight weeks, as well as weekly field trips.
Learning Objectives
- Students will acquire basic information about the science underlying animal and food production systems to form the basis of independent future learning.
- Students will demonstrate effective oral and written communication skills and the ability to communicate effectively with technical information.
- Students will gain appreciation for diverse viewpoints of issues in sustainable animal production through discussion and workshops.
- Students will recognize the importance of the integration of research and extension for progress in animal production.
- Students will learn to become open to change and be eager to investigate the scientific basis for proposals/plans before developing an opinion.
- Students will gain the ability to synthesize information and describe the elements required to arrive at a solution.
- Students will discover the array of opportunities available for careers related to animal and food production systems.
- Through experiential learning, this program will reinforce core concepts in animal science by doing, discovering, reflecting and applying. This will help propel students forward in their chosen careers with greater abilities in background knowledge, communication, decision making and self-confidence in solving real world problems.
For More Information
Please apply at: Internship Application by February 18th, 2019.