This was my final internship week! It started off with a delicious lunch on Monday since everyone working in Morrison cooked a dish to share pot luck style. It was so fun to try dishes influenced by so many different cultures. On Monday I set up the value of manure display with Carlos and Kirsten so that we could make some improvements. The display was set up at the Aurora Field Day on Thursday partially to inspire other educators to borrow it for their own events.
Tuesday I attended a manure expo wrap up meeting which covered all of the successes and challenges from the manure expo and how next year can improve. It was cool to hear that this was the largest turn out by quite a bit. Afterwards I worked with Carlos and Camron on more rainfall simulation trials. This time the system was recalibrated again and we only placed pans in spots one, two, and four.
Wednesday I spent some time in the lab with interns Sarah and Lauren to see the lab work they are doing for the microbial biomass soil health project. Today we were weighing out soil samples for DNA tests.
On Thursday we went on our final field trip to the Aurora Field day at one of Cornell’s research farms and heard about a variety of ongoing agricultural research projects. We also participated in a bean tasting to help the Ecobean project determine the most promising dry bean varieties to grow and sell in New York.
Friday, my final day, was our intern poster session. In the morning we first heard from different speakers coming from NRCS, NYSAGM, and NYFVI who have been involved in funding the projects we are working on. During the poster session it was fun speaking with all the attendees and realizing how much more knowledgable I am on tile drainage, manure systems, and nutrient management. Below I have added my final poster which I will also present in September for the Cornell Cooperative Extension poster session.