Hartford County 4-H Hartford County 4-H Program Intern

Supervisor: Jen Cushman, Hartford County 4-H Extension Educator

Location: Farmington, CT

Position Description:

The Hartford County 4-H Intern will have the opportunity to engage in various aspects of Hartford County 4-H programming. Activities will include engaging in UConn Extension 4-H programs to learn more about UConn Extension and the 4-H positive youth development model, assisting with preparations for the annual 4-H Fair, creating and delivering educational content and marketing the 4-H program. The goal of this internship is to provide the intern with a broad experience in some of the career skills associated with being a 4-H Extension Educator. This position will be based out of the Farmington office with time spent at program locations such as the annual Hartford County 4-H Fair in Somers and 4-H Education Center at Auerfarm in Bloomfield.

Learning Objectives:

• Build an understanding of 4-H and other UConn Extension programs
• Gain experience working collaboratively with youth and adults
• Plan and implement 4-H positive youth development programs
• Create marketing materials to engage the public in 4-H

The Hartford County 4-H Extension Educator will meet regularly with the intern to monitor progress on projects and work with the intern to develop a meaningful internship plan with consideration to the intern’s career interests. The Supervisor will work with the intern to complete the required Learning Agreement, Mid-Summer Evaluation and End of Summer Evaluation. The Supervisor will also serve as instructor for the AGNR 3681 course and oversee completion of the course requirements.

Qualifications:

• Desire to work with youth and adults in an informal educational setting
• Experience working with youth and adults
• Ability to work independently with limited supervision
• Effective communication skills
• Reliable transportation
• Willingness to work in a variety of work environments
• Prior experience with 4-H or educational programming delivery (preferred)
• Familiarity with social media platforms, Qualtrics, Canva and Microsoft Suite (preferred)

Schedule/Hours:

Work times will be scheduled based on program needs, typically between 8am-5pm. Some night and weekend hours are required. Anticipated length of internship is June 1 through August 24. The intern will work an average of 15 hours per week for approximately 13 weeks. Some flexibility is available to schedule hours around summer classes, other employment or travel. Candidates requiring flexibility with these dates are still encouraged to apply.

Employment of the successful candidate is contingent upon the successful completion of a pre-employment criminal background check.

Litchfield County 4-H Hartford County 4-H Program Intern

Supervisor: Bill Davenport, Litchfield County 4-H Extension Educator

Location: Torrington, CT

Position Description:

The 4-H Summer Intern works under the supervision of the 4-H Educator.

The 4-H Summer Intern will work at the Litchfield County Extension office in Torrington, CT.

Tasks:

The Summer Intern will:

• Be responsible for developing, planning for, teaching, and evaluating in person programs at various summer recreational programs, day camps and other related settings throughout Litchfield County.
• Be responsible for helping to plan for, organize, run, and evaluate the Litchfield County 4-H Fair to be held in Goshen on August 4^th through 6^th, 2023.

Needs:

Proposed dates and times for the Summer Intern:

• Thursday, June 1, 2023, through Friday, August 11, 2023
• Approximately 20 hours per week on average, generally 9 am to 3 pm each day on average.

Learning Objectives:

The Summer Intern will:

• Learn how to present and teach programs to children ranging in age from 6 to 12 years old, with a goal to reach no less than 500 children throughout the summer.
• Learn how the Litchfield County 4-H fair is managed, from planning, ordering supplies and awards, and coordinating work crews, members, and adults, by working with Extension staff and 4-H volunteers.
• Learn how to properly evaluate both programs including suggestions for expanding and improving the outreach for the summer programs and the County 4-H Fair.

Supervisory Ownership Commitment:

As supervisor, I plan to mentor the intern by developing a learning agreement, conducting periodic evaluations including a mid-summer evaluation and an end of summer evaluation, along with providing feedback and advice throughout the summer.

Additional Qualifications:

• Must have a valid driver’s license and must have a vehicle for work related travel.
• Should have a desire to work with youth in an informal educational setting.
• A working knowledge of the Litchfield County 4-H program is preferred.

Middlesex County 4-H Program/New Haven County 4-H Program Intern

Supervisors: Emily McCabe Alger/Margaret Grillo

Location: Middlesex County Extension Center, 1066 Saybrook Road, Haddam, CT

Dates: Late May – Mid August

Compensation is 3,000.00 to be divided equally over the time of the internship.  Approximately 20 hours a week, for 10 weeks with one week off around July 4. Approximate pay is $15.40 per hour.

Duties would include but not be limited to:

• Providing summer programing opportunities for 4-H youth in both counties, either through virtual platforms or in person, within the current COVID guidelines at the time
• Plan, implement and evaluate 4-H educational workshops on STEM and/or Healthy Living topics for 10 – 15 youth at a time.
• Assist in all outreach efforts which would include promotion and recruitment of volunteers and members.
• Data entry for both the 4-H fair database and the Sponsorship data sheets.
• Creation or updating of forms, programs, handouts, signage, and other written materials as they pertain to the 2023 Summer 4-H Programs
•  Instructional video preparation for items that need explanation in the virtual platform.
• Phone call follow-up or outreach when needed, as well as email correspondence with clientele.

Applicants MUST:

• Enjoy children and working with families.
• Have strong digital communication skills.
• Be available to work the entire week of the fair –August 1-7, 2023.
• Be self-motivated and task oriented to complete tasks assigned by their deadlines.
• Check in weekly with advisors through whatever means is deemed acceptable by the summer.
• Reliable transportation to office locations, programs, and event sites

Applicants Preferred Items:

• 4-H Experience or other youth group work
• Teaching or Professional work with children

New Haven County 4-H Program Intern

Supervisor:  Margaret Grillo

Location: New Haven County Extension Center, 1305 Skiff Street, North Haven, CT 06473

Responsibilities:

1. Assist in promoting UConn 4-H by planning, implementing, and evaluating 4-H workshops on Healthy living to be presented at local libraries, farmers markets. Some of the presentations can be organized in a series (weekly or monthly) though June, July, and August. Also, to plan one or two Healthy Living activities to be conducted during the 4-H Fair in August.
2. In conjunction with intern from Middlesex and key officers/mentors of the 4-H Fair - one of the workshops will be to plan, implement and evaluate animal showmanship to be conducted mid-July. Responsibilities will include coordinating local volunteers – use of their farm and animals, obtaining workshop leaders, managing publicity and registration and supervision the actual day program.
3. Assist with planning and conducting the Middlesex & New Haven project evaluations done in conjunction with the 4-H
4. Assist with current social media used by this educator -Facebook, county 4-H website, Instagram. Assist with organizing and conducting an open house at the 4-H Fair for interested youth and potential volunteers.
5. Must be available to work the entire time of the 4-H Fair – especially August 1 - 8
6. Other duties jobs deemed

Qualifications:

• Ability to manage groups - experience working with groups, youth &
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Excellent planning and organizing
• Willingness to help others develop skills and
• Tolerant and respectful of individual
• Familiarity with the 4-H program helpful but not
• Experience in youth development,
• An interest in sharing knowledge to enhance youth educational
• Excellent social media
• Ability to work with county/local/community and state level professionals to share resources and
• The ability to communicate effectively with 4-H staff, youth &
• Able to work as a team
• Able to work independently with minimal
• Creative, flexible, organized and
• Effective problem solver
• Effective communication skills
• Networking skills

Benefits Received:

• Enhanced educational experiences in curriculum development, working youth and adults, collaboration with local agencies.
• Network opportunities in the county
• Enhanced professional development
• Increased knowledge and skills for implementing and managing

New London County Extension Office Summer Internship

Extension Mentor/Supervisor: Marc Cournoyer, New London 4-H Education Program Coordinator

Location: Norwich, CT

Job Description

200 hour paid internship (10 weeks at 20 hours per week):

• 4-H Youth Development: 200 hours @ $15.40 per hour
  • Under the supervision of Marc Cournoyer, 4-H Education Program Coordinator

Intern will participate in UConn Extension community outreach programs by assisting Extension Educator in the area of 4-H Youth Development as outlined below. They will also learn through interaction with the public through the use of electronic media and in person programming opportunities through community-based outreach.

4-H:

• STEM mini camps:
  • assist 4-H educator with development and facilitation of live 4-H STEM outreach program.
    • Assist with research and development of programming with/for partner agencies and employ using in person and virtual means.
    • Creation for short video segments to provide content instruction to audiences for use in individual, at home learning.
    • Assistance with continuation of existing 4-H content and program delivery
  • County 4-H Fair:
    • Assist 4-H staff and volunteers with planning, data management and securing necessary materials for all fair related activities in whatever format they may take.
  • 4-H Program:
    • Assist 4-H educator with other program related tasks as necessary.

Learning Objectives:  Interns will demonstrate learning by:

• Developing a greater understanding of 4-H and other programs offered by UConn Extension
• Exploring and becoming proficient at delivery of summer 4-H content to primarily youth audiences
• Learning more about UConn Extension’s mission and possible career opportunities through participation in programs and interactions with Extension personnel

Compensation and Time Commitment:

• This internship is for 10 weeks at 20 hours per week at the rate of $15.40 per hour.
• The internship will run from late May – early August.

Additional Requirements:

• Intern will work from the New London County Extension Center
• Will participate in daily meetings with 4-H educator to review program progress, troubleshoot and brainstorm new ideas.
• Must be willing to provide educational content to target audiences either through in person or virtual formats as necessary.
• Should enjoy working with children, youth and community groups.
• Some night and weekend work required.

Community Nutrition Summer Extension Intern
Internship Supervisor: Heather Peracchio MS, RDN, CD-N

Location: Fairfield County Extension Center

Dates: May 15-August 18, 2023 (12 weeks)

Hours: Approx. 16 hours/week (maximum: 200 hours, hours may vary, 12-18 hours/week depending on programming needs)

Responsibilities and opportunities will include:

• working with adults and children
• conducting cooking demonstrations
• assisting in preparing materials for programming
• leading small and large groups virtually and/or in-person, with supervisor and staff support

An intern working in community nutrition programming in Fairfield County will work with a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and the county Extension team on two federal nutrition programs – EFNEP (Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program) and SNAP-Ed (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education).  The Supervisor will meet virtually or in-person with the intern, to monitor progress on projects and work with the intern to develop a meaningful internship plan with consideration to the intern’s career interests. The Supervisor will work with the intern to complete the required Learning Agreement, Mid-Summer Evaluation and End of Summer Evaluation. The Supervisor will also serve as instructor for the AGNR 3681 course and oversee completion of the course requirements. There may be an opportunity to attend a one-day career building workshop in Storrs in July.  This internship will provide an opportunity to engage in community nutrition education with the public. EFNEP works in the community to help income-challenged parents learn how to shop for and make nutritious meals and snacks, budget, access food resources, and improve physical activity, all for better health and quality of life.  This summer the intern will participate in EFNEP youth programming for summer camps, SNAP-Ed nutrition education for seniors and food pantry clients, as well as nutrition education for the public at the farmers’ market. The ideal candidate will be in pursuit of a health or nutrition field career, have prior experience working with youth, customer service experience and have an interest in food and/or gardening.  This will be an ideal summer experience for a student planning to pursue a degree in nutrition or dietetics, apply for a dietetic internship, and/or plans to become a Registered-Dietitian Nutritionist. Some flexibility is available to schedule hours around summer classes, other employment or travel. Some evening and weekend hours are anticipated. Weekly check-in meetings will be scheduled, typically between 8am-5pm, in conjunction with the supervisor and occur virtually or in-person.

Contact information: phone: 203-207-3266, heather.peracchio@uconn.edu

Extension Salesforce/CRM Intern

Supervisor: Stacey Stearns

Location: Storrs & Hybrid

Anticipated Start Date: May 8, 2023

Anticipated End Date: August 18, 2023 (the end date is dependent on any time off the intern needs). The internship is a 10-week experience, with 20 hours per week. Depending on hours worked, the intern may finish before this date.

Schedule/Hours: 20 hours per week during normal business hours (8 AM – 5 PM) beginning in May 2023.

Expected Availability: We will have weekly meetings in person or via WebEx to provide training, resources, cover projects, and answer any questions the intern has. These will be scheduled depending on the intern’s availability.

Position Description:

The Salesforce and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) intern will work on developing Extension’s Salesforce and Marketing Cloud applications to build out further functionality of the systems. UConn Extension is using Salesforce for our email marketing, recognizing that we have significant overlap among our different program area email lists. Our goals for the CRM software include:

1. Enhancing our subscription page where audience members can opt in and out of our different e-newsletters and finishing the contact cleanup process.
2. Syncing online registration to Salesforce to create a full profile of audience members.
3. Building out our Volunteers4Salesforce page to include volunteer opportunities and tracking of volunteer hours on specific projects.
4. Building the transcript feature for classes taken (e.g., Master Gardeners and Master Composters).
5. Using more cross program marketing in email marketing campaigns.
6. Building out the service app to include our Ask UConn Extension campaign.

The intern will work remotely/online to further develop functionality in one or more of these areas over the course of the summer. The area(s) worked on will be determined by program and Salesforce needs, as well as intern skills and interest, at the beginning of the internship. Training and support are available through the intern supervisor, how-to documents specific to UConn Extension’s license/account, and Salesforce Trailhead courses where badges can be earned.

Qualifications include CRM experience (e.g., Salesforce, MailChimp, Constant Contact), software development, marketing, and project management. Preference will be given to applicants with Salesforce experience.

About Extension:

UConn Extension is the premiere public engagement program at the University of Connecticut. Extension has eight offices in strategic locations statewide as well as the Sea Grant office at the Avery Point campus and the administrative office on the Storrs campus. Extension programs cover the full spectrum of topics related to food, health and sustainability. Programs delivered by Extension reach individuals, communities, and businesses in each of the 169 municipalities across the state. Extension has approximately 100 faculty and staff in the Department of Extension with another 20 faculty and staff with partial Extension appointments in the academic departments of CAHNR.

Responsibilities:

1. Build out the functionality in one or more of the Salesforce goal areas outlined by UConn Extension as determined by a strategy session at the beginning of the internship.
2. Work with the end-users (intern supervisor and Extension educators) to test the functionality of the software updates.
3. Review and update UConn Extension’s Salesforce how-to documents and guides as applicable.
4. Document the progress made by the intern and any new Salesforce functionality created or enhanced within our license.
5. Collaborate with other Extension systems (UMaine and UNH) to benchmark and update Salesforce progress and seek solutions from those units as we all implement Salesforce in various stages.

Learning Objectives:

1. Expand application of customer relationship management in an organizational setting.
2. Gain experience working in a team setting with multiple collaborators.
3. Enhance ability to enhance and create software solutions that have practical business applications.
4. Further develop Salesforce competency and skills as a future career skill.

Financial Literacy for Youth and Young Adults (FLY) Intern

Supervisor: Faye Griffiths-Smith, Associate Extension Educator, Family Economics and Resource Management

Location: New Haven County Extension Center, 305 Skiff Street, North Haven

Specific task/project responsibilities:

The FLY intern will support the UConn Extension Financial Education Program and the extension educator by:

1. A. working with the supervisor in preparing for the Connecticut Jump$tart Coalition for Financial Literacy Forum or financial education workshops, newsletter, and social media messaging.
2. developing social media messaging for the Connecticut Saves Campaign and formulating a marketing campaign to encourage college students to save money.
3. helping with Phase 2 development of online financial game for college students and high school juniors and seniors designed to increase their financial knowledge in preparation for life after college. Input is needed to make the game relevant to students’ lives today. The intern may assist in updating prices and other options for the game.
4. D. identifying, organizing, and helping in the development of curricula to support youth programs with financial literacy. The intern will also help develop materials and assist the educator at workshops when possible.
5. researching financial literacy related topics and assist with adult financial literacy
   programming as assigned.
6. Assist with the educator’s other projects as assigned.

Date Range and Work Times

The intern will start the week of May 22nd and complete this 10-week internship by August 4th, 2023. The student will work 20 hours per week generally between the hours of 9:00 am and 5 pm. The schedule could be two seven-hour days plus one six-hour day or four five-hour days each week.

When possible, the intern should try to be available to assist the supervisor as needed with daytime workshops scheduled at least two weeks in advance.

Financial Literacy for Youth and Young Adults (FLY) Internship

1. Learning Objectives for the FLY Intern

To increase knowledge of personal finance issues likely to be faced by new college graduates
To effectively communicate personal finance information targeted to teens and young adults.

To become more familiar with high quality sources of financial information 

2. Supervisor’s Commitment to Mentoring the Intern

The supervisor will complete all required supervisory paperwork and responsibilities associated with the internship such as the learning agreement, mid-summer and end-of-summer evaluations, and the AGNR 3681 course requirements of a reflection paper and an
updated résumé.

Position Requirements
Should have own transportation
Positive attitude
Excellent communications skills
Willingness to try new things
Familiarity with or willingness to learn to use Microsoft Office software
(Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
Some flexibility with schedule
Willingness to work a total of 3 to 5 evening workshops during internship needed

Desired Skills
Willingness to record audio and/or video for educational programs and/or social media
Graphic design skills are a plus

Fruit Production and IPM Intern
Supervisor: Evan Lentz, Assistant Extension Educator in Fruit Production and IPM

Location: Storrs Campus, Young 116A

Background:

I am seeking funding for a summer internship for an individual undergraduate student who will assist with ongoing pest monitoring research efforts around the state. Pest monitoring is one of the essential tools available to farmers and researchers who implement IPM (Integrated Pest Management) strategies on their farms. Scouting and monitoring are proactive and preventative measures undertaken to determine and understand local pest pressures, inform corrective actions, and reduce negative environmental impacts associated with conventional pest management practices. The intern would first gain knowledge of general IPM principles and practices followed by a more in depth understanding of scouting, trapping, and pest monitoring techniques. This includes a working knowledge of various insect monitoring traps and pheromone lures, proper on-farm trap placement, and trap capture monitoring.

The intern would be expected to make weekly trips to various fruit production operations around the state to set up and monitor these insect traps. The intern would then be expected to convey the findings to both me and the farmers with which they are working. This will also provide students with experience engaging with the local community stakeholders and affords insight into the impacts that Extension has on our local community. The intern will also be expected to produce an educational factsheet on each of the three fruit pests we monitor.

The fruit pests to be monitored in this internship are: Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD), Brown Marmorated Stinkbug (BMSB), and Spotted Lantern Fly (SLF). These are all very important invasive fruit pests that, together, have an incredibly wide host range, affecting apples, pears, cherries, blueberries, grapes, raspberries, and more. It’s imperative that information about the presence and movement of these pests is made available to the local fruit growing community.

The intern may also have the opportunity to attend various workshops or field days related to fruit production and Extension.

Date Range & Work Times:

Farm visits will occur weekly starting mid-June (week of 6/11-17) and continue for 10 weeks until mid-August (week of 8/13-19). Weekly duties will likely reach but not exceed the proposed 20 hours per week. Hours will not be set, instead, the intern will be able to choose their own hours. This will allow for interns to pursue other summer jobs or activities and allows for flexibility given much of the on-site farm work will be subject to weather conditions.

Learning Objectives:

1) Understand the core principles of IPM (Integrated Pest Management), why they are so important to our ever-changing natural and social environments, and how farmers employ different strategies to achieve success in their IPM programs.

2) Gain expertise in the use of insect monitoring traps and lures, plant disease and insect pest identification, and plant pest signs and symptoms.

3) Develop and hone communication skills related to applied Extension research. This will include weekly interpersonal communication with community stakeholders, data reporting, and written communication honed through the development of short but informative factsheets designed to educate farmers on aspects of various fruit pests.

Ownership Commitment:

My commitment to the learning outcomes listed above will be made clear in an agreement that I will develop in tandem with the intern. This will not only ensure that my expectations are made clear in the beginning, but will allow the student to have a say in the type of learning experience that they have. This agreement will not only outline my expectations, but will allow for the student to outline their own expectations of me and the internship.

Additionally, pre- and post-internship evaluations will be given to the student. These evaluations will not only determine the efficacy of the internship in achieving the goals and expectations outlined in the agreement, but will also be used to inform future internship opportunities. Pre-internship evaluations will gauge the student’s prior knowledge, assisting me to understand how to best approach the learning experience. The post-internship evaluation will help to measure the level of success of the learning experience and help to shape the subsequent years’ internships.

Together, the learning agreement and evaluations ensure the safety, success, and enjoyment of all parties involved. These will also allow for a deeper understanding of the role experiential or hand-on learning has in agricultural sciences and may serve as supporting data for future teaching grant applications.

Latinx in Conservation Intern – Greater Hartford Area Intern

Supervisor’s name and title: Dr. Mayra I. Rodríguez González, Assistant Extension Educator in Urban and Community Forestry

Location: Hybrid; base location is Greater Hartford Area (UConn Hartford / Hartford County Extension Center)

This will be a hybrid internship. Some components can be done remotely but in-person attendance is necessary in the development of some of the outreach materials and during some of the pre-scheduled outreach events. If working remotely when tasks do not require in-person attendance, a reliable computer is necessary. (Otherwise, computer access can be provided on-site.)

Anticipated Start Date: May 15, 2023

Anticipated End Date: August 18, 2023 (the end date is dependent on any time off the intern needs). The internship is a nine- to ten- week experience, with 20 hours per week. During this time, work hours will average 20 hours per week, but may be distributed unevenly depending on which programs the intern helps implement. Depending on hours worked, the intern may start or finish slightly after the specified dates.

Schedule/Hours: Some outreach events are yet to be determined, but the intern’s support is required for Latino Conservation Week (July 15-July 23). Latino Conservation Week might take place during non-standard hours (e.g., weekend and/or evening), with workshops off-site. Travel will be provided in those instances, using UConn Hartford (Hartford, CT) or the Hartford County Extension Center (Farmington, CT) as a meeting point. During non-programming weeks, the intern will complete their hours within the standard work week (e.g., Monday-Friday 9am-5pm) and will be asked to contribute to the development of an environmental/climate injustice database for Connecticut.

Expected Availability: We will have weekly meetings via Microsoft Teams to provide training, resources, cover projects, and answer any questions the intern has. These will be scheduled depending on the intern’s availability. A Slack channel may be established for easier communication. In-person attendance is required for planned outreach events that the student will support (including but not limited to Latino Conservation Week), as well as other meetings or activities where the student’s assistance is deemed necessary as determined by the supervisor. 

Position Description:

• Assist with developing bilingual (Spanish and English) experiential training activities, immersive learning scenarios (e.g., nature immersion, virtual or augmented reality, etc.), and materials for Latino Conservation Week. Latino Conservation Week is an effort to promote conservation initiatives and careers to the Latinx and Hispanic community. Conservation careers are widely defined, including forestry, climate change, agroecology, environmental sciences, etc. through conventional and non-conventional academic career paths.
• Implement extension programing in collaboration with the supervisor. The intern will primarily be involved with the Latino Conservation Week (July 15-July 23). This entails doing work in anticipation of this event.
• Contribute to the development of an environmental/climate justice database that will be used to document environmental/climate injustices in Connecticut. The data will be used in future publications, presentations, and grant proposals.

Dr. Mayra I. Rodríguez González, Assistant Extension Educator in Urban and Community Forestry, is requesting a student intern to support the Urban and Community Forestry program at UConn Extension. The Urban and Community Forestry program is an initiative under the cooperative extension system at UConn to support local groups and organizations in promoting environmental justice, nature-based solutions that are equity conscious and urban forestry. As part of its initiative, Latino Conservation Week will serve as an opportunity to intentionally reach Latinx and Hispanic community members though outreach on conservation science. The student intern, who will be based at the UConn Hartford campus will sometimes visit the Hartford County Extension Center in Farmington, CT, and be expected to support off-site outreach as well. When in-person attendance is not necessary, the student may work remotely. Based on initial planning with the supervisor, the student may support other initiatives beyond Latino Conservation Week such as the documentation of environmental and climate injustices in Connecticut.

Requirements:

• Student must be fluent in Spanish and English
• Proficiency in basic office programs (word, excel, power point, etc.) is expected
• Other necessary skills include social media and design (Canva, InDesign, Photoshop, or any similar)
• Basic knowledge on app development or familiarity with immersive learning techniques is preferred but NOT required
• Basic knowledge of mapping software such as ArcGIS Pro, QGIS or similar is preferred but NOT required

Learning Objectives:

1. Demonstrate creative and effective integration of technology, board games, etc. into immersive and/or experiential learning activities
2. Strengthen ability to create messages/content that reach an English-as-Second-Language (ESL) audience
3. Enter and organize data from multiple sources into a geospatial database

UConn Plant Diagnostic Laboratory (PDL) Intern

Supervisor: Dr. Nick Goltz, Assistant Extension Educator, UConn Plant Diagnostic Laboratory (PDL)

Location: Storrs, CT

Specific task/project responsibilities

The intern will directly support the efforts of the UConn Plant Diagnostic Laboratory. The intern will assist with the receipt of samples, log sample and client information into our laboratory information management system (LIMS), PClinic, photograph samples and upload photos to PClinic, assist with sample triage and processing, including tissue dissection, tissue incubation in humid chambers, lateral flow assay analysis, and tissue culturing with the use of specialized media.

The intern will provide Extension support in the form of organizing and assisting with the lab’s summer integrated pest management (IPM) seminar, support the writing/editing of Extension fact sheets related to plant disease and crop health, and/or support biosecurity initiatives of the National Plant Diagnostic Network, NPDN, by assisting with the development of diagnostic proficiency modules within the NPDN LearnUpon system, under the guidance of Dr. Goltz.

Hours and Availability:

Flexible weekly schedule, but would prefer 16 hrs/week for the duration of the internship period (May 15 – August 18).

Learning Objectives:

• Develop familiarity with working in a biosafety level 1 lab, including following standard operating procedures (SOPs) and safety protocols that will be useful for working in a lab setting after graduation.
• Improve stakeholder engagement skills, which will be useful for any client-facing position or customer service role in the future.

Internship Commitments

• Learning Agreement – The intern and Dr. Goltz will submit an agreed-upon learning agreement by the end of the first week of the internship or as required
• Mid-summer evaluation – Dr. Goltz will meet with the intern to review performance and submit a mid-summer evaluation (around 7 weeks/ last week of June)
• End of Summer Evaluations - Dr. Goltz will meet with the intern to review performance and submit an end-of-summer evaluation (around 14 weeks/ Mid-August)
• AGNR 3681 Course Requirements:
• Reflection paper – Dr. Goltz can review the intern’s Reflection paper (if desired by the intern/program sponsors) in early August and provide constructive feedback as appropriate
• Updated résumé - Dr. Goltz will review the intern’s updated resume in early August and provide constructive feedback as appropriate

Total compensation is approximately $3,000 per intern placement over the summer program period (May 15-August 18, 2023).   $16.00 per hour for 20 hours per week for roughly nine to ten weeks.  It is up to the supervisor to manage your intern’s total time usage.

Establishment of pollinator habitats on roadsides in New England Intern

Supervisors: Julia Kuzovkina (professor, Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture) and John Campanelli (graduate student)

Location: Storrs Campus, WB Young Room 130

Duration:  May 15-August 18, 2023; work hours flexible

Learning objectives: extension program development, design and establishment of demonstration plots for pollinator habitats; effective communication with government agencies

The “ownership” commitment for mentoring the intern will include:

1. Learning Agreement
2. Mid-summer evaluation
3. End of Summer Evaluations
4. AGNR 3681 Course Requirements, including Reflection paper and Updated résumé

Project Overview: New England Departments of Transportation (DOTs) have historically revegetated roadsides using introduced cool-season turfgrasses. Recent policy changes encourage the use of native plants to revegetate roadsides because they provide greater ecological benefits and require more sustainable maintenance practices.  The New England Transportation Consortium (NETC), which pools the research funds of all six New England DOTs, awarded us a grant to help develop the Best Management Practices for managing native plant communities along roadsides.

As part of our research for this project, we need to establish the demonstration sites with native plants in CT and MA. We will collect data on the various methods of plant establishment and species survival during summer of 2023.

We plan to assign an intern the following tasks:

1. Introduction: the intern will learn about development of extension programs through seminars led by John Campanelli that would help the student learn to analyze and meet stakeholder needs, developing logic models and plans, implementing adaptive management.
2. Engagement with stakeholders: assist in the development of some sections of the Best Management Practices by contacting the DOTs from other states who have successfully worked with native plants along roadsides.
3. Assist in establishing the roadside pollinator habitats in CT and MA.
4. Collect data from the established roadside pollinator habitats.

As part of the internship, we plan to introduce the intern to various techniques for establishing pollinator habitats and identifying various plant species that can be used in our area.  We also plan to provide the intern with visits to the demonstration plots to participate in the data collection. These activities will familiarize the intern with the overall scope of the project. In addition, the intern will participate in the communication with various state DOTs during our regular meetings.

Promotional Campaign 4- H FANs Course Intern

Supervisor:  Umekia R. Taylor, MS, RDN, CDN, Educator/EFNEP Supervisor

Office location:  New Haven County (virtual)

Description:

The internship will consist of developing and implementing a strategy for the marketing of the 4-H Fitness and Nutrition Facilitator Guide Curriculum. This curriculum has been made available in HuskyCT as well. The curriculum is an 8-week nutrition/fitness and gardening facilitator guide for leaders to teach 3^rd to 5^th graders. The guide is aligned with CT State Standards and NextGen Science Standards. The target audience for the marketing/promotion will be elementary school teachers in CT and potentially other nearby New England States.

Intern Tasks/Project Responsibilities (Distance Learning Internship)

1. Assist with targeted outreach and social media campaign to promote online curriculum.
2. Assist with video script and creation of curriculum content PSA’s (YouTube)
3. Assist with Sales Force Campaign
4. Participate in virtual committee meetings and other virtual community related meetings.

Dates and work times:

1. May 15 to August 198^h, 2022 for 10 weeks (20 hours week@ $15.40 hour for a total of $3,080.00)
2. Monday to Friday 10:30 am to 2:30 pm

Learning objectives:

1. To identify best practices for curriculum promotion
2. To discuss three strategies for identifying prospects for promotional campaign
3. To develop three PSAs for YouTube posting.

Supervisory/Mentoring Support:

1. Learning Agreement
2. Mid-summer evaluation
3. End- summer evaluation
4. Weekly WebEx meetings
5. AGNR 3681 Course Requirements (a. Reflection paper b. updated resume)

One Health Strategic Vision Working Group Internship

Extension Mentor/Supervisors:

            Marc Cournoyer, 4-H Education Program Coordinator, UCAHNR Dept. of Extension

            Sarah Reed, Associate Professor, UCAHNR Dept. of Animal Science

            Michael Puglisi, Assistant Professor, UCAHNR Dept. of Nutritional Science

Location: Norwich, CT (with the possibility of meetings in Storrs)

Job Description

200 hour paid internship (10 weeks at 20 hours per week):

• One Health Summer Internship: 200 hours ($15.40 per hour)
  • Under the supervision of Marc Cournoyer & Michael Puglisi, Co-chairs of CAHNR One Health SVIC working group

Intern will work with the One Health Strategic Working Group to assist in the following areas:

• Establishment of tools to further facilitate ongoing goals of One Health working group.
  • Assist team members in ongoing efforts to:
    • Identify faculty/staff working in the area of One Health
    • Identify areas for potential collaboration between CAHNR faculty/staff
  • Creation of database resource for faculty/staff who are looking for OneHealth related program collaborators.
• One Health Expo
  • Assist with the creation and establishment of a One Health community expo in partnership with members of the One Health strategic working group
  • Open initial conversation with potential expo participants and partners
  • Create working database of potential Expo participants and partners
• One Health website
  • Continue to work with supervisors and technical staff to make UConn One Health website more robust.
  • Work with faculty mentors to establish networking resource for faculty, staff and students to foster increased collaboration in focus areas related to OneHealth.

Learning Objectives:  Interns will demonstrate learning by:

• Developing a greater understanding of OneHealth and the college’s mission to deliver to diverse university and community based audiences
• Explore and become proficient at host of technology based tools to be used with the delivery of One Health outreach initiatives
• Learning more about UConn Extension’s mission and possible career opportunities through participation in programs and interactions with Extension and CAHNR personnel
• Develop understanding of event management and mission of partner programs/agencies

Compensation and Time Commitment:

• This internship is for 10 weeks at 20 hours per week at the rate of $15.40 per hour.
• The internship will run from late May – mid August

Additional Requirements:

• Intern will work primarily at the New London County Extension office in Norwich, CT or on the Storrs campus. There is also opportunity for this person to work remotely based on the tasks they are working on at the time.
• Will participate in 2-3 times weekly video conferencing or in person meetings with program supervisors to review program progress, troubleshoot and brainstorm new ideas.
• Must be willing to provide occasional educational content to target audiences through use of electronic media or through in person delivery
• Should enjoy working with faculty, staff and community groups.
• Should be comfortable and have knowledge of technology and computer based applications.

UConn School and Family, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Education Program (SNAP-Ed) Intern

Supervisors: Valerie Duffy, PhD, RD, Professor within the UConn Department of Allied Health Sciences/Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Education Program (SNAP-Ed) and Tina Dugdale MS RDN CD-N RN Extension Instructor Department of Allied Health Sciences and CT SNAP-Ed Educator.

Location: Storrs, CT

Overview

This is a 10-week, 24 hour/week internship at the hourly rate of $15 per hour. There is an opening for two interns.

We can pay the same rate that Cooperative Extension pays. We can pay more based on the intern’s availability and the work that we have.  We have other financial resources.

Intern’s Proposed Project Title

Team member of UConn’s Healthy Family CT USDA SNAP-Ed Summer 2023 Program.

Duties

• Work within a team environment of Registered Dietitians and student peers— or independently—to assess, develop, implement and evaluate tailored direct nutrition education to SNAP recipients and eligibles at multiple diverse sites in numerous CT towns.
• Work may include virtual, independent activities to develop fact-based and tailored online information to support healthy eating and physical activity.
• Work may include assistance with ongoing research studies and community outreach as needed. Duties may include in-person or virtual participant recruitment and data collection.

Specific Duties

• Identify your learning needs toward academic and professional goals.
• Create fact-based and tailored nutrition education and physical activity messages to support healthy behaviors to reach our target audiences across the state, specifically East Hartford, Willimantic, Manchester and Enfield
  • Outreach assignments can and will be selected to align as best possible to where the intern lives
  • The intern will need their own car
• Work with the SNAP Ed team to monitor and update our website (https://healthyfamilyct.cahnr.uconn.edu/) and assist to enhance our social media (SM) outreach (eg, facebook.com/uconnhealthyfamilyct, Twitter, Insta) to reach income-challenged adults, families and children with interactive and tailored, fact-based nutrition education to support our mission.
  • Post fact-based SM posts, including videos, to Facebook and Instagram (see our Healthy Family CT website https://healthyfamilyct.cahnr.uconn.edu/ and Facebook and Instagram pages
  • Monitor and track website and SM analytics in support of outreach goals
  • Evaluate the impact to the target audience and stakeholders who work with the target audiences, including online surveying of the target audience.
  • Assist with SNAP-Ed research project as needed, including participant recruitment and data collection.
  • Perform community outreach in our SNAP-Ed partnering towns.

When Will we Need the Intern?

This is a 24-hour per week job that is envisioned as 5 days per week Monday through Friday, from 9-5pm, but could be otherwise be configured upon agreement with the supervisor(s). The intern will be expected to perform duties in person, at various community sites (delivery of nutrition education). The intern will need access to transportation. Sometimes, for a block of hours during a day, the intern works independently from home. The intern will need a networked computer and Smartphone to perform those specific duties. The time period is 10 weeks, from late May to mid-August, but again some accommodation can be made.

Top 2 or 3 Learning Objectives

• Work collaboratively as part of a team – within the SNAP-Ed team, and with SNAP-Ed stakeholders to plan and implement community nutrition education outreach.
• Document self-progress toward shared goals and objectives.
• Uncover fact-based information to create multiple styles of effective social media posts that address the stakeholders’ needs.
• Determine ways to evaluate the impact of the Healthy Family CT social media posts (awareness, knowledge, intent to change behavior), including analysis of Google analytics, Insights, etc.
• Enroll participants in research studies and collect potentially confidential data.
• Consistently and accurately document participant data.

What type of “ownership” commitment will supervisors be making toward mentoring the intern?

The Nutrition Education Team works all summer on the SNAP-Ed project and values the work of—and the ability to—mentor the summer interns.  We have successful worked with summer interns for 2 summers (2021 and 2022).

1. Learning Agreement: Intern’s stated learning goals will be reviewed with intern.
2. Mid-summer evaluation: Yes, by July 3^rd, 2023
3. End of Summer Evaluations: Yes, by Aug 18, 2023
4. AGNR 3681 Course Requirements: (NA)
   1. Reflection paper
   2. Updated résumé

Qualifications we desire

• Undergraduate majoring in nutrition, health promotion sciences, or related field
• Knowledge of behavior change principles related to nutrition and physical activity
• Experience and high comfort level working with websites and social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to deliver effective tailored messages to SNAP-Ed audiences
• High comfort level creating short videos and doing Facebook Live! events, as appropriate
• Experience with writing communications for website materials and social media posts
• Ability to work remotely (if necessary) as part of a team with a high degree of independence
• Excellent communication skills both verbal and written, especially in communication with the team and reporting progress toward meeting goals and objectives
• Research experience is a plus
• Desire to work with diverse audiences who are income disadvantaged is a plus
• Experience with Google analytics, Facebook/Instagram Insights is a plus

Supporting Connecticut Urban Agriculture Intern

Supervisor: Jacqueline Kowalski, Associate Extension Educator

Location: Fairfield County Extension Center, 67 Stony Hill Rd., Bethel, CT  06801-8440

Position description:

Interest in Connecticut urban agriculture continues to grow. To support this effort, we invite applicants for this intern position. The primary duties will include:

• aggregating data to help develop UConn urban agriculture priorities
• researching urban agricultural-related policy in CT
• assisting with urban agriculture programming involving both youth and adults
• other duties as critical priorities arise

Time frame - May 16, 2022-August 15, 2022 (20 hours per week)

Compensation - $15.40/hour

Schedule will be agreed upon by the supervisor and intern. The intern should expect to work one evening per week (9 pm at latest) and occasional weekends.

The ideal candidate would have experience in community development, urban planning, or local food systems. This will be an ideal summer experience for a student planning to pursue a degree in community development, sustainable agriculture, or other associated areas. Must have reliable transportation.

Learning objectives:

1) develop a better understanding of urban food systems

2) gain experience working with diverse audiences

3) acquire familiarity with urban food production

The supervisor agrees to 2x weekly planning and progress meetings, providing a mid-summer and end of summer evaluation, and will review the intern’s reflection paper and updated resume.

If you have questions about this position contact Jacqueline Kowalski,  jacqueline.kowalski@uconn.edu or (203) 207-3267.

UConn Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR) Sustainability Research & Outreach Intern

Supervisor: David Dickson, Extension Educator & UConn CLEAR Director

Location: Middlesex County Extension Center, 1066 Saybrook Road, Haddam, CT 06238

Description:

UConn CLEAR (https://clear.uconn.edu)  is seeking an intern to work primarily on two projects.  One is a review of environmentally friendly actions taken by municipalities under the Sustainable CT (https://sustainablect.org)  certification program. The intent of the project is to develop a report of what actions communities are doing well and which ones need more support and will help guide future outreach directions for CLEAR.  The second project will look at the effectiveness of municipal land use regulations on protecting riparian buffers in CT and make recommendations for improving those protections. In addition, the CLEAR intern will participate in weekly CLEAR staff meetings and have opportunities to learn about and potentially work with CLEAR faculty working in water, land use & climate, geospatial, food systems, and STEM/conservation education topic areas.

Specific Task/Project responsibilities:

• Review past Sustainable CT action submissions from the last 5 years
• Compile data on number of towns taking each sustainable action
• Explore (through surveys or interviews) why actions are not taken
• Asist in developing a report summarizing actions
• Compare riparian land cover data and statistics for municipalities
• Compare riparian data with land use regulation requirements
• Assist in developing report on the connection between land cover and regulations
• Participate in CLEAR staff & team meetings
• Have fun

Skills:

We seek an intern with strong organizational skills, excellent communication skills, a willingness to explore, and an interest in local environmental actions.

Timing:

Intern will have flexibility over which months and which days they work over the summer. The potential may exist (contingent on funding) to expand beyond 20 hrs/wk for 10 weeks if the intern is interested.

Location:

The intern can either work remotely or in our Haddam office or a little bit of both. A little bit of both is preferred, but not required.

Learning objectives:

• Developing an understanding of the challenges local governments face in pursueing sustainability objectives
• Learn about the importance of riparian areas and the effectiveness of efforts to protect them
• Develop professional skills in compiling, organizing, analyzing, and conveying information in effective way
• Develop an understanding of the breadth of CLEAR’s work to support local land use decisions and the connection to environmental protection

To help ensure expectation are met by both CLEAR and the Intern, we will work together to develop:

1. Initial Learning Agreement
2. Mid-summer evaluation
3. End of Summer Evaluations

Students enrolled in AGNR 3681 will also prepare:

1. Reflection paper
2. Updated résumé

Vegetable Entomology Extension Intern

Supervisor: Ana Legrand,  Asst. Extension Professor.

Location: Storrs Campus

Specific task/project responsibilities:

Intern will work with Dr. Legrand and graduate students in developing extension educational materials and assisting in setting IPM demonstrations. Intern will also provide assistance in applied research projects that gather the information disseminated through extension work. Current projects include: evaluation of trap crops for cole crop pest management, monitoring of potato leafhopper using remote sensing and pollinator habitat surveys. An example of internship projects is documenting the set up and benefits of planting insectary plant areas. Student intern and faculty mentor will use this information for fact sheets that will help farmers in their pollinator and beneficial insect conservation efforts.

Hours and Availability:

Mid-May to the end of July 2023 is suggested but start and end dates are flexible.  20 hours per week.  Work time: morning – exact time to be discussed with intern.

Learning Objectives:

1. Intern will learn about integrated pest management research and extension activities.
2. Intern will learn identification of important vegetable pests and beneficial insects.
3. Intern will learn about design and organization of educational documents and extension outreach activities.

Internship commitments:

All of the items below:

1. Learning Agreement: including internship MOU so that student can get credit for the SPSS Sustainable Agriculture internship requirement if the intern is a SPSS student. Otherwise I will be happy to work with student so that they can get credit for the AGNR 3681 course.
2. Regular meetings with student intern. Student intern will also participate in lab meetings.
3. Mid-summer evaluation
4. End of Summer Evaluations

Total compensation is approximately $3,000 per intern placement over the summer program period (May 15-August 18, 2023).   Approximately $15.40 per hour for 20 hours per week for roughly nine to ten weeks.