This summer a cohort of undergraduate interns will embark on a rich training experience working alongside agronomic crop researchers at The Ohio State University. The Agronomic Crop Research Experience (ACRE) Interns will support on-farm research throughout Ohio and help to better facilitate the integration of research, teaching and outreach.
Initiated by The Ohio State University Agronomic Crops Team, the ACRE internship program strives to:
1) Provide valuable and hands-on training to undergraduate students in a variety of agronomic crops disciplines to prepare them for careers in Extension, research or industry
2) Provide a network of research assistants to help collect data and manage on-farm field trials throughout the state, more effectively expanding on-farm research capabilities
3) Enable greater independent research initiatives by county educators
ACRE interns will assist with crop scouting, sample collection, field data collection, laboratory analysis, data entry, field plot maintenance and crop reporting. Interns will get together periodically throughout the summer to attend trainings and learn more about current research projects and procedures to collect data to strengthen on-farm research.
Steve Culman, assistant professor of soil fertility in the School of Environment and Natural Resources and one of the program coordinators, notes, “The information generated by the ACRE interns will feed local, state and regional research projects led by OSU Extension state specialists, field specialists and county educators. An over-arching goal of the program is to provide interns with real-world experience in working towards solutions to problems that affect Ohio farmers.”
Extension educators across eight locations will serve as hosts to help supervise and coordinate research activities. To learn more about the Agronomic Crops Team, visit: http://agcrops.osu.edu/.
Photo caption: ACRE Intern Josh Isaacson sampling soil in Wood County, Ohio.