A United States Department of Agriculture Grant funds the creation of leadership and development internship opportunities within UME

April 11, 2022

University of Maryland Extension is seeking applicants for its new summer internship program developed for students at underserved institutions, community colleges, or non-Land Grant institutions to gain technical skills and train a future agricultural workforce.

Seven interns will be selected to work directly with field faculty to learn about Extension initiatives, garner hands-on field experience working with Maryland farmers and industry, and participate in leadership and professional development training, all designed to address the eight core competencies in career readiness. Along with professional development and one-on-one pairing with a faculty mentor, interns will also have networking opportunities with private industry professionals.

The internship positions are made possible by a United States Department of Agriculture-National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA) grant, which provides a ten-week, full-time internship experience with pre-training sessions.

The internship opportunities, led by Shannon Dill, project director, and supported by Dr. Nicole Fiorellino, Dr. Sarah Potts, and Dr. Alan Leslie, are intended to provide experiential learning in Extension and agricultural research to undergraduate students, and increase the career readiness and leadership skills of student interns, while increasing the number of students from these institutions continuing their education and entering the agricultural workforce.

The project runs till  April 14, 2026. For more information, or to apply, go to https://extension.umd.edu/resource/workforce-development-extension-internships.