Rutgers Fruit IPM Internship Proposal

Valentina Fiero
Stockton University
 Rutgers Fruit IPM

As an internship to support my educational studies at Stockton University, my summer

2019 semester will consist of my engagement in the privileged opportunity to work as a team
member of Rutgers Cooperative Extension; alongside those of the Integrated Pest Management
research team. I came across the internship opportunity through an e-mail of listings from one of
my professors at Stockton. It stuck out to me mostly because I am largely interested in
agricultural and outdoor fieldwork, and felt that the duties for the job would benefit my future
career goals in a number of ways. My duties with the IPM department will include working on
various blueberry farms throughout New Jersey’s southern borders and researching pest
presence, as well as sampling soil and leaves, if applicable. I will be responsible for regular data
collection through field scouting on blueberry farms. I must be willing and able to “identify pest
presence, identify beneficial arthropods, complete IPM reports for participating growers, map
pest presence, and enter data into a database,” (The State University of New Jersey, 2011). I will
be working under my interviewers, Dean Polk, who is the statewide supervisor for the Rutgers
Cooperative Extension (RCE), and Carrie Denson, who works under Dean as a more specialized
supervisor in field work and pesticide treatment. Working under these very knowledgeable
people will hopefully impact my future career goals, as well as my educational goals, greatly.
Working on farms studying sustainable pesticide and fertilizer use, integrated pest management,
and soil and leaf sampling will give me some of the experience and skills that will be needed to
further my career in the agricultural world; and eventually get my foot-in-the-door with the
medicinal cannabis industry. Having a resume that is rich with field work in integrated pest
management and sustainable fertilizer and pesticide use will help me stand out, as I will have a
great number of skills that will make me quite beneficial to commercial cannabis growers; a
business which is largely up-and-coming. There is an abundance of money and resources flowing
into the industry and it is my goal to get myself on the front end. Additionally, there will be room
for me to take this internship even further by conducting my own independent research in soil
and leaf sampling, which is another perfect contribution to the skills I would like to harness as I
work my way towards the cannabis industry.

My initial thoughts on the idea of the internship were just that—gain skills that will give
me the edge that I will need to be beneficial for cannabis growers; as a scientist who is looking to
study and help grow their crop. I need to understand the difference between beneficial critters
and harmful pests, and how to use pesticides and fertilizers sustainably and in the healthiest
manner for consumers. I find this to be especially important for the food our farmers are
growing, as well as the medical cannabis that our patients will be consuming. There are a number
of large scale growing facilities in New Jersey, and I know that with the skills I am gaining now,
through my studies at Stockton in Environmental Science and Cannabis Studies, along with all
that I will hopefully take away from this internship, will start to give me the edge that I need
once I begin to apply to different greenhouses and dispensaries. Upon completion of the IPM
internship with Rutgers I hope to have had fun working on farms all summer and getting to
communicate one-on-one with the farmers that us consumers know so little about. These people
grow the crops that we buy at ShopRite, meanwhile consumers understand so little about what it
actually takes to own and run an operation as such. This internship should give me a new outlook
environmentally but also economically, as the Rutgers Fruit IPM Program is designed to help
growers produce top quality fruit by the most economical means possible. The Cooperative
Extension has the very important goal of helping these farmers understand how to do what they
do best in the most sustainable, environmentally friendly, and economically profitable ways (The
State University of New Jersey, 2017). I will learn the same concepts throughout my time as an
intern. I am also looking forward to working independently and researching on my own. It will
be a great character booster and show me what it could, and likely will, be like in the future of
my career.
 References

The State University of New Jersey, R. (2017, June 28). Fruit Integrated Pest Management
Program (IPM). Retrieved from https://pestmanagement.rutgers.edu/ipm/fruit/

The State University of New Jersey, R. (2011). Tree Fruit IPM Technician. Retrieved from
https://envirostewards.rutgers.edu/archive/IPMTreeFruit Technician.html