4-H Health Jam

Working with the University of Illinois Extension Rock Island County has been an awesome experience so far. Not to long ago we had an event called Health Jam at the Putnam Museum. We had about 10 days to plan it all after a sudden change happened. There was about 150 5th and 6th graders who attended Health Jam. There was five different stations that the students attended during the morning. Two of the stations took place in an Exhibit called Bodies Revealed. Bodies Revealed is a traveling exhibit that has been all over the world. It takes visitors up close through galleries providing an up-close look inside the skeletal, muscular, reproductive, respiratory, circulatory and other systems of the human body. It was the most awesome exhibit that I have ever been in. Since the youth may not understand it as well, we had a student from Palmer College of Chiropractic come in and explain everything to the children and us too! It was quite the learning experience. We also had several volunteers throughout the exhibit. I was in charge of the Polymers session.

Teaching about Polymers

There, I talked about many different polymers such as what is inside a baby diaper.We did an experiment with water gel to show how a diaper absorbs water very quickly. The youth thought that was the craziest thing ever. We also made bouncy balls in the microwave to show how it turns into plastic because plastic is a polymer. The bouncy balls may not have bounced as well as a real one but it was really cool to be able to make one still just out of corn oil, cornstarch, and water. For another session, we had a dietitian from Hy-Vee come in and talk to the youth about nutrition and how much sugar is actually in their sodas. From what I heard, some of the youth said they were going to cut back on how much soda they drank.

For the last session, we had the Dean of Allied Health from Black Hawk College come in and talk to the youth about different careers in the health field. She demonstrated how to give blood on a fake arm and demonstrated many other cool things. To wrap up the day, we let the the youth have fun in all the other exhibits in the museum. While they looked at all the other awesome exhibits, we had them do a scavenger hunt throughout the museum. Then, we would have a video camera and ask them a question like, "Why is the Mississippi River important to us?"We wanted it all to relate back to health.

Dietitian from Hy-Vee talking to youth about MyPlate

After this day, the rest of the summer we have follow up sessions once a week.The youth have learned about cooking, stretching, bicycle safety, and many other things during these sessions.They each were given a pedometer also. Our goal for the end of the summer is to walk across Illinois. If they take 10,000 steps everyday, they will reach their goal. So far this summer, health jam is something I really look forward to every week. It is a lot of fun and the kids are so much fun to be around!

Making his Bouncy Ball

Dean of Allied Health giving demonstration

Team Soybean

I’m halfway through my internship at Precision Soya in Farmer City, IL and it has been a wild ride so far! At the end of May, twelve Corn and Soybean Field Service Interns began internships during planting, one of the craziest times of the crop season. Being involved in the whirlwind of activity made our days fast-paced and full of new experiences. As a soybean field service intern, I have been preparing paperwork and locating fields with Precision Soya beans in them. These fields will be my responsibility when inspection time comes around! I’ve also spent a lot of time contacting growers and getting to know them through the company.

This summer has been flying by. It has been a challenge starting my internship with zero to little prior experience in the field, but my supervisor has been very supportive and assures me that it goes in my favor that I don’t have any bad habits to break. From the beginning, interns at Precision Soya have been welcomed warmly. The first few weeks began with tours of the plant and warehouse and explanations on the processes that occur within a year. Right away we started going out to fields and inspecting for replant, chemical burn, or in some cases, hail damage. This included a lot of travel time and driving, but it gave me a good idea of the area and where I would be travelling this summer. Between the office, lab, warehouse, and soybean field, I haven’t spent a lot of time in just one place this summer. In the office, the interns have been working on compiling grower information to keep and use repeatedly in the future. In the lab, I have organized and taken inventory on different samples of varieties grown. I also picked up a few things working in the warehouse, like the kind of detailed paperwork necessary to keep track of millions of beans coming into and leaving the plant.

This week, soybean interns are finishing up collecting information from the numerous growers we are responsible for and collaborating all the information into a master system so that the same information can be used every year. We are asking for information on anything and everything, from the sizes and locations of their fields to the names of their farmhands and wives.  Knowing more about the grower and his lifestyle makes it easier to communicate and relate with them. When we finish up the week we will have started flowering inspections too!

I’m really looking forward to the rest of this summer and what is left of this internship. Flowering and mapping inspections will be a new and exciting thing to start and I expect to learn quite a bit from my numerous soybean fields! 

Soaked in info and cooked in the fire.

         Howdy, my name is Clayton Carley and I am currently interning with Eurofins Agroscience Services Inc located near Monticello Illinois.  Eurofins is a third party independant research company that conducts research on most often unlabeled products and new GMO crops.  We test products so that they can receive their EPA labeling as well as determine the many effects of products on the environment, and other crops. Often many interns are given a few tasks or jobs and one or two projects to complete thorough out their learning experience. Just as our season began with seemingly rain every other day soaking all of our projects, so I have been soaked with new information and skills. At Eurofins I have learned something new and done a new task almost every day and completed numerous different projects. One day I could be mixing new herbicides that wont be on the market for several more years, or testing products on the newest GMO crops being produced to hoeing weeds so that our test crops stay healthy before the research is conducted.  I have quite possibly one of the best bosses ever and I have been able to learn much from him about the research industry as well as personnel management and development. 

                         One day I could be mixing new herbicides that wont be on the market for several more years, or testing products on the newest GMO crops being produced to hoeing weeds so that our test crops stay healthy before the research is conducted.  I have also been able to take data on plots as the crops grow and we test new products on them.  Harvesting crops in order to obtain more data is also very important.  One of the greatest responsibilities and tasks that I have learned is how to conducted GLP research, or Good Laboratory Practices Research. There is a lot of paperwork that must be completed for GLP research and it is necessary in order to ensure that we conduct the best possible research.  It also requires many different procedures for working with crops and products.  Accuracy and good record keeping is a must. Just as the weather is now turning hot making us change some of our trials and adapt procedures so have I learned how to change and adapt my skills so that I can best benefit everyone at my internship site.  I have been thrown from the frying pan into the fire taking on new tasks and given new challenges, I really enjoy working with Eurofins and would seriously consider a career here. 

The past couple of months have been challenging, yet rewarding! I am currently employed by AIRS INC, which is a private agricultural crops consulting program. I am new to the crop scouting/crop sciences field so this summer has given me a lot of knowledge. Either talking to farming clients, identifying insects, diseases, or taking plant populations, I have been able to use this knowledge through out the summer and take a leadership role within my internship. I am allowed to set my own hours this summer, and to get 400 of them it takes a lot of time and self discipline to be able to complete my weekly tasks and fulfill my duty as a crop scout.

University of Illinois Extension Cook County

Interning at University of Illinois Extension in Cook County has been an adventure so far and is one of the best jobs I have had.  There are two parts to my job, which are being in the office and being out in the field at different events.  When I first spoke with Mrs. Buffett the County Director she asked me if I had a car and now I see why.  I am always at different events and there is a lot of traveling to different areas in Cook County, but I don't mind it at all because I feel like an adult that has a career traveling the world in a way.  So far I have been to Lemont, Westchester, Chicago, and Harvey just to name a few places.   

I have been in charge of taking the University of Illinois non-discrimination forms compiling this information in an excel document and  after I compile this information I have to find the commissioner and the state representative, so we can bring this information to meetings with these people to show that we are out in their communities.  I also will have to meet Federal, State, and Local representatives in the near future.  Mrs. Buffet wants to make sure I do as much networking as I can.  I have reviewed the financial aspects of Extension and learned about their funding and who is in charge of the different aspects of Extension.  I was also in charge of working on researching information on S.T.E.M so we can put a report together.  I also was asked to help with the Extension Counsil Meeting, which we held in the conference room of the office I am housed at.

Another project that I will soon begin working on will be health rocks, which is a program designed where teens teach the youth about drug and alcohol abuse in different communities.  Since this is a grant we have to have to reach 3000 youth by summer of next year!  So I have been trying to give out places where we can hold Health Rocks so we can teach a good number of youth.  I am not exactly sure of all my duties with this so far but I will know more in the future.

Above is another project I have been working on.  These are Extensions marketing folders and these pamphlets provide information about the different areas of Extension.  My part is to learn and study these pamphlets and to put the folders together so that we are able to hand these out in the different communities we go out into.  I will and should know the mission, vision, and values of Extension by the time I am finished with my internship.  I am now looking into Extension and a possible career choice in the near future.  I hope all of the interns are learning and having as much fun as I am!

Summer Internship on the Road

Monsanto Crop Protection

This summer has been filled with lots of time on the road. I started in St. Louis for a week of orientation and since then I have put almost 5,000 miles on my company vehicle traveling through 5 states which include Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio. In the branch of Crop Protection I work under my supervisor Joe Paul Downs who has been with Monsanto for 32 years! My internship deals with a product that might sound familiar, Roundup? I spend most of my time traveling to what we call JDL's which stand for John Deere Landscapes. While visiting these facilities, I ask questions from my survey that I put together during my second week of work so that I would be prepared in asking questions about our products and gathering related information that I need to have to complete my internship project. I visit with all sorts of branches ranging from Branch Mangers, Sales, and Supply. The most exciting part of my internship is all the places that I visit. My range is the Northeast part of the United States, from Illinois to Maine, Michigan to the South Carolina. Every morning I wake up Eager, Excited, and make sure that I'm always Early while being organized and prepared for whatever may be over the next hill!

One of the JDL's

My Truck which is basically my home

My Excellent Office

 Here are a few things that I have experienced so far on my travels.

A nursery that I visited

Summer Adventures with Illinois Corn Growers Association

Traveling and teaching are two of my favorite things to do, and that is exactly what my summer internship entails.  This summer I am traveling hundreds of miles across the 102 counties in Illinois with Illinois Corn Growers.  Serving as the Ag in the Classroom intern thus far has taught me a lot about agriculture and also about misconceptions people have about our industry.

Teaching educators around the state about agriculture is one of the most rewarding experiences I have had thus far in my college career.  As the AITC intern I have created an interactive presentation to teach educators about the corn industry.  After presenting to groups of teachers at Summer Ag Institutes across the state, I direct them to our website (www.ilcorn.org).  Our website offers many lesson plans and other activities for teachers to print and use in their own classrooms, along with excessive amounts of helpful information in regards to the agricultural industry as a whole.  

I have had the opportunity to travel to many farm bureau offices, family farms, and colleges to present this summer, and this is just the beginning.  The questions teachers have may be challenging, but I have loved finding answers to things such as "How bad is high-fructose corn syrup in our diets?"  to "Will eating GMO's really hurt me?"  I think that the questions I will receive will only get better over the next few weeks so stay tuned to see what other questions I encounter from teachers across the state on my adventures across Illinois!