Progress 07/15/04 to 07/14/05
Outputs
The Texas IPM Internship Program supported through this project successfully recruited, selected and provided an educational internship experience for 10 interns selected from 6 universities located in Texas and New Mexico during this project. Applications for internships were solicted with the help of student advisors in agricultural departments of 6 universities in Texas and New Mexico. Background information on the internship program and applications were sent to each advisor who asked was asked to make potentially deserving students aware of the program. The principal investigator personally presented information on the internship program to seminar classes at Texas A&M University and Texas A&M-Commerce. Fifteen applications were received, applications were screened and 10 candidates were interviewed and selected. Interns were matched with Extension Agents-IPM in 10 Texas locations who served as the interns supervisor and mentor for the 10-16 week summer internship
experience between spring and fall college semesters. Matches were made on the basis of the locations requested by potential interns, the crops on which the intern desired experience and the program that Extension Agents-IPM planned for the summer. Interns were provided 10 learning goals or objectives that they were expected to meet. Interns were then provided opportunties to meet each goal and were required to write a monthly report to the principal investigator to gage progress toward each objective. Objectives included such items as being able to identify pests and natural enemies of the crops, learning proper scouting procedures for key pests, developing an understanding of crop growth and development, learning how to conduct statistically valid applied research and demonstration projects and how to record and assimilate field research data. Interns were also required to complete a final report and also to provide a written evaluation of the internship experience. Interns were
also given the opportunity to provide open-ended comments about the experience. Intern evaluation of the program included rating the experience on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being very valuable and 5 being of no value on the following items with the mean of responses indicated: a) value in helping to decide on a future career 1.4 b) value in provide insight into employer's business; 1.1 c) value in learning new skills or techniques; 1.3 d) value in applying, integrating or making relevant knowledge gained from college courses; 1.8 e) value on clarifying future educational goals; 2.0 Evaluations indicated that interns gained considerable value from the internship experience. Quoted below are some of their comments: I would not change anything about my experience. It was exactly what I needed at this time in my education to solidify my future plans (Jake Doskocil). It was a great learning opportunity and should be a prerequisite for any IPM position (Dustin Patman). This summer was an
incredible experience. I learned more during my internship than I have at any other job and I am grateful that I was given this opportunity. I cannot wait to apply my knowledge in the future (Nino Brown).
Impacts
Ten college sophomore, juniors or seniors in pursuing agricultural degrees were provided hands-on experience in implementing Integrated Pest Management in real world situations. These students aren ow better prepared to implement IPM in job careers such as Extension, industry or consulting.
Publications
- Felderhoff, K.L., C.T. Boleman and T.W. Fuchs, 2005. Evaluating the effectiveness of the Texas integrated pest management internship program. American Entomol.Vol.51(2):70-73.
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Progress 07/15/04 to 12/31/04
Outputs
Applications for internships for the Texas IPM Internship Program were solicited with the help of student advisors in agricultural departments of 6 universities in Texas and New Mexico with agricultural programs. Background information on the internship program and applications were sent to each advisor who was asked to make potentially deserving students aware of the internship program. The principal investigator also presented information on the internship program to students in seminar classes at Texas A&M University and Texas A&M-Commerce. Approximately 15 applications were received, applications were screened by the principal investigator and 10 potential interns were interviewed and selected. Interns were matched with Extension Agents-IPM who served as their supervisor and mentor for the internship which lasted from 10-16 weeks between the spring and fall semesters of college. Matches were based upon the location requested by the interns, the crops in which the
intern wanted experience and the programs that Extension Agents-IPM had planned for the summer. Interns were given 10 learning objectives that they were expected to meet during the internship program. Interns were provided opportunities to meet each objective and were required to write a monthly report of progress toward meeting each objective. Objectives included such things as learning to identify pests and natural enemies, learning scouting procedures, developing an understanding of plant growth and development, learning how to conduct scientifically valid applied research and demonstration projects, having primary responsibility for one or more demonstration projects, learning how to communicate with Extension clientele and learning how to record and summarize field data. Interns were also required to write a final report showing how they accomplished each learning objective and were also required to evaluate the internship experience. Evaluations indicated that interns gained
considerable value from the internship experience. Interns were also given the opportunity to make comments on the internship experience. Quoted below are some of their comments: I would not change anything about my experience. It was exactly what I needed at this time in my education to solidify my future plans. Jake Doskocil It was a great learning opportunity, should be a pre-requisite for any IPM position. Dustin Patman This summer was an incredible experience. I learned more during my internship that I have at any other job. I am grateful for having been given this opportunity and I can not wait to apply my knowledge in the future. Nino Brown
Impacts
The impact of this project will lie with the young scientists that gained practical field experience in IPM. Regardless of their future endeavors, they have learned many things which they will take with them, not only related to IPM but also work ethics, responsibility and reliability. They also learned how to make relevant the theories and principles learned in college courses.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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