| Intern Corner |
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PGRU Internships
Interested in biodiversity, genetics, and conservation? Consider an internship with the Plant Genetic Resources Unit. We host students from diverse educational fields and provide practical training in field, greenhouse, and lab work. Interns also gain experience in data management, statistics, and science communication.
Check out what our past interns have accomplished!
2023 Interns
| Jonathan Aponte |
| Finger Lakes Community College |
| Germplasm Curation, Extension, and Public Outreach |
| Skills acquired: Viticulture, conservation, phenotyping, outreach and extension |
| Anna Cohen |
| Cornell University |
| Tracking Tart Cherry Fruit Development |
| Skills acquired: liquid chromatography, statistics in R, pomology, and germplasm |
| Tori Ford |
| University of Florida |
| Feral Hemp Niche Modeling |
| USDA-ARS Plant Genetic Resources Unit, Geneva, NY |
Hello, I’m Tori Ford, I am an ORISE Scholar collaborating with the USDA’s PGRU Hemp Program. My interests lie in the interdisciplinary studies of botany, ecology, and computer science. In my time, I will be working to construct ecological niche models that predict the abiotically suitable area in the Midwestern United States for Feral Cannabis with hopes to use that information in the larger characterization of the feral subpopulation. In the future, I hope the mechanistic and computational skills I’ve learned during my time will help me become a better researcher and collaborator.
| Sam Page |
| Hobart and William Smith Colleges |
| Chemical Analysis of Dihydrochalcones within Malus Leaves |
| Skills acquired: liquid chromatography, statistics in R, pomology, and germplasm |
| Micaela Patterson |
| Appalachian State University |
| Phenotyping Seeds from the USDA Bottle Gourd Collection to Increase Crop Resilience in the Face of Climate Change |
| Skills acquired: Seed science and conservation, phenotyping, and germplasm |
| Abraham Porschet |
| Swarthmore College |
| Characterization of Dihydrochalcones in Malus domestica: Identifying Expressed Genes |
| Skills acquired: Chromatography, bioinformatics, RNAseq |
| Marcella Venettozzi |
| Hobart and William Smith Colleges |
| Pest Management and Plant Defense: Myzus cerasi and Extrafloral Nectaries in Cherry |
| Skills acquired: Gas chromatography, image analysis, R mastery, horticulture, entomology, vineyard management |
2022 Interns
| Nana Yaa Asante |
| Hobart and William Smith Colleges |
| Melatonin, phenolics, and fruit quality in tart cherries |
| Skills acquired: liquid chromatography, statistics in R, pomology, and germplasm |
| Alexa Kennel |
| Goshen College |
| Chemical analysis in Vitis vinifera germplasm |
| Skills acquired: liquid chromatography, statistics in R, viticulture, and germplasm |
| Daniel Meyers |
| Oakridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) |
| Survey of the USDA cold-hardy germplasm for grapevine trunk diseases |
| Skills acquired: |
| Ashya Reid |
| Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University |
| The effect of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) byproducts in mealworm (Tenebrio molitor L.) diet |
| Skills acquired: |
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| Zaria Smith |
| Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University |
| Development and application of priority trait evaluation protocols and terpene analysis method |
| Skills acquired: |
2021 Interns
| Anthony Barraco |
| Cornell University |
| Establishing international hemp fiber phenotyping protocols and optimizing hemp germplasm curatorial techniques. |
| Skills acquired: hemp horticultural techniques, fiber analysis, DEI and outreach, controlled environment agriculture, |
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I believe Industrial Hemp offers exciting opportunities for many sectors within the agriculture industry and beyond. My interest within hemp lies primarily in the genotypes that have been bred for fiber/hurd production and the fascinating bio-construction products that can be created from the stalk of the plant. I am currently measuring pectin degradation throughout the field retting period of many European fiber cultivars in Upstate New York to better understand the effects of weather on stem morphology during this highly variable, yet important post-harvest process. I am also currently invested in providing accessible hemp education materials to undergraduate students across the U.S. |
| Allison Chhay |
| Cornell University |
| Measuring the impacts of the USDA-ARS PGRU (Geneva, NY) Clonal and Vegetable crop collections |
| Skills acquired: Statistics in R, SQL, Umbraco, horticulture, and germplasm |
| Taylor Coburn |
| Hobart and William Smith Colleges |
| Investigating dihydrochalcones in apple |
| Skills acquired: liquid chromatography, statistics in R, DNA isolation and PCR, and germplasm |
| Meredith Ryan |
| Yale University |
| Dihydrochalcones and apple russeting |
| Skills acquired: liquid chromatography, statistics in R, RNA isolation, horticulture, and germplasm |
2020 Interns
| Molly Dexter |
| Hobart William Smith Colleges |
| Phenotypic analysis of fire blight in Malus species |
| Skills acquired: plant pathology, statistics, horticulture, digital agriculture, genetics and germplasm |
| Anya Osatuke |
| Cornell University |
| Establishing a new USDA-ARS hemp germplasm repository |
| Skills acquired: High-throughput phenotyping, scientific translation, botanical illustration, germplasm genetics, data mining |
2019 Interns
| Kyra Battaglia |
| University of Rochester |
| Characterization of the USDA Tart Cherry (Prunus cerasus) Collection in Geneva, NY |
| Skills acquired: liquid chromatography, chemistry, statistics, horticulture, pomology, and germplasm |
| Lindsay Brown |
| Cornell University |
| Effect of powdery mildew resistance on phenolic content of inoculated Vitis leaves |
| Skills acquired: liquid chromatography, chemistry, statistics, horticulture, viticulture, plant pathology, and germplasm |
| Molly Carroll |
| Purdue University |
| Quantitative determination of anthocyanin compounds during tart cherry maturation |
| Skills acquired: liquid chromatography, chemistry, statistics, horticulture, pomology, and germplasm |
| Lindsey Lesniak |
| Hobart and William Smith Colleges |
| Understanding grapevine (Vitis) domestication and variation between Vitis species through analysis of polyphenolic and aromatic compounds |
| Skills acquired: chemistry, LC/MS and GC/MS, genetics and germplasm, viticulture |
2018 Interns
| Kayla Aulet and Kenisha Ross |
| Hobart and William Smith Colleges |
| Comparison of anthocyanin levels in the USDA Tart Cherry Collection |
| Skills acquired: liquid chromatography, chemistry, statistics, horticulture and germplasm |
