Cotton Research at UC- Ag & Natural Resources: An Internship Experience
Aug. 22, 2024
An EWRE undergrad student shares her summer internship experience on cotton research at the University of California- Ag and Natural Resources.
Kenna Elliott, an Environmental & Water Resource Economics (EWRE) undergraduate, embarked on a research-filled summer internship. Kenna participated as a lab assistant at the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources- Cooperative Extension in Blythe, California. She was responsible for three major projects with support from farm and research advisors from the Cooperative Extension office. Read here about her summer internship experience at UC!
Kenna comes from five generations of Arizona farmers, so she came into the internship with a great understanding and commitment to the topics of research. She explained, “To be a part of this process was a special privilege for me since my family has been farming for over 5 generations in Arizona and has personally experienced the highs and lows of the agricultural industry. I am proud to have contributed to the progression of the industry around which we built our lives.”
Discovering this summer internship with the UC- Coop. Ext. office came easily, as Kenna held a position with the office in 2022. In that position, Kenna focused on research issues in agriculture such as safety precautions for pesticides and insects affecting the teff industry.
Kenna said, “The Cooperative Extension office has been researching agricultural production with the cooperation of local farmers and agricultural companies for years. Significant progress has been made in the cotton and alfalfa industries thanks to the hard work of this office.”
During this summer’s position, Kenna worked on three major projects: cotton loss research, cotton fertilizer research, and hay quality. Kenna mentioned she worked with support from Michael Rethwisch, farm advisor, and Mathew Pryor, cotton researcher.
Her first project of cotton loss research was the most demanding of time. Kenna collected detailed quantitative and qualitative data in four fields across the Palo Verde Valley, to analyze for the researchers. She explained how this project has been ongoing for the past few years and has undergone many improvements to collect more precise data.
The second project included cotton fertilizer research, which involved several fertilizers. Kenna’s responsibilities were flagging experiment sites, distributing of chemicals to growers, directing the swather, and counting samples.
The third project, and last, was measuring alfalfa quality in designated plots. Kenna learned the process of collecting samples of alfalfa and measuring the quality of alfalfa by how many bales were produced from each plot. All three projects will take more time and replication of experiments to show strong results.
Before the start of her summer internship, Kenna set three personal goals for herself:
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gain professional experience
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network with individuals in the industry
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efficiently complete job duties
By the end of her internship, Kenna was able to say she successfully achieved all three goals. She explained that her professional experience was gained while working with the specialists and researchers in the Coop. Extension office. Her opportunity to network took place at a Women’s Cotton Conference in North Carolina, where she was introduced to leaders from across the country completing research and work. Finally, she explained that her dedication and hard work let her achieve her goal of completing her job duties.