Internships
Assistant Horticulture 1
Organization
New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets
2896 Transit Road
Newfane, NY 14108 (office)
10B Airline Drive
Albany, NY 12205 (HQ)
About the Organization
The mission of the organization is to promote New York State agriculture and its high-quality and diverse products, foster agricultural environmental stewardship, and safeguard the state's food supply, land, and livestock to ensure the viability and growth of New York's agriculture industries.
Duties
The Newfane location manages the regions Spotted Lantern Fly (SLF), Plum Pox Virus (PPV), European Cherry Fruit Fly, and the Box Tree Moth (BTM), the position of a Horticultural assistant 1 requires 30 college credit hours in the fields of biology, horticulture, environmental, chemistry. The seasonal employees typically work from early May into October, most of them being college students leaving at the end of August. The work week is typically 40 hours, 7 a.m. - 5:30 p.m., of that time usually 7-8 of the hours are spent out of the office either traveling or in the field, wherever that is for the day. Two-hour drives to locations are regular and we would use state owned trucks. There is opportunity for advancement with the position of horticultural inspector 2 paying .75 cents more($19.81/hour) and there is slightly more responsibility and work.
Summary
This internship made me more confident in my ability to secure a job in the environmental field due to my daily responsibilities. I collected and analyzed data daily through this full-time 40-hour a week job. I also felt as if my education from Potsdam’s environmental studies curriculum helped me communicate our environmental responsibilities and duties to the public and the private landowners of the land we are surveying. Bridging the gap between environmental knowledge and the public view is a crucial skill that the environmental studies major aims to provide. I had a great experience learning from the job itself but also the people that I worked with, both coworkers and people working with different organizations. Working with Cornell AgriTech was very fulfilling moment, and it reassured me I was capable on a professional level.