Jose Fernandez Student Internship
2012
NMSU's ASC Farmington
In 2012 the Jose Fernandez Chair, under the direction of Dr. Michael K. O'Neill, provided one summer internship conducted at NMSU's Agricultural Science Center at Farmington. The internship provides a student with the opportunity to assist faculty and staff on their specific research. The intern rotates the educational experience every two weeks between research projects. Coupled with the research assistant rotation, the intern is required to carry out a research project of their choice and present a report at the end of the educational research program.
The 2012 stipend-based internship was awarded to Seth Fulfer, Horticulture Student at San Juan College. Seth carried out an apple grafting field test with five varieties on a single root stock variety. The title of his research project was "High Production Out of Small Scale Farms: One Acre at a Time"
2012 Intern
 |
Name: Seth Fulfer Location: Forth Worth, TX College: San Juan College at Farmington, NM Department: Horticulture Academic goals: Complete A.S. degree and pursue a B.S. in Horticulture Career goal: Establish a pecan orchard in Cleburne, TX Life goal: Develop horticulture endeavors for future generations. Research Project: "High Production Out of Small Scale Farms: One Acre at a Time". |
2011
In 2012, the Jose Fernandez Chair provided support for Zena Archie while she continued her academic program in NMSU's Plant and Environmental Sciences (PES) Department. Ms. Archie was a summer intern at NMSU's Agricultural Science Center - Farmington in 2011.
Zena Archie, a senior in Environmental Science, worked over the summer and fall semester of 2012 in the Soil and Environmental Science Research Lab at the Las Cruces campus of NMSU under the directions of Drs. Bill Lindemann and April Ulery. She collaborated with graduate students and research students and research staff on a variety of studies including chile yield decline, heavy metal concentrations in southern NM soils, and cotton salt tolerance evaluation. Zena assisted with soil and plant sampling, lab analyses and data entry. The opportunity provided by the Jose Fernandez Chair through Dr. Michael O'Neill has allowed Zena to gain valuable experience and also to achieve one of her personal life goals of graduating with her Bachelor of Science degree.
During 2011, the Jose Fernandez Chair, under direction of Dr. Michael K. O'Neill, supported three summer internships conducted at NMSU's Agricultural Science Center at Farmington. The educational program provided the students with an opportunity to assist faculty and staff on their specific research projects. The interns rotated their educational experience every two weeks between xeric and small farm drip irrigation, grape and medicinal plants, hybrid poplar and crop variety trials, weed management, and water conservation projects. Coupled with the rotation, the interns were required to carry out a research project of their choice and present a report at the end of the program. The stipend-based internships were awarded to three Navajo students; Justina Harvey, Faith Benally, and Zena Archie.
2011 Interns
 |
Name: Justina Harvey Location: Shiprock, NM College: San Juan College at Farmington, NM Department: Horticulture Academic goals: Complete A.S. degree and may pursue a B.S. Career goal: Undecided and will let fate determine a future. Life goal: Connect with family and raise my three children. Research Project: Evaluation of hybrid poplar tree diameter growth rates under four irrigation treatments. |
 |
Name: Faith Benally Location: Albuquerque, NM College: Dine' College at Shiprock, NM Department: Environmental Sciences Academic goals: Complete A.S. Degree and pursue higher degrees. Career goal: Work as a science teacher on the Navajo Reservation. Life goal: Help my community using the acquired education. |
 |
Name: Zena Archie Location: Cortez, CO College: New Mexico State University at Las Cruces, NM Department: Plant and Environmental Sciences Academic goals: Complete B.S. degree and pursue higher degrees. Career goal: Enter into the Peace Corps program. Life goal: Conduct research and teach in the Environmental Sciences. Research Project: Evaluation of growth and development of winter canola for northwestern New Mexico. |