ANS Internship Highlights: Hannah Newsome & Emma Schoenfeld

Hannah Newsome

Hannah taking a picture with dairy cows in the background of the dairy barn — Hannah’s favorite part was interacting with the cows and milking in the parlor.

Hannah Newsome is a current UF Animal Sciences student in the Equine Specialization. Hannah spent her summer as an intern at Cindale Farms & Southern Craft Creamery, a dairy operation in Marianna, Florida. Each day was spent doing different tasks such as moving fences, setting up the misting system, moving cows, and milking. On Mondays, she would help pasteurize and bottle the milk at the creamery.

Hannah grew up in Marianna, so she was familiar with the farm and the creamery. When looking for an internship, she said “the opportunity presented itself”. Working in the milking parlor and interacting with the cows and calves was her favorite part of being at Cindale. As far as what she’s taken away from the experience, Hannah said, “I have learned to persevere, even in the sweltering heat. I also learned how to use a lot of different machines and farming equipment”.

While Hannah doesn’t think she will work at a dairy after graduation, she says she appreciates all of the hard work that goes into running a dairy operation and she enjoyed her time getting a “glimpse into the life of a dairy farmer”.

Emma Schoenfeld

Emma standing in front of a green chicken house — Emma rotated between departments within Live Operations.

Emma Schoenfeld is a current Animal Sciences student in the Animal Biology Specialization. Emma’s internship this summer was with JBS Foods in Ellijay, GA at Pilgrim’s Chicken Production Facility. Emma rotated through the different departments in Live Operations, learning about the breeders, broilers, hatchery, and live haul. On the live haul rotation, she traveled all over north Georgia shadowing employees in their day-to-day operations. Emma also participated in a project to help farms improve their hatchability. In the project, she collected egg pack data from the breeder farms to relate the occurrence of farm cracks and dirty eggs to how many will hatch into chicks.

She learned about this opportunity at the International Production & Processing Expo, which she attended through the Animal Sciences Department. She interviewed for several different internships, but she chose Pilgrim’s to, “Get hands-on poultry experience and explore the opportunities for jobs related to animal health”.

Emma said her favorite part of her experience was, “Being able to apply what I’ve learned in classes to the real world. We learn how to grade and candle chicken eggs in our Intro to Animal Science lab and my entire project revolves around visiting different farms to candle thousands and thousands of eggs. It’s also been really cool to connect my knowledge of growth and development, nutrition, and reproduction to the poultry industry and see it in real-time, as it’s reinforced my understanding of these topics and helped me see where my education can take me.”

Emma said that her internship helped her develop professionally and network within the protein industry, which will play a huge role in her future. She offers this advice to her peers, “Don’t be afraid to move outside of the state in order to get your experience! The best way to get more experience is to step out of your comfort zone, and it helps you develop a lot of independence and personal growth. That, and don’t be afraid to speak up or talk to other people. You’ll meet a lot of great people along the way and you never know when you’ll see them again later in your career”.

2022 Animal Sciences Internship Seminar

Join us at the Animal Sciences Department’s Internship Seminar on Thursday, October 20th at the UF/IFAS Straughn Professional Development Center. Students, educators, employers, and friends are invited to join us as we hear from over 40 current students showcasing their internships. Career Hour will begin at 5:00 PM with representatives from various agricultural enterprises looking to host an intern. And our students will begin their presentations at 6:00 PM.

Employers are encouraged to participate in the Career Hour at 5:00 PM. This is a unique opportunity to network with UF Animal Sciences students eager to explore agricultural enterprises. Students will range from those looking for internships to those interested in a part or full-time position. This is an excellent opportunity to recruit some of UF’s best and brightest students.

Find more information about the UF/IFAS Department of Animal Sciences on our website. Stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Any questions or inquiries regarding this piece should be directed toward Savannah Linzmaier at slinzmaier@ufl.edu. Read more stories like this one here: http://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/animalsciencesdept/.