The purpose of program is to get students interested in the fields of science and agriculture and to motivate them to come back and take over leadership positions in the CNMI.
There are a minimum of two interns in five divisions under NMC-CREES: Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program, Food Science (Food Safety and Quality), Plant Pathology, Aquaculture and Entomology.
22 high school juniors and seniors from Saipan, Tinian, and Rota have been chosen to intern based on their academic performance, autobiographical essay, and interview.
Michael Ogo, supervisor of aquaculture and plant pathology explains how the internship is made possible by a grant called the CariPac Program funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The summer internship hires high school juniors and seniors.
“It’s amazing because the salaries for people involved in these fields are really good but the number of people interested is very little. The demand is there but the supply of students isn’t. We’re doing this to be a feeder program,” says Ogo.
The interns are paid a stipend for the five weeks of training.
The program began on July 18 and will end on August 19.
Some students and supervisors elaborate on their work this summer.
Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program
EFNEP is all about educating youth and families with young children about food and how to get more bang for their buck at the grocery store.
The program teaches individuals and families how to make healthy choices, prepare delicious and safe food, and make money and food stamps go a long way.
Under Jonathan Kiyoshi, nutrition educator, the interns take healthy recipes provided by WIC or other healthy institutions and test them out.
One intern, Nikita Hofschneider describes, “We make healthy modifications, for example changing vegetable oil to olive oil, then share our recipes with the public.”
She continues, “We take locally grown products and experiment with them, we try to be creative. Right now we’re focused on child obesity.”
Last week the interns tested out a recipe for peanut butter and whole grain spaghetti.
On Tuesday they created salmon patties and cucumber yogurt dip.
Jemma Lara, a fellow intern describes her experience in the program.
“So far it’s been very interesting. It isn’t what we expected. I thought it would be more paperwork but it’s turned out to be very hands-on and very involved with the community,” she says.
She smiles, “Also, we get to eat a lot of food — healthy food!”
Food science
“A major part of this division is value added development,” says research assistant Anthony Guerrero.
He explains, “As the name says, we basically figure out ways to add value to the produce rather than just its face value. For example, turning cabbage into kimchi [as the interns were doing on Tuesday] or turning mangos into jam and ice cream.”
He goes on to say that after figuring out various alternatives, they share their findings and creations with local farmers.
“We show them how to do it. It’s how we give back to the community,” says Guerrero.
Last week the interns created homemade coffee ice cream.
Under this division, the interns also learn about the importance of food safety and prevention of foodborne illnesses.
The four simple steps to food safety are: 1) Clean, wash hands and surfaces often. 2) Separate, don’t cross-contaminate. 3) Cook to proper temperatures. And 4) Chill, refrigerate promptly.
Plant pathology
An intern, Chris Santos, describes he and his fellow interns’ main duties.
“Basically we study plant diseases,” he says.
“Our most recent projects are papaya and dragon fruit. We do trials at local farms and try to produce the fruits.”
Another intern, Michelle Ngirbabul explains their duties in her own words.
“We take care of plants in our greenhouse. We also work with farmers. We tell them what kinds of diseases their produce may have and then how to treat them.”
Claus Bier, NMC-CREES outreach coordinator, explains that the plant pathology division is actually under the crop improvement division which also focuses on things like cross breeding and analyzing crops for their betterment.
Aquaculture
Intern Rachel Cabrera explains what this division is doing.
“We are growing three different species: Asian Sea Bass, shrimp, and tilapia. In the morning we feed the fish and in the afternoon we test the quality of the water.”
They test the water’s temperature, salinity, pH, ammonia, dissolved oxygen, nitrogen, and occasionally its alkalinity.
“We see if the water is safe,” she says.
On Tuesday the interns were doing inventory. This consists of catching the fish, measuring them, and weighing them.
“The program has been very exciting and we’ve learned a lot,” says Cabrera.
Elloise Lotoc, also an intern under the aquaculture division says, “The program has been very educational so far. Everyday is a new learning experience. I’m either piled up with indoor work or outdoor work. There’s never a dull moment while I’m here, until I’m getting ready to leave.”
Entomology
Roman Tudela, intern of the entomology lab tells Variety what his role in the program has been.
“We go out to the environment and see how insects interact as well as how they affect us both positively and negatively,” says Tudela.
He shares, “I chose this division because I’m going to try to get a degree in engineering and I thought this would help me understand the land and the insects in it. Then if I were to do construction later on, I would know how to preserve the insects’ habitats.”
Jan Reyes who is interning alongside Tudela says, “We really get to experience hands-on activities and learn a lot about the environment and insects.”
She too shares her reasons behind getting into entomology: “I want to become a biologist and I thought this would open up a window for me.”
