The Pope Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) is pleased to announce the hiring of Rachel Holmes as this year’s summer intern. As the intern, she will be assisting in many of the projects that Pope SWCD has throughout the summer such as staking of buffer zones, installing weed fabric, and teaching students about natural resources. The Pope SWCD also coordinates studies at the Rosholt Research Farm where nitrate-nitrogen research is conducted along with the Minnesota Department of Ag and the University of Minnesota. She will be working at the Rosholt farm collecting and analyzing the water samples from vacuum lysimeters under the research crop plots this summer.
Rachel stated about the internship, “I am both excited and honored to be working at the Pope SWCD this summer.” Growing up, she was homeschooled by her mom alongside her six siblings of which she is the third eldest. Her dad is the family practice doctor at the hospital in Elbow Lake where her family currently lives. She has participated in a variety of groups and activities at college including Swing Dance Club, rock climbing, hiking, and InterVarsity.
She is currently working toward an environmental science major at the University of Minnesota, Morris with the anticipation of getting a career in water quality and analysis. Therefore, she is especially excited to be able to work at the lab for the Rosholt Research Farm and gain experience in that field. She will be officially graduating at the end of this coming fall semester. She is hoping to use what she learns from her time here to better guide the details of her career choice. To learn more about the Rosholt Research Farm visit www.popeswcd.org.