Douglas M. Brown '63 Alumni Council Capital District Internship Fellowship

I became drawn into the world of sustainable agriculture when I began realizing where my food was coming from. I never gave it a second thought until I recognized the meat I was eating came from a CAFO (confined feeding operation) where animals were pumped with antibiotics and didn't have room to walk, and the vegetables were probably already weeks old, covered in pesticides and chemicals. As I dug more into the realm of agriculture I wondered how a system that’s supposed to ‘feed the world’ is inherently making us all sick.

Seth worked as a dental assistant at McSweeney Orthodontics over the Summer of 2023. He was enrolled in a dental assistant course to be able to learn and work as a dental assistant. Seth learned and performed many dental and orthodontic techniques such as pano and ceph x-rays, impressions, changing wires, assisting in putting on light force, direct brackets, indirect brackets, and invisalign, and performing sterilization. Seth got the opportunity to become a part of the McSweeney Orthodontics team who sees around 65 patients a day.

I went to Northern Virginia for 8 weeks to help manage a lavender farm. I was able to expand my crop knowledge to lavender and use the preexisting knowledge that I had. I helped improve propagation and the soil on the farm. Besides harvesting and growing lavender, I had the experience of making my own lavender products such as essential oils, sachets, and hydrosol.