Stewart's Shops and Dake Family Internship Fellowship Fund

This summer I had the opportunity to intern at littleGrasse Foodworks. littleGrasse is an organic community farm that prioritizes environmental stewardship, supports the local community, and promotes sustainable agricultural practices. littleGrasse offers a distinctive shareholder model that encourages active participation throughout the growing season by allowing shareholders to harvest crops regularly without strict limits. This approach reflects a commitment to ecological responsibility, food accessibility, and intentional living.

littleGrasse Foodworks is a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model where shareholders have full access to the harvest of the farm. Such a structure grants shareholders more agency over their food, and a more curated experience that promotes a strong sense of reciprocity between the self, farmers, food and land. They are the only interactive, free-choice CSA model in St. Lawrence County. This structure differs from the more common market-oriented farm businesses.

This summer, I completed an eight-week internship with the St. Lawrence County Public Defender's Office, where I gained hands-on experience in both criminal and family law. Throughout the internship, I observed a wide range of court proceedings, including arraignments, sentencing hearings, Judicial Diversion Program (JDP) proceedings, evidentiary hearings, and trials in city, county, and town courts.

This past summer I had the privilege to work with experienced Physicians, Physicians Assistants, and Nerve Conduction Velocity (NCV) technologists at Adirondack Rehabilitation Medicine.  The Internship Fellowship Award gave me the opportunity to focus solely on gaining hands on clinical experience, learning neuro-anatomy in depth, gaining efficiency in NCV technology, and making valuable connections with respected members of the medical community.

During this 12 week internship I had the opportunity to shadow the attorneys in the St. Lawrence County Public Defender's Office. I gained first hand experience in criminal and family law. I was able to attend various criminal and family court proceedings like trials, hearings, and pre-trial conferences. Additionally, I participated in office work that attorneys do such as legal research on relevant case law, trial prep, drafting motions and memos, client discussions and meetings, and settlement/plea negotiations.

I began my internship in the summer of 2026 at Greenwich Central School District. On my very first day, I was able to observe a guidance counselor make a CPS call regarding a student. From that experience, I understood the appropriate language you must use to communicate effectively, and that calming strategies and grounding techniques are crucial in this field.  

During my internship at Clayton Dental Office, I had the opportunity to both observe and assist the doctor in live patient treatments and restorations. These experiences allowed me to see how the doctor interacted with and tended to patients needs as procedures were completed. Along with experience in an active operatory, I also gained invaluable skills in restorations such as fillings, crowns, bridges, and root canals via practice on 3D printed models.

As a Farm Hand at Birdsfoot Farm in Canton, New York, I worked alongside the farm owner, Dulli, contributing to all aspects of daily farm operations. My responsibilities included planting, weeding, harvesting, produce maintenance, washing and packaging vegetables, preparing CSA shares, and helping manage the Birdsfoot stand at the Canton Farmers' Market. Through these responsibilities, I gained hands-on experience in sustainable agriculture while developing the physical endurance, responsibility, and problem-solving skills required to maintain a working farm.

This past summer, I was the birding intern for littleGrasse Foodworks in Canton, NY. This internship developed my bird knowledge, artistic abilities, and project development skills. I worked independently and also collaborated with local professors on various projects. 

This summer, I had the privilege of interning at littleGrasse Foodworks, a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm that offers fully organic produce in Canton, NY.  

My internship with the Glens Falls Dragons taught me a lot of different aspects of the sports industry. At first, I thought I would only help with the social media aspect of the Dragons, but  I ended up helping with the merchandise and game operations side of a team as well. While this is not originally what I thought my summer would have consisted of, I am intimately very grateful for the experience and all the different (and new) skills I have learned.

During my time at the Hillman Cancer Center at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, I was exposed to a variety of different things. No two days were the same. My overall project consisted of me analyzing PET images of tumor-bearing mice using software called VivoQuant. I would then take the data and create graphs showcasing the trends seen in each tumor model. As I worked on this project, I created a poster for an undergraduate science symposium at Duquesne University.

This past summer I had the honor of working for a small publishing press in a rural town in Vermont. Green Writers Press in Brattleboro, VT is a Vermont-based, woman owned, global publisher that focuses on environmentalism and identity inclusion. 

This summer, I got the amazing opportunity to intern at the North Country Children’s Museum located in Potsdam.  At the museum, children are encouraged to participate in hands-on play, allowing them to be creative and learn in a fun way.  It was so fun to experience a different form of education than what I have experienced in my past.

This summer, I had the privilege of interning for Westchester County Executive Kenneth Jenkins, an experience that gave me a deeper understanding of both Westchester County and the role of local government.

During her internship with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), she assisted with the monitoring and inventory of assets on Forest Preserve and Conservation Easement lands. Her final report analyzes human impact on the Olmstead Loop, a section of the popular Cranberry Lake 50 trail. She also contributed to the Living Lab by updating the trail network in ArcGIS and digitizing the garden layout, ultimately creating a pamphlet to inform the public at kiosks along the Saddlemire and Kip trails.

During the Summer of 2025, I had the opportunity to live, work, and learn about Birdsfoot Farm. Birdsfoot Farm is an intentional community centered around local agriculture. One of Birdsfoot's values is living as sustainable as possible. Some examples of this being off-grid housing, composting toilets, and sharing communal foods and goods. 

During the summer of 2025, I had the privilege of interning at South Jefferson Physical Therapy, where I was able to immerse myself in the environment of a rural outpatient orthopedic physical therapy clinic. Over the course of several weeks, I observed evaluations, treatment sessions, and patient discharge appointments while also taking on meaningful responsibilities that supported both the staff and patients.

I spent this summer interning with the Utica Comets, the AHL affiliate of the New Jersey Devils. I worked closely with our marketing and merchandizing teams to promote the team through social media and ad campaigns. My largest project this summer involved analyzing the responses of two 60+ question surveys completed by our Season Ticket Members, and provide their feedback to the office to further improve their experience next season.

This summer I had the opportunity to work in the Experimental Analysis of Behavior lab under the supervision of Dr. Adam Fox. We used Long Evans Spontaneously Hyperactive Rat strain for the project which aimed to investigate time perception in the SHR rats with ADHD. For the project we collected data using the temporal bisection task. I was particularly interested because most college students and young children suffer from ADHD. ADHD being one of the most diagnosed and rapidly disorders among children and young adults.

This past summer, I had the opportunity to intern at littleGrasse Foodworks, an organic community-sanctioned agriculture (CSA) farm in Canton, NY. During my internship I was able to deeply engage with sustainable, small-scale agriculture, and the community that surrounds it. 

During my experience with Integrated Center for Child Development ("ICCD"), I was able to gain valuable insights into child development and the field of psychology. It was an invaluable experience where I was able to deepen my knowledge of the field as a whole. I worked closely with a team of experienced researchers on a project investigating prematurity and mental health outcomes, specifically externalizing disorders. I learned about the impact of early childhood interventions on cognitive development.

This summer I had the opportunity to work as the Assistant Coordinator in the St Lawrence University Permaculture Garden. As the Assistant Coordinator, I had a lot of freedom in terms of what I wanted to do with the garden. This gave me the ability to maintain what was already there, as well as plan and change the layout by adding new plants and paths. A lot of the summer was spent recovering overgrown sections, weeding and mulching paths, and watering plants.

Starting during my sophomore year at St. Lawrence University, I worked an on-campus job in the chemistry stockroom. I have worked closely with Suna StoneMcmasters, the Chemical Hygiene and Environmental Compliance Officer, and in doing so this Internship Fellowship was born. 

With the generous support from St. Lawrence University's Center for Career Excellence, I was able to spend my summer interning at Birdsfoot Farm right here in Canton, NY. Birdsfoot Farm is an intentional, consensus-based community of a handful of individuals, all of whom are devoted to living a materially simple life. Under the direction of their farmer, Dulli, I spent each work day in the field learning the practices of low-till organic farming.