Internships

Alana Reynolds ’18

This summer, I participated in research exploring mycorrhizal fungi’s potential role in improving the sustainability of agricultural practices through plant communication networks. The project revolved around interesting and relatively new studies of crop plants’ increased yield, pest-resistance, photosynthetic rates, and nutrient uptake when exposed to reintroduced fungal networks otherwise absent in heavily plowed and nutrient depleted crop fields. During this project, I was able to work both in a controlled lab setting on campus and in the nearby field site. My co-interns and I were deeply involved in every step of the research process from the running of initial trials all the way to data analysis. This internship helped boost my general awareness, passion for, and comfort with the processes and challenges that are part of research in the biological sciences, and I am incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity.