2020 Horticulture Internship Placements

Will Trax
Rising Senior, Horticulture
Clemson Extension Service, Spartanburg SC

My name is Will Trax and I am a senior Horticulture student at Clemson University. This summer I interned with Clemson Cooperative Extension. The Extension Service’s main office is headquartered in Spartanburg, SC though my work was all done remotely. Their mission is to improve the quality of life by distributing the latest academic information to farmers, homemakers, and communities. My role as an intern was to audit and improve a newly launched training program called South Carolina Certified Landscape Professionals. This course aims to improve the working knowledge and professionalism of those in the landscaping industry. I was able to find errors in the material, make improvements, and create new content for a pesticide applicators license training course that will be released this fall. Working remotely, I also had the chance to work outside of the internship at a hydroponic startup near Charlotte, NC. I enjoyed the summer and I am glad that I had the opportunity to collaborate with Extension agents, Clemson staff members, and many other people. Being able to help create better training materials and apply academia to industry was a fulfilling experience.

Kyle O’Rourke
Rising Senior, Horticulture
Clemson Extension, Spartanburg SC

My name is Kyle O’Rourke and I am a senior at Clemson. I am majoring in Horticulture and minoring in Sustainability. This summer I did a remote internship with the Clemson Extension Agency. My internship had two main parts. First, I took and gave feedback on the pilot of the South Carolina Certified Landscape Program (SCCLP). Secondly, I created a module for the program about pruning. Working with the Clemson Extension Agency was a great opportunity. I gained lots of valuable experience and received the SCCLP Certification.

Tyler Lowery
Rising Senior, Horticulture
Clemson Student Organic Farms in Calhoun Fields

My name is Tyler Lowery and I am a rising senior Horticulture major at Clemson University. This summer I have been working at the Student Organic Farm in Calhoun Fields, Clemson. Throughout the summer I have been able to experience many stages of organic crop management from starting seeds, transplanting, weeding, and harvesting, to various upkeep tasks such as bed maintenance, weed-eating and mowing, and mulching. Although it is extremely hot and labor-intensive work, I had a lot of fun and found the experience exceptionally rewarding.

Cy Gettliffe
Rising Senior, Horticulture
The Hemp Mine LLC, Fair Play SC

My name is Cy Gettliffe and I am a Senior Horticulture Major at Clemson University. This summer I worked in the greenhouses and fields at The Hemp Mine because I wanted to expand my knowledge of hemp cultivation. My time at The Hemp Mine was spent taking cuttings, propagating cuttings, repotting plants, planting seeds and cuttings, sterilizing, scouting for signs or symptoms of pests and pathogens, and fixing irrigation. This internship was a lot of fun and taught me so much about growing hemp. I would highly recommend working for The Hemp Mine.

Emily Allen
Rising Junior, Horticulture
South Carolina Certified Landscape Professional Course, Spartanburg County

My name is Emily Allen and I am a rising junior Horticulture major at Clemson University. This past summer I was granted the opportunity to complete and aid in the finalization of the South Carolina Certified Landscape Professional Certification program as created by the Clemson Extension, helping give me a competitive edge in my field. Following the completion of this course, I achieved certification as a South Carolina Certified Landscape Professional. This was a virtual internship in which technologies like Zoom and email made collaborating long distance possible. Working alongside team members and resource agents that make up the Clemson Extension program out of Spartanburg County, I learned the importance of group work, technological literacy and solidified the framework for my career by learning the principles of landscape design, installation and maintenance. I definitely recommend this course to anyone interested in certification and group work experience in the workplace, especially due to its online capabilities allowing for remote accessibility. This internship experience left me feeling confident to develop my resume further and exposed me to new and exciting networking opportunities.

Parker Calvert
Rising Junior, Horticulture
Santee Cooper, Moncks Corner SC

My name is Parker Calvert, I am a junior Horticulture major at Clemson University. This summer I was lucky enough to get an internship at Santee Cooper. My experience was eye-opening, not only did I grow professionally, but I was also able to grow academically. This internship has helped me narrow down on career choices; I really enjoy the aquatic plant management field. I learned so many new things over the summer, I learned proper spraying practices and became proficient at driving an airboat. I also learned many native and invasive plant species, as well as what chemicals to use on each type of plant. My job consisted of spraying aquatic weeds with EPA approved herbicides. My team and I would spray weed complaints that blocked lake access. We also battled invasive aquatic weeds such as Giant Salvinia, Salvinia molesta. I also planted native aquatic plants that help restore the damaged ecosystems. One plant we planted is called Water Shield, it provides food and habitats for both fish and waterfowl. Overall, I enjoyed my internship and I would love to return next summer!

Pre Choate
Rising Junior, Horticulture
The Hemp Mine LLC, Fair Play SC

My name is Pre Choate and I am a Junior Horticulture major at Clemson University. I had quite a unique internship experience at The Hemp Mine located in Fair Play, SC. I worked in both the fields and the greenhouses located on site, while also preparing consumer products. In the field, I helped plant, perform maintenance, and take inventory of the hemp plants and select vegetable crops. In the greenhouses, I took cannabis cuttings from the variety of mother plants and propagated them. I performed maintenance on the thousands of cuttings located in the propagation greenhouse; making sure they’re healthy while scouting for potential diseases and pests, while also working with the irrigation systems. I had a great experience this summer, and this internship has allowed me to deepen my understanding of not only the cannabis industry, but also the knowledge I have received from concepts in the classes I have taken at Clemson. It has been an overall rewarding experience, and I recommend interning here.

Carson Colenbaugh
Rising Junior, Horticulture
Clemson Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation

My name is Carson Colenbaugh, and I am a junior horticulture student at Clemson University. I worked as a UPIC intern for the Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation this summer in order to get more experience working in ecological restoration and land management. I spent the majority of my time at the Jim Timmerman Natural Resources Area at Jocassee Gorges assisting in graduate research and completing vegetation surveys. Following the completion of field work, the survey results will be analyzed and plotted using GIS to create an Ecological Departure Index. The SC Department of Natural Resources will be able to use the index to identify which regions of the 35,000 acre management area need the most prescribed fire. This internship has been a wonderful experience because I have been able to get a comprehensive understanding of the requirements of restoration work and graduate-level research, both of which will be necessary to my success in the fields of horticulture and ecology.