Sarah Flanagan ’26 has known since high school that she wanted a career in agriculture to help reduce global food insecurity. An agricultural sciences major, Flanagan has taken impactful classes in plant genetics, soil science and many other topics. But one of her most formative learning experiences has been outside the classroom, in a summer research internship that enabled her to synthesize and apply her academic work. 

“Participating in this internship helped me confirm that research is something I enjoy doing and want to continue doing in grad school,” she said. Flanagan was one of six undergraduate interns who worked over summer 2024 with Quirine Ketterings, professor of nutrient management in agricultural systems. “In my classes, I’ve done some DNA extraction and soil sampling, and I used that knowledge to help me in the internship. Over the summer, I learned lab techniques and research methods that will definitely help me in future classes. So the internship experience has brought everything full circle. It all builds on each other.”

Ketterings leads the Cornell Nutrient Management Spear Program and seeks to improve growers’ soil fertility and crop productivity while preserving natural resources. She conducts some of her research at Musgrave Research Farm in Aurora, NY, one of the nine statewide research farms managed by the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station (Cornell AES). Almost all of the farms – from Long Island to the North Country to Ithaca – regularly host classes and student interns, from Cornell and other institutions. 

Read the full story in the CALS Newsroom.