Shelby County Extension and Outreach office welcomes summer interns

SHELBY COUNTY — The Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Office of Shelby County welcomes two new interns for the summer.
Julia Biehl is from Belleville, Illinois, and attends Iowa State, where she studies agricultural communication. She will be heading into her sophomore year this fall. Biehl was drawn to Iowa State because of its agriculture program and all the opportunities she has through the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She was interested in the summer internship through the extension office due to the diverse experience she will gain over the next couple of months.
“I’ve enjoyed getting out in the community and meeting new people,” Biehl said. “I hope to gain new experiences in the workplace and network with different professionals.”
Grace McEvoy is from Springfield, Virginia, right outside Washington, D.C. At Iowa State, she studies dietetics and will enter her junior year this fall.
“What originally drew me to Iowa State was my dad is an Iowa alum, so I originally applied out of pure spite,” McEvoy said. “Once I came out to visit, I fell in love with the campus and the welcoming atmosphere.”
McEvoy’s academic advisor recommended this internship to her, and she was interested because the internship allows her to explore different areas of the nutrition field through community projects.
Throughout the course of the summer, the interns will be working with both Crawford and Shelby Counties. The pair have spent the last several weeks traveling back and forth between the two counties. The internship mainly focuses on promoting community health and wellness through various projects.
One of the projects is the community health wellness walk in Shelby County. Community members are welcome and encouraged to participate in the half-mile loop at Pioneer Park every Wednesday at noon. Another project is a container garden workshop in Crawford County, where kids can learn how to plant tomatoes and peppers. They will also have educational booths at farmers’ markets and county fairs in both Shelby and Crawford counties.