A couple weeks ago we learned all about Miner Institute. It was fantastic.
William H. Miner actually earned his fortune in the railroad industry way back when, and used his money to start this institute focusing on agricultural technologies and public education. He saw then that we would eventually face the farming crisis we're in right now, and his mission was to educate anyone who would listen on the critical role farmers play in our daily life. He implemented the newest technologies for raising animals and farming crops (our dairy barn had electricity before the governor's mansion!), and he continued improving the land until his death. The endowment he set up still has over 150 million dollars available, and he helped fund a school and a hospital in the area, as well. It was inspiring to hear about someone actually doing something meaningful with such a huge amount of money! You don't see that much nowadays. I also had no idea how prestigious this institute is, it has connections with multiple influential companies and universities! I'm still amazed I was picked for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
It was humbling and exciting to realize that what I'm doing here this summer is exactly what Miner had hoped his institute would continue being; a place of learning and continuing the evolution of the agriculture industry to help feed this growing world. I'm truly honored to be here and to help continue Mr. Miner's legacy.
Here's a link to more about Mr. Miner, and the history of Miner Institute:
http://www.whminer.com/history.html
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Finally a Night of Semi-Quiet-Ness. Translation: Everyone is Exhausted So Here I Sit!
Hi all,
Sorry I haven't posted in... forever, but it's been crazy busy with an extra shot of hectic thrown in for good measure. It's been amazingly fun, but so busy my life has been "Barn --> Food --> Sleep --> Repeat" for about two weeks!
Instead of trying to remember every little detail, I thought I would make a list of some major events, and some 'lessons learned' around the farm. Here we go!
1. Cows are strongly-willed toddlers.
I have learned that patience and calm go a lot farther than yelling and rodeo skills. I actually really enjoy having to move or weigh cows because my geeky self is so interested in using the animal's flight zone to get it to move, without having to touch it at all. It's awesome.
2. Not being scheduled to work does not mean not working.
I have an individual project this summer (which started today, hooray!), so lately I've been working on all the little details to make sure that goes smoothly (Do the feeders know which pen is getting which diet? Do I have enough bags for feed samples? Are the labels "idiot proof" enough that I won't get confused later on? When did I last take a shower?!). I've lived in the library that's on-site for a few nights it seems, and I'm pretty pleased with how everything is turning out, but it's definitely the learning curve of "my job is my life". I'm sure this will come in handy in grad school!
3. Data Rangers are super fun to drive, but beware of gravity.
I drive a mobile feed mixer called a Data Ranger whenever I feed the tie-stall cows, and this week I somehow managed to fall off it. It's pretty tricky to get the hang of driving it around, but of course I managed to fall off it just by stepping down after I was done with it. I'll post pictures later on, my phone isn't speaking to my computer at the moment and all my pictures are there.
4. Drawing blood is fun (and doesn't make me pass out, huzzah!)!
One study I'm working on requires us to draw blood from cows every two hours for a six-hour period. I've gotten better at drawing blood from the cow's tail vein, which doesn't hurt them at all, but, referring to #1, they don't always cooperate. It's hard to balance holding up their tail and walking back and forth while they fidget around while trying to not poke yourself with a needle! Drawing blood from a calf is a different story entirely, and a little scarier for me. They're much more wiggly, and you draw from the vein in their neck, so I'm always a little nervous I'm going to poke something important by mistake. But I've had great teachers, and it's been fantastic learning these basic techniques that I've never been able to do!
5. Black flies are the worst things on the planet.
I could write a small novel about how much I despise these small insects. They're worse than mosquitoes, because half the time you don't even see them bite you. They're super tiny and their favorite place to bite you is your hair line, which is beyond disgusting, and the bites itch worse, too! I've resorted to spraying the back of my neck with bug spray just to keep my sanity. They're everywhere! It's been really wet here too, so they're out in hordes. I think they're in cahoots with the mosquitoes, because it seems like I get attacked in waves.
6. North Country-Folk are not, I repeat - NOT - Canadians. Calling them this will earn you dirty looks.
However, they say "Eh" WAY more than yoopers, and they throw it into their sentences randomly. I love it. They also tend to drop the pitch of the last words in their sentences, but in a really unique way that I'll just have to demonstrate when I get home because it kind of defies description. Also, "wicked cool" is a popular expression. In general, I love the people here and I could listen to them talk for hours.
Example: "Those cows, eh, they almost gotcha." or "What's that, eh?" <-- Not doing it justice at all, ask me to demonstrate when I get home, if I'm not already talking like that.
7. Everyone working the milking parlor is somehow related, and I think they're my favorite people on the farm.
"Uncle Neil" is the actual uncle of two of the milkers, Adam and Ryan, and is somehow related to two(?) other milkers, too. Everyone calls him Uncle Neil, and I love him. He grew out a big beard because he loves Duck Dynasty and my first night milk sampling he played a prank that scared the crap out of me. His wife is from Michigan, so I think that put me in a good spot in his book. He's just a genuinely kind person who loves his job and loves to make people smile, and he's definitely going to be one of my favorite Miner Memories. :)
8. This place has TONS of women working in science! I love it!
We actually joke about how few men actually work here. It makes me feel amazing, because science fields have always been male-dominated. It's really empowering being surrounded by such strong, intelligent women. Most of the research crew is female, and some of them are so smart I'm a little intimidated. Everyone here has been so welcoming and easy to approach, though, and I'm so blessed to be able to learn from them. "There's no such thing as a stupid question" actually applies here. :)
9. Rumen fluid is the worst smell on the planet, which will remain on your skin for days.
10. I love living with people who are interested in the same things I am, but are totally different at the same time.
I'm having such a great time working and living with the other interns, and I still can't quite believe I'm having this amazing experience. We all get together at night and joke about the funny things that happened that day, and we all get along really well. I hope we'll all stay in touch after this summer, and now I can say I have friends from all over the place!
I think that's good for now, though I'm sure once I hit 'post' I'll think of a million more things I should have put on this list. I'll post pictures as soon as I can figure out why my lap top and phone aren't getting along. We might have to call a therapist.
Love you all! Also, a birthday shout-out to Nick! Can't believe how old we're all getting.
Also-also: I'll be HOME in 4 days for the beautiful wedding of Sandra and Scott! So excited to see everyone!
-xoxo-
Kaitlyn
Sorry I haven't posted in... forever, but it's been crazy busy with an extra shot of hectic thrown in for good measure. It's been amazingly fun, but so busy my life has been "Barn --> Food --> Sleep --> Repeat" for about two weeks!
Instead of trying to remember every little detail, I thought I would make a list of some major events, and some 'lessons learned' around the farm. Here we go!
1. Cows are strongly-willed toddlers.
I have learned that patience and calm go a lot farther than yelling and rodeo skills. I actually really enjoy having to move or weigh cows because my geeky self is so interested in using the animal's flight zone to get it to move, without having to touch it at all. It's awesome.
2. Not being scheduled to work does not mean not working.
I have an individual project this summer (which started today, hooray!), so lately I've been working on all the little details to make sure that goes smoothly (Do the feeders know which pen is getting which diet? Do I have enough bags for feed samples? Are the labels "idiot proof" enough that I won't get confused later on? When did I last take a shower?!). I've lived in the library that's on-site for a few nights it seems, and I'm pretty pleased with how everything is turning out, but it's definitely the learning curve of "my job is my life". I'm sure this will come in handy in grad school!
3. Data Rangers are super fun to drive, but beware of gravity.
I drive a mobile feed mixer called a Data Ranger whenever I feed the tie-stall cows, and this week I somehow managed to fall off it. It's pretty tricky to get the hang of driving it around, but of course I managed to fall off it just by stepping down after I was done with it. I'll post pictures later on, my phone isn't speaking to my computer at the moment and all my pictures are there.
4. Drawing blood is fun (and doesn't make me pass out, huzzah!)!
One study I'm working on requires us to draw blood from cows every two hours for a six-hour period. I've gotten better at drawing blood from the cow's tail vein, which doesn't hurt them at all, but, referring to #1, they don't always cooperate. It's hard to balance holding up their tail and walking back and forth while they fidget around while trying to not poke yourself with a needle! Drawing blood from a calf is a different story entirely, and a little scarier for me. They're much more wiggly, and you draw from the vein in their neck, so I'm always a little nervous I'm going to poke something important by mistake. But I've had great teachers, and it's been fantastic learning these basic techniques that I've never been able to do!
5. Black flies are the worst things on the planet.
I could write a small novel about how much I despise these small insects. They're worse than mosquitoes, because half the time you don't even see them bite you. They're super tiny and their favorite place to bite you is your hair line, which is beyond disgusting, and the bites itch worse, too! I've resorted to spraying the back of my neck with bug spray just to keep my sanity. They're everywhere! It's been really wet here too, so they're out in hordes. I think they're in cahoots with the mosquitoes, because it seems like I get attacked in waves.
6. North Country-Folk are not, I repeat - NOT - Canadians. Calling them this will earn you dirty looks.
However, they say "Eh" WAY more than yoopers, and they throw it into their sentences randomly. I love it. They also tend to drop the pitch of the last words in their sentences, but in a really unique way that I'll just have to demonstrate when I get home because it kind of defies description. Also, "wicked cool" is a popular expression. In general, I love the people here and I could listen to them talk for hours.
Example: "Those cows, eh, they almost gotcha." or "What's that, eh?" <-- Not doing it justice at all, ask me to demonstrate when I get home, if I'm not already talking like that.
7. Everyone working the milking parlor is somehow related, and I think they're my favorite people on the farm.
"Uncle Neil" is the actual uncle of two of the milkers, Adam and Ryan, and is somehow related to two(?) other milkers, too. Everyone calls him Uncle Neil, and I love him. He grew out a big beard because he loves Duck Dynasty and my first night milk sampling he played a prank that scared the crap out of me. His wife is from Michigan, so I think that put me in a good spot in his book. He's just a genuinely kind person who loves his job and loves to make people smile, and he's definitely going to be one of my favorite Miner Memories. :)
8. This place has TONS of women working in science! I love it!
We actually joke about how few men actually work here. It makes me feel amazing, because science fields have always been male-dominated. It's really empowering being surrounded by such strong, intelligent women. Most of the research crew is female, and some of them are so smart I'm a little intimidated. Everyone here has been so welcoming and easy to approach, though, and I'm so blessed to be able to learn from them. "There's no such thing as a stupid question" actually applies here. :)
9. Rumen fluid is the worst smell on the planet, which will remain on your skin for days.
10. I love living with people who are interested in the same things I am, but are totally different at the same time.
I'm having such a great time working and living with the other interns, and I still can't quite believe I'm having this amazing experience. We all get together at night and joke about the funny things that happened that day, and we all get along really well. I hope we'll all stay in touch after this summer, and now I can say I have friends from all over the place!
I think that's good for now, though I'm sure once I hit 'post' I'll think of a million more things I should have put on this list. I'll post pictures as soon as I can figure out why my lap top and phone aren't getting along. We might have to call a therapist.
Love you all! Also, a birthday shout-out to Nick! Can't believe how old we're all getting.
Also-also: I'll be HOME in 4 days for the beautiful wedding of Sandra and Scott! So excited to see everyone!
-xoxo-
Kaitlyn
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Here's some pictures from the drive up here... More to follow!
 |
| Finally made it! A view of my dorms. I'm the last on the Right! |
 |
| There's even a sign on the highway! "It exists!" - Mom |
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| The view from a rest area about an hour away from Miner. Mountains! |
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| This is just outside Buffalo, NY. I could see myself living there. |
Rain, Rain, Go Away...
Hi all,
So I've been in NY for a week now, and I'm pretty sure it's been raining every day. I'm happy for the crops, but I miss the sun!
I have this weekend off, so hopefully I'll be able to post a bunch of pictures. This morning (afternoon, haha) was spent cleaning up, unpacking (finally), and scrounging for food. I think later on Lauren, another intern, is making an expedition to a farmer's market in town, and I think I'm going to join her! Then hopefully some hangout time and chilling with everyone.
Feels like this is the first quiet moment I've had all week! I'm having a blast, but I'm missing family and friends back home.
XO,
Kaitlyn
So I've been in NY for a week now, and I'm pretty sure it's been raining every day. I'm happy for the crops, but I miss the sun!
I have this weekend off, so hopefully I'll be able to post a bunch of pictures. This morning (afternoon, haha) was spent cleaning up, unpacking (finally), and scrounging for food. I think later on Lauren, another intern, is making an expedition to a farmer's market in town, and I think I'm going to join her! Then hopefully some hangout time and chilling with everyone.
Feels like this is the first quiet moment I've had all week! I'm having a blast, but I'm missing family and friends back home.
XO,
Kaitlyn
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Diving in the Deep End and Loving it!
Hi guys! Sorry for not posting yet, it's been a crazy couple of days!
My parents and I arrived at Miner on Saturday night. They got me all unloaded and then headed to their hotel in Montreal. We took a route through the mountains with some crazy twists and turns, but we made it in one piece! I'm very proud of my minivan. I'll post pictures once I get them uploaded.
Monday started with orientation, meeting the staff, tours of the barns, safety videos, then hang out time with the other interns! It was a go-go-go sort of day, which I think is the norm around here. There are three research interns, five equine, and four farm management interns. We're all from different universities except two girls who are from Virginia Tech. Everyone clicked right away, I think it's going to be a great summer!
On Tuesday, the research interns had research orientation. There are at least 10 studies going on this summer! The studies are considered confidential as they're funded by outside companies, but they're all nutrition or behavior-based, and they all seem really exciting! We all get to help with each study, and I've already gotten to work on two or three different ones since I got here. I'll be working on an individual project, too, and that will be on the effect leftover TMR (feed) has on the feeding behavior of dairy cows. It sounds interesting, and I'm looking forward to getting started! I also get to help with the two other individual projects going on, with horses and calves, which should be really awesome.
After the meeting, the three interns split up and I headed to the forage lab. We're doing one study focusing on how forages are broken down in the rumen. To do that, we put samples of the forages in little bags that remind me of giant teabags, and place them directly in the rumen of the cow. We leave the samples in the rumen for a specific amount of time and monitor how much they are broken down over time. I filled about 60 bags with forage samples and sealed them up. It took about three hours, but I got to chat with one of the post-docs working here, so it was pretty fun!
Then, at 8pm, I headed into the basement of the milking parlor to take milk samples from 144 cows in another study. The samples are sent down a milk line from the parlor upstairs to the sample collection room downstairs, where my job is to document which cow is in which spot, and pour the milk sample into a testing bottle. This sounds a lot simpler than it was, but it definitely kept me on my toes for a few hours! The tricky part is making sure you get all 12 samples in the time it takes the milkers upstairs to milk out the cows. I worked with Heather G (There are a total of 4 Heathers working here, it gets confusing), and I really liked her. She's hilarious and a really good teacher, she helped me a ton and we had a great time running around the parlor basement! I got home around 11:40pm, jumped in the shower, then bed. I was exhausted!
Today, Wednesday, I worked in the forage lab for just an hour before heading out to the barn to take blood and fecal samples! I had never drawn blood from a cow before, and I have to admit I was really nervous. I had one incident a few years ago that made me a little uneasy around blood, but I did great! I took blood samples from four of the cows and fecal samples from three. We got some great pictures that I'll post once I get them off my phone. After that, I took milk samples again with Deanna, another research intern, and Maggie, one of the research technicians. It went really well with the three of us, and I think Maggie was impressed with our progress.
Finally, we all got together to work on pulling rumen loggers out of cows. This is a special meter that monitors the pH, redox potential, and temperature of the cow's rumen, and is left in the animal for a set amount of time before the info is downloaded to a computer for analysis. We get the loggers into the rumen through a rumen cannula or fistula, which is a surgically-made opening in the side of the cow that can be opened by a plug whenever we need access to the rumen contents. Don't worry, it doesn't hurt the animal at all to have this, and it makes it possible for researchers to study how the rumen works, which is really complicated! We got to help with this job by collecting the fluid from the rumen and freezing it so we can analyze it later. It's pretty stinky stuff, but it was really awesome at the same time.
Now, I'm chilling on my bed waiting out the rain. It's been pouring on and off for the last three days, but it doesn't stop us all from hanging out! I can't believe how kind and understanding all of the staff are here, everyone has been incredibly welcoming. The other interns all seem fantastic, and we're already planning some shenanigans for the summer! I'll post tons of pictures, I might just have to make a big photo album and caption everything.
Sorry for the huge word-vomit session, I had a lot to share! I'll try and post at least once a week, they seem to have us working at least 8 hour days, and everyone heads to bed around 10 or 11pm because we're so exhausted! Luckily, I have this weekend off to finish unpacking, do some laundry, and hopefully post some pictures.
I'm loving it here, I'm so happy to finally be working with the cows I've learned about for four years! Go Green!
My parents and I arrived at Miner on Saturday night. They got me all unloaded and then headed to their hotel in Montreal. We took a route through the mountains with some crazy twists and turns, but we made it in one piece! I'm very proud of my minivan. I'll post pictures once I get them uploaded.
Monday started with orientation, meeting the staff, tours of the barns, safety videos, then hang out time with the other interns! It was a go-go-go sort of day, which I think is the norm around here. There are three research interns, five equine, and four farm management interns. We're all from different universities except two girls who are from Virginia Tech. Everyone clicked right away, I think it's going to be a great summer!
On Tuesday, the research interns had research orientation. There are at least 10 studies going on this summer! The studies are considered confidential as they're funded by outside companies, but they're all nutrition or behavior-based, and they all seem really exciting! We all get to help with each study, and I've already gotten to work on two or three different ones since I got here. I'll be working on an individual project, too, and that will be on the effect leftover TMR (feed) has on the feeding behavior of dairy cows. It sounds interesting, and I'm looking forward to getting started! I also get to help with the two other individual projects going on, with horses and calves, which should be really awesome.
After the meeting, the three interns split up and I headed to the forage lab. We're doing one study focusing on how forages are broken down in the rumen. To do that, we put samples of the forages in little bags that remind me of giant teabags, and place them directly in the rumen of the cow. We leave the samples in the rumen for a specific amount of time and monitor how much they are broken down over time. I filled about 60 bags with forage samples and sealed them up. It took about three hours, but I got to chat with one of the post-docs working here, so it was pretty fun!
Then, at 8pm, I headed into the basement of the milking parlor to take milk samples from 144 cows in another study. The samples are sent down a milk line from the parlor upstairs to the sample collection room downstairs, where my job is to document which cow is in which spot, and pour the milk sample into a testing bottle. This sounds a lot simpler than it was, but it definitely kept me on my toes for a few hours! The tricky part is making sure you get all 12 samples in the time it takes the milkers upstairs to milk out the cows. I worked with Heather G (There are a total of 4 Heathers working here, it gets confusing), and I really liked her. She's hilarious and a really good teacher, she helped me a ton and we had a great time running around the parlor basement! I got home around 11:40pm, jumped in the shower, then bed. I was exhausted!
Today, Wednesday, I worked in the forage lab for just an hour before heading out to the barn to take blood and fecal samples! I had never drawn blood from a cow before, and I have to admit I was really nervous. I had one incident a few years ago that made me a little uneasy around blood, but I did great! I took blood samples from four of the cows and fecal samples from three. We got some great pictures that I'll post once I get them off my phone. After that, I took milk samples again with Deanna, another research intern, and Maggie, one of the research technicians. It went really well with the three of us, and I think Maggie was impressed with our progress.
Finally, we all got together to work on pulling rumen loggers out of cows. This is a special meter that monitors the pH, redox potential, and temperature of the cow's rumen, and is left in the animal for a set amount of time before the info is downloaded to a computer for analysis. We get the loggers into the rumen through a rumen cannula or fistula, which is a surgically-made opening in the side of the cow that can be opened by a plug whenever we need access to the rumen contents. Don't worry, it doesn't hurt the animal at all to have this, and it makes it possible for researchers to study how the rumen works, which is really complicated! We got to help with this job by collecting the fluid from the rumen and freezing it so we can analyze it later. It's pretty stinky stuff, but it was really awesome at the same time.
Now, I'm chilling on my bed waiting out the rain. It's been pouring on and off for the last three days, but it doesn't stop us all from hanging out! I can't believe how kind and understanding all of the staff are here, everyone has been incredibly welcoming. The other interns all seem fantastic, and we're already planning some shenanigans for the summer! I'll post tons of pictures, I might just have to make a big photo album and caption everything.
Sorry for the huge word-vomit session, I had a lot to share! I'll try and post at least once a week, they seem to have us working at least 8 hour days, and everyone heads to bed around 10 or 11pm because we're so exhausted! Luckily, I have this weekend off to finish unpacking, do some laundry, and hopefully post some pictures.
I'm loving it here, I'm so happy to finally be working with the cows I've learned about for four years! Go Green!
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Practicing...
Trying to figure out the website still, so here's a picture of me and boyfriend! We were Tony Stark and Pepper Potts for Halloween this year. Won best couple's costume!
Still Getting Ready...
Hi everyone!
I made one last run to my apartment yesterday with the boyfriend. It was weird unlocking my door and realizing the apartment wasn't really "mine" for the summer. Luckily, the subleaser-guy wasn't home, so we snuck in and grabbed my stuff and got out no problem. Then we met some friends before they moved out, and headed to my graduate school welcome picnic! It was nice to finally meet everyone in my program and put faces to the many emails we had exchanged. Starting to get excited for fall!
I had a nasty cold this week, pretty much put me out for Wednesday and Thursday. I felt like I did when I had mono back in October, so I wanted to play it safe and nip it in the bud before I had to start working hard!
Now, it's back to trying to be organized. I can't believe I'll be in NY in one week! I bought my bug spray yesterday (40% DEET, no West Nile for me!) and some pretty awesome MSU sleep shorts. I gotta represent my university this summer, even while I sleep! I'm also throwing around the idea of buying a bike once I get to NY, there's a little travel time between where I'm living and working. Hmmm...
Things are starting to get exciting! Go green!
I made one last run to my apartment yesterday with the boyfriend. It was weird unlocking my door and realizing the apartment wasn't really "mine" for the summer. Luckily, the subleaser-guy wasn't home, so we snuck in and grabbed my stuff and got out no problem. Then we met some friends before they moved out, and headed to my graduate school welcome picnic! It was nice to finally meet everyone in my program and put faces to the many emails we had exchanged. Starting to get excited for fall!
I had a nasty cold this week, pretty much put me out for Wednesday and Thursday. I felt like I did when I had mono back in October, so I wanted to play it safe and nip it in the bud before I had to start working hard!
Now, it's back to trying to be organized. I can't believe I'll be in NY in one week! I bought my bug spray yesterday (40% DEET, no West Nile for me!) and some pretty awesome MSU sleep shorts. I gotta represent my university this summer, even while I sleep! I'm also throwing around the idea of buying a bike once I get to NY, there's a little travel time between where I'm living and working. Hmmm...
Things are starting to get exciting! Go green!
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