Intern Luncheon and Poster Presentations - August 6

We enjoyed celebrating the achievements of our summer interns on Sunday, August 6 at the Intern Luncheon and Poster Presentations at Matthaei Botanical Gardens! The Matthaei-Nichols staff doubles every summer with nearly 40 U-M student interns in our Nature Academy program working in various departments to help us fulfill our mission of caring for nature and enriching life.

The event was organized by two interns, Madison Montambault and Katie Hammond. The day began with a lunch in the auditorium for the summer interns, their friends and families, and Nature Education donors. The lunch featured an all Campus Farm medley of vegetables. During lunch,  remarks were given by Associate Director Karen Sikkenga, Human Resources Coordinator Heather Hunter, Campus Farm Intern Connor Kippe, and Sustainable Food Program Specialist Alex Byran. Connor gave a delightful presentation about his hands-on experience with the food system from planting to growing to harvesting and serving U-M students with food from the Campus Farm.

Following lunch, the interns presented posters describing the work they performed this summer. Families, friends, and donors roamed the display gardens to view the posters and learn more about each intern's experience. Poster topics included ecological restoration, site planning, event planning, aquaponics, and visitor surveying, to name just a few.

We are grateful for the generous donations from our members and donors to provide these unique and valuable experiences for our interns. The work that the interns complete directly and positively impacts our staff, volunteers, and visitors. Stop by the Matthaei Botanical Gardens to view the posters in the hallway exhibit through September.

Enjoy the photos from the 2017 Intern Luncheon and Poster Party!

Intern Connor Kippe sharing his Campus Farm internship experiences this summer

Intern Lexi Brewer and donor Chris Graham

Interns Caroline Fitzpatrick and Lexi Brewer with their internship donor Chris Graham

Interns Shelby Polisuk and Ross Shaw explaining their projects to family, friends, and donors

Intern Liz Gonzalez, Gaffield Children's Garden Coordinator Lee Smith Bravender, and volunteer and donor Barbara Mackenzie

Sustainable Food Program Coordinator Alex Bryan and Inter Connor Kippe

Carly Postma, intern

Intern Roxane Stroebel and donors John and Anne Knott

Interns Lello Guluma and Jessica Santos

Intern Xevy Zhang and Gaffield Children's Garden Coordinator Lee Smith Bravender

Intern poster by Madison Montambault and Katie Hammond about organizing the event

Centerpieces made by Matthaei-Nichols staff with flowers grown at Matthaei

Salad made from all Campus Farm produce

Lunch with donors and intern families and friends

Anna Wan, intern

Meg Gizzi, intern

Alex Price, intern

Jack Pritchard, intern and Arboretum caretaker

Yoav Jacob, intern