2018 Horticulture Internship Placements

Nicoles Amacher
Senior, Horticulture
OutCo
San Diego, California

My name is Nicoles Amacher and I am a rising senior horticulture major. I spent my summer working in the rapidly rising cannabis industry. I worked for OutCo, they are a medicinal cannabis supplier in San Diego. I worked in the cultivation department of the company; I assisted in caring for and producing the highest quality product using sustainable practices. My overall reaction to the experience was very thrilled. This is an industry I have been wanted to pursue since I switched my major to horticulture. It was the perfect opportunity to really get my foot into the door of this booming industry.

Duncan Cashmer
Senior, Horticulture
Greener Pasture Farms
D & D Nursery
Forest Grove, OR

My name is Duncan Cashmer and this summer I am working with Greener Pasture Farms. This company is an umbrella company that currently runs a wholesale growing operation, a retail location and brokers ornamental nursery stock. This summer I was mainly focused at D & D Nursery in Forest Grove, OR where the company grows woody ornamentals. Some of my daily duties were pruning, fertilizing, applying herbicides, transplanting and watering. A brand new drive and loading dock was installed last week and this week we are busy placing more irrigation lines. I loved working here this summer and I am very excited about the future of this company.

Jonathan Chaney
Rising senior, Horticulture
Musser Farm
Seneca, South Carolina

I am a student worker for Dr. Reighard, Professor and Fruit Researcher at Clemson University. I mainly sorted out peaches and tested them by weight, size, firmness, color, flavor, brix (sugar), and pH. I would go to Musser Farm 90 percent of the time and Titan Farms the other 10 percent. My experience overall was full of learning about and tasting peaches. I had a great time and I couldn’t ask for better colleagues.

Thomas Eitenmiller
Rising Senior, Horticulture
South Carolina Botanical Garden
Clemson, SC

I am Thomas Eitenmiller and I went to Clemson, South Carolina to the South Carolina Botanical Garden for my internship. While there, I had a rotation of duties where I spent two weeks each working in the nursery, working with the arborist in the desert garden, doing general maintenance, working on the natural heritage trail. I enjoyed my experience here, and felt that I learned a lot of good information that I can use in the future.

Stephen Parris
Senior, Horticulture
Fondation Claude Monet
Giverny, France

As I am a 29-year old, non-traditional Clemson student, I feel that it is life experience and personal motivation which has led me to where I am in my studies. I am fairly confident I would like to work in public gardens professionally after finishing my degree, so it was without hesitation that I jumped on the opportunity to experience this internship. I have had the pleasure to be a horticulture intern in the gardens created by Claude Monet, himself; working in the same beds and under the very trees the famous painter had planted. Situated in Giverny, a small town about 40 minutes west of Paris, the gardens feel like the center of the world. The goal of these gardens is to create a beautiful colorscape for visitors during the months in which it is open, which requires some pretty intensive planting and maintenance. The main tasks during May and June are deadheading everything in sight, meticulously weeding every bed, removing plants past their primes, trimming uncooperative rose stems, staking-up floppy plants, digging-up and storing bulbs, and planting (a lot of planting). Answering questions from many of the thousands of daily visitors also presents itself as a main task of the garden when working on beds adjacent to walking paths. I am very satisfied for having the chance to work-in and to experience the beauty that is Giverny, France. This internship has provided me with a great deal of happiness and valuable experience towards helping me focus-in on my professional goals.

Savannah Petrone
Rising Senior, Plant and Environmental Science
Riverbanks Zoo and Garden
Columbia, South Carolina

My name is Savannah Petrone and I am a senior Plant and Environmental Science major. I worked as a Zoo Camp counselor at Riverbanks Zoo and Garden in Columbia, SC for the summer of 2017. At Zoo Camp, I taught campers about conservation, plants, and wildlife. Counselors also led activities and zoo walks that further demonstrate concepts taught in lessons. I loved working at Riverbanks Zoo because it allowed myself to teach campers about topics I am passionate about. Not only did I teach but I also learned from fellow counselors and even campers! Riverbanks Zoo has a wonderful atmosphere and people and I am thankful to have spent my summer 2017 there.

Evan Pope
Senior, Horticulture
Augusta National Golf Club
Augusta, Georgia

My name is Evan Pope and I am originally from Augusta, Georgia and grew up going to the Masters Golf tournament there which makes this internship that much more memorable. Working at the Augusta National in the Nursery Department this summer was definitely more challenging than I anticipated. My daily tasks would include drill and fill with humates and stalite to increase water flow into the roots on certain trees that were not doing well, air teching trees which is drilling a probe into the root ball and blasting air directly into the roots that were just recently planted to ensure better root growth, pruning azaleas, watering basically everywhere on the course, fertilizing shrubs and ornamentals with granular and water soluble fertilizers that had to be sprayed wearing a suit and respirator. Overall the experience was a great one with even better people, I learned more than I ever would have expected.

Tony Reda
Rising Junior, Horticulture
Christian Service Mission
Birmingham AL

I’m Tony Reda, a rising junior horticulture major at Clemson University. I interned at Christian Service Mission in Birmingham Alabama this summer. I was the garden intern, so it was my responsibility to maintain the two outside gardens as well as the small-scale aquaponics greenhouse on site. Additionally, we received over 700 volunteers this summer, so I was responsible for leading groups to work in our gardens or at partner sites. Work with volunteers at partner sites included weeding gardens and laying down soil, helping with kids’ camps, and landscaping. I loved working with Christian Service Mission this summer; their focus on serving the community and the familial atmosphere present with all their partners was wonderful to work in. The work was always fast paced and constantly changing, which I appreciated because it was never stagnant. This internship helped develop my adaptability and allowed me to interact with people from all over the country, something I loved because I’m an extrovert. Overall it’s been an incredible experience in terms of building responsibility and gaining hands-on experience growing vegetables such as okra, squash, beans, and peppers. I’ve loved serving the community, learning about the divide in Birmingham, and being part of the solution.

Tricia Sexton
Senior, Horticulture
The Cliffs at Keowee Falls
Salem, SC

My name is Tricia Sexton and I am a Horticulture student at Clemson University. Over the summer I accepted a position at The Cliffs Golf Course at Keowee Falls. I worked with the golf maintenance team, who take overall care of the course. I had various duties and responsibilities such as mowing the turf, upkeeping bunkers, using spray applications, and other flex tasks. Overall, the experience at Keowee Falls was challenging and intriguing. While working with the turf, soil profiles, and natural terrain I gained respect and knowledge of the outdoors. The prestigious outline of a golf course was immaculate. I gained a different perspective of such a world though. The leadership carries a lot of pressure to keep a well-groomed course for its members. Thus, working with the course had many advantages and had many disadvantages.

Jennifer Strickland
Senior, Horticulture
Wildlife Biology and Fisheries minor
South Carolina Botanic Garden
Clemson, South Carolina

My name is Jennifer Strickland. I am a senior horticulture major doing my summer internship at the South Carolina Botanic Garden in Clemson, SC. I have worked in every section of the garden including the nursery, desert garden, Natural Heritage Trail, arboretum, landscape, and maintenance facility. In these sections of the garden I have done numerous activities such as weeding, pruning, planting, transplanting, and designing. I loved working in the nursery. I experienced an array of different aspects of the horticulture industry there and it has been my favorite experience. I spent a week with the maintenance crew learning small engine repair and fixing tools that were broken. I also learned how to weld which was one of my favorite things I learned how to do. The garden is amazing. The people are fantastic and always there for me for support and encouragement. Its beauty is spectacular, and I love surrounding myself in it every day. I plan to continue my work at the South Carolina Botanical Garden in the nursery department until I graduate in December to better prepare myself for my future in the horticulture world.

Rebecca Stuart
Junior, Horticulture
South Carolina Botanical Gardens
Clemson, South Carolina

My name is Rebecca Stuart and I spent my first internship at the South Carolina Botanical Garden. The South Carolina Botanical Garden is in Clemson, South Carolina and it is a 295-acre site that features many gardens in unique styles and South Carolina based habitats. During my internship my work was focused in the plant nursery, where plants were grown for the biannual plant sale and to be planted throughout the garden. While in the nursery I learned how to care for a plant from seed to sales and discovered many external factors that can affect that developing plant such as weather, weeds, pests, and malfunctions of greenhouse and irrigation. People outside of horticulture don’t often realize the work that goes into insuring a plants success and that there is a lot of technical maintenance involved, such as greenhouse repair. During my time there I learned basic plant care such as correct potting and watering and unlike what some may think it is not common sense! During the plant sale I worked with customers to help them find plants that will do well in their landscapes. One of my favorite parts of it was there was always a new problem to solve which helped me become better at thinking quickly.

Matt West
Senior, Horticulture
Clemson University
Tissue Culture and Genomics Labs
Clemson, South Carolina

My name is Matt West and I am a horticulture student at Clemson University. After working as an arborist for three years, I enrolled and graduated from Spartanburg Community College’s horticulture program before coming to Clemson. Equipped with a lot of practical horticultural skills, I was ready to dive further into plant science as a whole. During my plant propagation class, I learned about the amazing capabilities of plant tissue culture. When my professor, Dr. Adelberg, mentioned an internship opportunity in his lab, I was immediately drawn. The work I would be doing is related to a major ongoing project going on at Clemson regarding peach crop issues. South Carolina is the second largest peach producer behind California, so supporting my home state added another layer of fulfillment to this internship. My job was to help with various projects while also beginning one of my own. During this process, I added quite a few useful skills to my tool belt: I can perform plant DNA extractions, gel electrophoresis, PCR, and became comfortable operating in a genomics lab. I also got to experience many aspects of a tissue culture lab, from plant multiplication to making tissue culture media. Over the course of my experience, I developed a serious sense of responsibility and pride in my work. When I walk into the lab each morning, I’m excited to greet everyone and get started on my work. This internship is challenging and requires constant learning, but in the end is extremely rewarding.