Summer 2018 will be hectic for Abigail Chambers as she burnishes credentials for post-graduation life, a  University of Maryland Eastern Shore press release says.

Set to graduate in the spring of 2019, Abigail’s internship at University of Delaware will focus on a microbiology lab.

“It’s going to be an intense summer,”  the agriculture education major said.

During the spring semester, Abigail worked under the supervision of Corrie Cotton, a research assistant professor in UMES’ agriculture, food and resource science program.

Dr. Michael A. Nugent, an education department professor who coordinates placement of student-teachers in field observation assignments, says Abigail  “has found her niche in life – working with plants, working with animals and who has a passion for teaching.”

As exam week wound down, Abigail got word that she had been selected by the Teach Ag Campaign to serve as a 2018-2019 National Teach Ag Ambassador.

“The ambassador program creates opportunities to connect those considering teaching agriculture as a career, with those majoring in agricultural education and current agriculture teachers,” explained Ellen Thompson, National Teach Ag Campaign Project Director. “It is one of our most successful programs as it combines mentoring, recruitment, and pre-service professional development.”

A dean’s list student, Abigail has been active in the campus chapter of Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences, which fosters and promotes the inclusion, achievement, and advancement of all people in the agricultural sciences.

Abigail grew up around a Scotch Bonnet pepper farm in Jamaica and the lower Eastern Shore. The youngest of five siblings, her older sister earned a general agriculture degree from UMES this year, and her mother completed her doctoral studies in food science and technology in 2017.

“UMES has been very good to my family and me,” Chambers said. “I’m motivated to do whatever I can to help bring other students here.”

This October, Abigail will serve as an ag-education advocate at the National Future Farmers of America Convention in Indianapolis.

Chambers and fellow ambassadors will work with agricultural education leaders to promote the National Teach Ag Campaign, by encouraging high school and postsecondary students to consider a career in teaching agriculture.

Source: University of Maryland Eastern Shore Public Relations – “Abigail Chambers: agriculture education ambassador”