University of Rhode Island students across different majors can participate in fellowship programs that create career pipelines in the growing fields of energy and food systems.
The Energy Fellows Program and Agriculture and Food Systems Fellows Program are both offered through URI’s Cooperative Extension Program, according to Cooperative Extension Program Director Kate Hardesty. The programs aid students in developing marketable skills such as networking and public speaking, as well as more industry-specific ones.
“One of the coolest things for students is that we force them to network,” Hardesty said. “We force them to get into uncomfortable situations where they have to shake the hand of someone who they might not have thought they’d ever meet, but that’s where you build a community in your professional life. It’s invaluable.”
One of the main goals of the fellowship programs is to curate internships for the students involved in it, according to Sejal Lanterman, the community engagement coordinator within URI’s cooperative extension. 14 students involved in the agriculture and food systems program are placed with mentors and are studying and participating in their mentor’s field of work.
While some students work at the Rhode Island Department of Agriculture to help farmers, others work directly at farms, according to Lanterman. Students have been placed at Rhode Island farms including Earth Care Farm in Charlestown, Rhode Island, where they work with compost, and Our Kids Farm in Exeter, Rhode Island.
Other students were sent to help develop the Relish Rhody plan, which aims to predict what Rhode Island’s food systems will look like in five years and beyond, according to Lanterman.
As part of the fellowship programs, students also help with research projects, according to Lanterman. URI professors who have received grants are sometimes assisted by students within these programs.
By participating in one of the cooperative extension’s fellowship programs, students are able to set themselves apart when applying for jobs and stand out on their resumes, according to Lanterman. Students who enter these programs develop professional, networking and public speaking skills. The programs aim to help students become more comfortable with these things so they can grow professionally.
“Eighty-six percent of graduates that came out of the energy fellows program landed really really great jobs,” Lanterman said.
There are 210 alumni of the energy fellows program, according to Hardesty. Around half of the alumni work in the energy field and serve as mentors for the program.
Through the cooperative extension program, students from any academic background can take the transferable skills from their area of study and apply it to a fellowship program.
“We happily embrace students from across the university because I think the argument is energy and food impact all of us,” Hardesty said.
For industries related to food systems and energy that are undergoing changes, students from across different majors are needed to oversee and help these changes happen smoothly, according to Lanterman. In regards to the Food Systems Fellowship Program, much more goes into the food system than just the growing process.
A lot of what students achieve within the fellowship programs allows them to help in the development of new policies, according to Hardesty. Fellows with skills in writing or finance are valuable in this aspect.
“This program can really help bridge that gap for students that have some of these incumbent skills and give them a nice pipeline to this emerging industry,” Lanterman said.
For students who aren’t sure if their academic interests fit into one of the fellowship programs, it isn’t necessary to have a background in energy or food systems to apply, according to Lanterman.
“They don’t need to be an agricultural major, they don’t have to have a background in engineering, they have to have a passion for these things,” Lanterman said.
As part of the fellowship programs, students receive six credits and are paid for 400 hours of work. Students from both URI and the Community College of Rhode Island are able to apply. Students can find information about application requirements and deadlines on the cooperative extension website .