Morgan

My Friedman Internship Experience

I would like to express my most sincere gratitude for the opportunity to spend this past summer in Rome working for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. Scholarship funding, made possible by the kind gifts of alumni and friends of the School, made this wonderfully enriching internship experience possible.

As part of the Masters degree in Agriculture, Food, and Environment, students are required to complete an internship with an organization of their choice. I am interested in both domestic and international food and agriculture policy and was eager to use my internship to gain a stronger understanding of how this type of policy making works. In early 2008, the amazing faculty at the Friedman School connected me with the FAO.

At FAO, I worked in the Organic Agriculture Programme on the development of the Organic Research Centres Alliance (ORCA). This exciting new initiative is aimed at developing a network of research centers around the world to advance and strengthen the study of organic agriculture. The objective is to improve the worldwide sharing of knowledge, as well as the environmental, economic, and social benefits derived from research in organics.

The ORCA idea was first developed in summer 2007 through a collaboration between FAO, the Friedman School, and the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture. My internship was developed to provide the Organic Agriculture Programme at FAO with support in moving ORCA from an idea to fruition.

In Rome, I worked collaboratively with the Organic Agriculture Programme team and fellow Friedman intern Vivian Cheng to assist in the design and creation of a publicly searchable database of information on organic research institutions. In addition, Vivian and I participated in a number of fascinating meetings with international experts in organic agriculture and natural resources management. The internship provided a wonderful opportunity to see how the FAO functions and to meet a large number of people with diverse and interesting careers in program management and policymaking.

Professionally, the experience was invaluable; personally, the summer was a dream. I spent lunch breaks admiring the Roman Forum from the FAO terrace and weekends exploring the ancient treasures that abound in Rome. I am truly grateful for this phenomenal opportunity to learn and live in such a spectacular city. Thank you!