Extension interns to share insights from summer research and community engagement

By Griffin Moores
Compilation of photos from Extension interns summer experiences
2022 CSU Extension interns spent their summers gaining hands-on experience addressing critical topics across the state.

Dozens of CSU students who interned with CSU Extension for 10 weeks over the summer shared what they learned from engaging with communities, Extension experts and University researchers across the state at Canvas Stadium on Oct. 24.

Interns gained hands-on experience learning about everything from how the Cameron Peak Fire impacted ground squirrel populations to what it takes to improve food justice, restore rangelands, better understand our watersheds and more.

Complete list of 2022 internships

66

Extension Internships

80

Extension Interns

7

CSU Colleges Represented

Featured internship stories from the College of Liberal Arts

Rain garden pilot program

Building rain gardens
Riley Lynch planted rain gardens at nearly 20 homes across the Colorado Front Range during her CSU Extension internship.

“Rain gardens require less water, no fertilizers and even help filter stormwater and runoff that can carry toxins into the ground and ultimately back into rivers.”

– Riley Lynch, master’s student in anthropology

Documentary film on community building amid gentrification

Denver skyline
Axel Sandoval Bravo, interdisciplinary liberal arts student, and geography professor Carrie Chennault, head to southwest Denver to record the stories of longtime residents experiencing redevelopment and gentrification in their neighborhoods.

“I’ve seen new four-story apartment buildings going up replacing homes and townhouses. It’s happening everywhere around the area where I was raised.”

– Axel Sandoval Bravo, interdisciplinary liberal arts major

Understanding hesitancy and misinformation surrounding routine vaccinations

Joy Enyinnaya
Ph.D. candidate Joy Enyinnaya set up a kid- and family-friendly booth at El Paso’s local county fair to share what herd immunity looks like, how viruses spread, and the importance of getting vaccinated for a community’s overall well-being.

“Taking all this in-depth research and resources and taking it out to the community [is what I really appreciate about Extension]. That should be the whole point of what we’re doing because then folks are able to use it, apply it, and get results from it.”

– Joy Enyinnaya, journalism and media communications Ph.D. candidate

Wildfire risk mitigation and environmental justice in Colorado forests

Joy Enyinnaya
Political science student Aidan Lyde interned with the Community Networks in Fire-Environment Resilience (CoNIFER) Project which focuses on improving the understanding of wildfire risk mitigation planning.

“Unlike many other opportunities, this internship promised the ability to engage directly with a diverse range of stakeholders and understand from their perspective how wildfires were impacting their communities”

– Aidan Lyde, political science major

Read all the internship stories

The poster session is part of the Office of Engagement and Extension’s annual forum, which runs from Oct. 24-27 and brings faculty and staff from around the state together to focus on solving community issues across the state. Learn more about forum.