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_{From L to R: Chantal Desmarais, Grace Overcash and Davon Nixon from the Russell Brinsfield Internship Program.}

Published in The Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology Newsletter | August 30, 2024

The Hughes Center‘s Russ Brinsfield interns presented on projects completed in urban agriculture, aquaculture and agricultural conservation practices this August.

The interns — University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources students Chantal Desmarais ’25 and Grace Overcash ’27, and University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law student Davon Nixon ’26— had three primary projects over the course of the internship program that takes place each summer:

• Researching urban agriculture in each of the state’s counties and Baltimore City, reviewing each jurisdiction’s comprehensive plan to determine whether urban agriculture was defined and what practices, if any, were allowed.
• Studied the current aquaculture leasing structures in Maryland and specifically researched the inheritance clause for aquaculture leases by looking at other states’ procedures. The results of this project will also be used by individuals entering into aquaculture businesses as they determine a business model for their operation.
• Researching current agriculture conservation practices and creating a matrix to share that provides a comprehensive overview of funding opportunities. 
• Researched the use of shipping containers for various agricultural purposes.

Founded in 2017, the Russell Brinsfield Internship Program — a collaboration between the Hughes Center and the University of Maryland Agriculture Law Education Initiative — recruits undergraduate students from the University of Maryland and the UMD Francis King Carey School of Law students. The program is named after the Hughes Center’s founding director, the late Dr. Russ Brinsfield, a nationally recognized scholar and farmer who pioneered Maryland’s agricultural and environmental science work.

The Brinsfield interns combine their environmental, agricultural and scientific knowledge with policy- and law-related academic pursuits to research current issues identified by stakeholders and state agencies. While meeting with stakeholder groups, government officials and state agencies to learn about Maryland’s agricultural and environmental efforts, these interns perform extensive research and provide their results to policymakers and other organizations.

The Brinsfield Internship Program is supported with funding from the University of Maryland Strategic Partnership: MPowering the State (MPower). A collaboration between the University of Maryland, Baltimore and the University of Maryland, College Park, MPower seeks to strengthen and serve the State of Maryland and its citizens.

Watch their final presentation below:

You can read more about the Russ Brinsfield Internship Program and the interns’ projects here: go.umd.edu/BrinsfieldInterns.