ACE Summer 2020 Webinar Series Recap
The University of Maryland (UMD) AGNR strategic initiative team, Advance Innovative, Profitable, and Sustainable Agricultural Production Systems, launched the Agricultural Careers and Entrepreneurship (ACE) Virtual Center.
To kickoff its launch, the ACE center held a virtual webinar series. This series featured three online workshops for Agriculture and Natural Resources (AGNR) students, K-12 students, and MD residents looking to enter the agriculture profession. Led by AGNR and Extension professionals, these sessions covered topics such as resume development, career exploration and starting a farm in Maryland.
Links to the recordings and slides used during these workshops can be found below:
Resumes for the Ag and Natural Resources Sectors Webinar Recording Link and Presentation Slides
Event Description: A resume is a document where students can articulate the skills that they develop through meaningful experiences within their academic curriculum, or experiential learning such as internships. A well written resume can help you stand out amongst the competition to employers and hiring managers. In this workshop, you will learn about specific resume tips for the ag and natural resources sector.
Presented by: Christina Farmer, Program Director AGNR
More resume writing resources can be found on the Current AGNR Student page under, "Internship Advice"
Students K-12: Agriculture Careers Exploration Through 4-H Webinar Recording Link and Presentation Slides
Event Description: Students K-12 may explore Agriculture Careers through involvement in a variety of 4-H activities. This session explains how 4-H helps Maryland youth become more involved in agriculture and explore careers through activities such as 4-H club and 4-H project engagement; specialized curriculum like AGsploration, AGsperience, Healthy Animals | Healthy YOUth, and Kids Growing with Grains; skills building events and experiences at the local, state, national, and international levels; and more.
Presented by: Chris Anderson, 4-H Youth Development Specialist and Sheryl Bennett, 4-H Youth Development Educator
More career exploration resources can be found on the K-12 Student page under, "Career Readiness: Tips and Advice"
Starting a Farm in Maryland Webinar Recording Link and Presentation Slides
Event Description: Starting a farm can be very rewarding but it does take some time, research and planning to be successful. This session will explores considerations when starting a farm in Maryland including product development, marketing, and resources available.
Presented by: Shannon Dill, Ag Extension Educator
More beginning farming resources can be found on the MD Aspiring Farmer page under, "Networking: Important Steps"
Webinar Registration Results
This webinar series gathered a total of 113 registrants across the three virtual events. Our resume event had 18 registrants, the K-12 career exploration had 16 registrants, and the starting a farm event had 79 registrants.
As of 09/08/2020, there have been 54 additional views of the resume webinar recording, 38 views of the K-12 recording, and 34 views of the starting a farm recording. These webinar recording links will remain on the ACE website for people to continue to learn and gain advice from.
The Agricultural Production Systems team would like to give a big thank you to all of those who helped spread the word about this new series, to the Extension and AGNR professionals who presented during the events, and to all who registered and participated!
Contact us: acecenter@umd.edu
(Published on Sept. 11th, 2020)