The future might be very different for Jessica Clancy '21 had she not decided to apply for UNH’s Social Innovation Internship. Now the Environmental Conservation and Sustainability major from Rutherford, NJ says she wants to focus on practices that reverse global soil degradation, and for the first time she has hope for the future of the planet.
Jessica Clancy: I heard about the program during a presentation in the beginning of my Environment and Society class and it caught my attention. I was looking to intern somewhere over the summer anyway and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to connect with a notable company or organization while also working to develop professional skills during UNH training days.
Clancy: I am partnering with Timberland and the Smallholder Farmers Alliance to work on their organic, agroforest cotton farming initiative in Haiti. My job has been to research the practices and science surrounding a new naturalistic movement called Regenerative Agriculture (which focuses on mimicking natural processes in an attempt to replenish our degraded soils, promote biodiversity, stabilize water cycles, etc.), as well as compile information on all of the notable organizations and certifications that are involved.
The final task will be to run a gap analysis, looking at the current farming practices being used by farmers in Haiti and making recommendations as to how they could incorporate more Regenerative procedures so that the entire system may one day be certified by an outside organization as fully regenerative.
Clancy: I am hoping to push myself to grow in areas that I rarely tap into such as data analysis and large-scale research and talk with a wide array of professionals so that I learn all I can about the agricultural and corporate industry. So far, the experience has been eye opening and has broadened my understanding of the way the world works and business are run.
Clancy: Working with experts in the field of sustainability and researching holistic and regenerative agriculture over the last few months has completely altered my outlook on the world. For the first time, I have hope for our future as a species and for the planet.
This experience has helped me decide what to focus my studies on because I now know what I want to dedicate my life to: the restructuring of our global agricultural system and regeneration of the degraded soils and land that have result from our own malpractice.
Clancy: I am a lover of theater and traditional Irish music and have spent the last two summers working as a character actor and musician at the New York Renaissance Faire.
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