The Basics

 Hey there! 

My name is Olivia Marti and I recently graduated from Waukon High School in Waukon, IA. I will be attending Iowa State University this fall to Major in Agricultural Business, Agronomy, Seed Science, and International Agriculture. With my two-year Associative Arts degree from Northeast Iowa Community College, I am fortunate enough to enter as a junior this fall! This education and experience is what also pushed me to pursue agri-science. 

In my freshman year of high school I began research on animal muscle tissue and how it can be repaired detached from the living organism. The next year as a sophomore, I spent the year abroad in Germany where I was able to learn the German language and conduct research on soil additives and SPAs. In my junior year of high school, I turned my focus towards hydroponic and aeroponic crop production systems and their influence in solving world hunger. And finally in my senior year of high school, I began conducting research on algae-based biofuels. 

Thanks to these experiences, I was able to apply to do an internship through the World Food Prize. I was selected for an interview and asked to rank my preference of where I would like to study. A born and raised Iowan farm girl, naturally I chose CIMMYT! I have always had a passion for agronomy, seed science, and seed conservation, all things that CIMMYT focusses on. To make this decision even easier, Norman E Borlaug established this building and location. 

Norman E Borlaug was an Iowa Native and grew up only 25 minutes from my house. I had grown up with his as my role model, especially as a small town girl that wanted to make an impact in agriscience. After finding out that I was selected to intern at CIMMYT, I was more than excited. I had an opportunity to better my skills in a language that I had spent four years studying while learning about seed science and agriscience in general from specialists. I came to CIMMYT on June 21st of 2024 and will leave on August 13th of 2024. 

I will be posting blogs weekly to update you guys on what I learn and what I do while I'm here. I'm so excited to get a better understanding of seed science and develop my skills as an agronomist!












Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Seventh Week at CIMMYT!

Image
 My Seventh Week at CIMMYT! 08/03/2024: - This was my last day in Puebla! We started the morning off by packing up everything from the Air BnB and returning the keys. Then we went to a gas station and got some ice and a cooler for our leftover food from the fridge. We headed into the city and stopped for breakfast at a churro place. It still amazes me how cheap everything is in Mexico. I ordered one of everything and the total came out to 300 pesos which is like 15 USD. Everything was so good too. I had churros in Mexico City that were filled but these ones just had a glaze on the outside. They were still amazing though. I had a maple syrup one, a chocolate one, a milk one, a German donut, a cheese tart, a creme horn, and a hot chocolate. It was all so good. Afterwards, we walked around the markets for a little bit before heading to Cholula to visit a big cathedral there. It was one of the prettiest ones I've seen yet and the cathedral is at the top of a large hill so you could see
Read more

My Sixth Week at CIMMYT!

Image
 My Sixth Week at CIMMYT! 07/27/2024, 07/28/2024: - Saturday was a very relaxed and low-key day. I did my laundry, did Bible study, went for a walk at the gym, called my sister, played volleyball with some friends, ate lunch and supper, and watched a movie. I like to always take one weekend day to relax and do nothing so this was perfect. I also visited the grocery store to get some things for my room. On Sunday, I woke up and ate breakfast while doing my Bible study. At 10:00 AM my worker and his wife picked me up to visit Acolman. It is a town that is relatively close to Texcoco. We went to visit the monastery which was so old and beautiful. One of my favorite parts of traveling is getting to see old architecture and churches so this was perfect. We spent about an hour in there and walked through a street market. I bought a tortilla holder for my mom and we sampled some meats and cheeses from an artesian vendor. I bought some different types of cheeses and ham for my room and then we
Read more

My First Week at CIMMYT!

Image
  My First Week at CIMMYT!    - June 21st, 2024: I arrived at CIMMYT around 10:00 PM (22:00) where I checked into my room and ate supper. I have a suite in the Azteca building on site with my own bathroom and a kitchen in the center room! I read through the manuals to get to know the campus a little more and to get a better understanding of what times different buildings were open as well as services.  - June 22nd, 2024: Since I came late on Friday night, I had the whole weekend to explore before starting my internship on Monday! I got a tour from Jean-Flavien Le Basque of CIMMYT. We explored the main building, the administrative offices, the research centers, the residence halls, the playgrounds, the shops and cafeterias, and so much more! After that I went to the gym, worked on research in a common area, and played soccer with a few PhD students there.  - June 23rd, 2024: With it still being the weekend, I had plenty of time on my hands to finish getting settled in. I attended a live
Read more