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Over the past ten weeks I have been completely immersed in agriculture across Central New York. This summer, I had the opportunity to work with the Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Central New York Dairy, Livestock, and Field Crop (CNYDLFC) team, alongside Field Crop Specialist Erik Smith.

During my summer as a Field School Fellow, I had the privilege of working with two incredible nonprofits: the Adirondack Community Foundation (ACF), based out of Lake Placid, and the Adirondack Diversity Initiative (ADI) in Saranac Lake. Both organizations employ community-building strategies to cultivate stronger support networks within the Adirondack region, but go about doing so through vastly different strategies.

As a 2025 summer fellow with the Ausable Freshwater Center, I contributed to nursery and restoration projects through seed collection, propagation, irrigation installation, assisting with volunteer days, and preparing for large-scale transplanting into a production field. I also designed an informal assessment to provide AFC with data about more efficient restoration methods.

My role this summer at The Center in Utica, NY, was to evaluate transit barriers for resettled individuals and provide recommendations for the Center’s grant writer. I combined a total of 11 internal and external interviews, surveys (with 62 respondents), data visualization, and mapping to understand refugee transportation needs. The goal was to understand how transportation barriers affect refugees' daily lives and develop targeted recommendations.

This summer I had the opportunity to work with Massachusetts Audubon Society and the Bobolink Project. The Bobolink Project is a regional program working to conserve grassland birds on private farms. Grassland birds are rapidly declining in the US due to habitat loss. In addition, the ideal time for farmers to cut their fields for hay coincides with critical times in the bobolink breeding season where young are in the nest. Delayed haying protects nests and allows them to fledge, but is a major financial burden to farmers.

My project centers around the Town and Village’s efforts to complete recertification as a New York Climate Smart Community (CSC). This state developed and funded program focuses on local government efforts to both mitigate and adapt to the complex challenges that climate change presents.

This summer, I had the great pleasure of working at the National Abolition Hall of Fame (NAHOF) in Peterboro, NY, a nonprofit organization that preserves, honors, and shares the stories of 19th-century American abolitionists.

Well-being requires more than adequate health and safety — it includes the ability to thrive and contribute.

This summer, I had the great opportunity to work with the Midtown Utica Community Center (MUCC) in Utica, N.Y.

Zachary O’Donnell ’27 spent the summer conducting field work at area farms with the Cornell Cooperative Extension Central New York Dairy, Livestock, and Field Crops Team, and the findings can now help Madison County alfalfa farmers make more informed pest management decisions.