Marco Carlucci and his internship supervisor, Michelle Nelson.
Oohs and aahs were common sounds that Marco Carlucci heard when he led school-aged children on insect-collecting tours last summer. Carlucci, an Ornamental Horticulture student at the University of Maryland's Institute of Applied Agriculture (IAA), interned at the Sheridan Street Community Garden in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Carlucci enjoyed educating people of all ages about gardening, identifying insects, and building mosquito traps. In addition, he cultivated crops and cleared garden plots for new members.
During his time at the community garden, Carlucci applied the skills he gained from his IAA plant and insect classes to help members grow tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash, and watermelon. He used his extensive insect knowledge to lead kids on insect hunts. After each hunt, Carlucci helped the kids identify the insects they found in the garden. He said, “Working with kids during the insect hunts was my favorite part of the internship.”
^When Carlucci wasn’t helping kids find creepy-crawlers in the garden, he refurbished the wooden cutouts of a watermelon and carrot that had become faded from the sun.
He also shared his knowledge at the University of Maryland’s Farmers Market at Maryland, where he demonstrated how to make mosquito traps and educated people about mosquitoes and where they thrive around their homes. Carlucci emphasized the importance of eliminating standing water around houses, since that’s where female mosquitoes like to breed and lay their eggs.
His academic advisor, Kenneth Ingram praised Carlucci, stating, “I was very impressed with the mosquito trap he built and how timely it was, with the Zika virus currently such a hot topic.”
