Beall and Splash, the DNR water safety dog.
Participating in agriculture does not always mean spending time on a farm. In a state like Maryland with valuable natural resources that are limited and fragile, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) helps to manage a large area with a large population. This summer, Caroline Beall of Woodbine, MD, spent her time as an intern for Maryland DNR working with the Natural Resource Police at its Kent Island location.
Beall, a student in Agricultural Business Management at the Institute of Applied Agriculture (IAA), did not at first see herself working as an officer for DNR. Her interest in agriculture led her to accept the internship with DNR. She hoped to get exposure to agriculture in other parts of the state, explaining “I want to help people while also contributing to the health of our state’s agriculture and natural resources.”
Every morning for two months, Beall drove to Kent Island to participate in patrol activities with officers, manage the coordination of fleet vehicles, and help with administrative tasks in the office. When on patrol, Beall was present with officers checking in with fishermen, pulling over drivers for moving violations, and assisting with spur of the moment calls. At one point during the summer, Beall found herself helping officers who were rounding up multiple abandoned watercraft on the Chesapeake Bay.
Beall’s supervisor at the compound, Administrative Officer Shakira Johnson, was notably impressed with Beall’s character and work ethic. “Caroline showed great initiative and tenacity in every task she performed. She always displayed a wonderful & positive can-do attitude and was friendly and extremely helpful to all. All of these things gained her the utmost respect, and she is greatly missed by everyone she worked with,” Johnson says.
From her internship, Beall has gained a greater perspective for how the state manages its unique resources, and her experiences in classes at the IAA helped her gain the most from her internship. When discussing her decision to work with the Natural Resource Police, Beall explained, “Before my internship if you told me I would want to be a police officer, I would have said absolutely not, but now I know that I want to go into the academy when I graduate from the IAA. Going on ride-a-longs this summer has allowed for me to see the things these officers do every day and to hear stories and it made me want to be an officer even more.” Beall looks forward to finishing the IAA program in the spring of 2020.
