This summer Brie McLerran, a junior at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville interned with the UT Beef & Forage Center as a Tennessee Extension intern. Find out all about her experience below!
Tell us about yourself. What is your name, major, and your hometown?
My name is Brie McLerran, and I’m a junior at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, majoring in Animal Science with a concentration in Animal Industries. I’m also pursuing minors in Agricultural Extension and Agricultural Communication. I’m originally from Moss, Tennessee, where I grew up on my family’s Black Angus seedstock operation.
This summer you participated in the Tennessee Extension summer internship program. What specifically was the focus of your internship and who did you work with?
This summer, I interned with the UT Beef and Forage Center under the supervision of Dr. Bruno Pedreira. My internship focused on promoting forage testing across Tennessee through producer education, youth outreach, and the development of creative Extension resources.
Tell us about your summer internship project. What was the project called? What was it about?
My project was called “What’s in Your Bale?” and it aimed to raise awareness about the value of forage testing. I created educational materials for producers, ANR Extension agents, and 4-H members to emphasize how hay testing can improve herd health, reduce costs, and enhance production efficiency. I also coordinated the statewide distribution of over 1,000 pre-labeled sample bags to encourage hay sample submissions for NIRS analysis.
During the 2025 Extension Intern Presentation Day, you placed 1st in the Most Creative category. Congratulations! Tell us about the creative elements of your project and how you came up with the idea.
Thank you! I wanted to present forage testing in a way that was both educational and visually engaging. I created an interactive display using jars filled with feed and price tags to illustrate the daily cost of supplementing poor-quality hay. This helped visualize the economic and nutritional impact at a glance. The idea came from wanting to make an impactful scientific concept more understandable and relatable to everyone!
What was your favorite part of this internship?
My favorite part was bridging the gap between research and real-world application. Whether I was speaking with producers at a field day, working in the lab to process forage samples, or explaining NIRS testing to students, I got to see firsthand how Extension connects people with practical, science-based solutions.
How has this internship prepared you for your career?
This internship gave me hands-on experience in Extension, producer outreach, research application, and agricultural communication. It strengthened my ability to communicate technical information in a way that supports informed decision-making. It also reaffirmed my passion for working in Extension and the beef industry to serve producers and rural communities.
Check out some photos from Brie’s internship below!
Are you a member of the Department of Plant Sciences and would like to be featured? If so, let us know by emailing Victoria Cavaliere at vcavalie@utk.edu.
By Victoria Cavaliere