American Samoa Community College – Agriculture, Community and Natural Resources (ASCC-ACNR)
Mentor: Ian Gurr
STEM Fields:
Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences
Internship Research Goal: Evaluation of taro leaf blight resistance and salt tolerance of newly developed taro cultivars.
Vegetable variety trials are also conducted to identify vegetable crops and varieties that grow well in our local conditions.
About the Internship Site:
The ASCC-ACNR station plots, horticulture lab and greenhouse are where trials are conducted to evaluated disease resistance, salt tolerance, yield and eating quality of ASCC developed taro cultivars. An ongoing taro breeding program, to produce new cultivars for evaluation is also conducted at ASCC-ACNR. Field trials of vegetable crops and varieties are conducted at ASCC-ACNR. Some work will also be conducted at farmers fields and the Aunu’u taro wetlands.
Meet Our Internship Mentor: Ian Gurr
Ian Gurr is from American Samoa. He is currently the ASCC-ACNR Research Horticulturist.
Internship duties and responsibilities:
Intern will learn how to do online searches for and read scientific journal articles. Intern will also learn the steps for conducting scientific research. Intern will learn basics of using lab equipment. The intern will be involved in designing field and greenhouse experiments, planting, collecting data, harvesting and other work required for these experiments. Field work at the ASCC-ACNR station and other areas on the island will be required.
Interns should be comfortable and able to:
The intern is required to work in laboratory, greenhouse and field plots. Intern must be capable of physical activity in hot/humid conditions (Intern and guardian will be required to sign a liability waiver).
Tentative 2025 Internship Schedule
This internship will occur over the following dates:
2025 Internship Schedule*
- 2025 Spring: March 2025 (Specific dates and times will be determined after meeting with intern)
- 2025 Summer: July 2025 (Specific dates and times will be determined after meeting with intern)
*Schedules are tentative and are subject to change. Interns will be required to work 8 hours in the Spring 2025. Interns will be required to work 40 hours in the Summer 2025.
Internship Meeting Location:
Intern will meet at the ASCC-ACNR Horticulture Lab. Malaeimi.