The Heart of the N.C. PSI: Suhanee Anand and Olivia McCormack

Editor’s Note: As we gear up for NC State’s 2025 Day of Giving on March 26, the N.C. PSI is highlighting passion-inspired, donor-fueled staff, students and others behind our plant sciences research, extension and workforce development efforts. This is the fifth and final story in the series.

As they open doors to the plant sciences for hundreds of middle and high school students, two North Carolina State University undergraduates are also gaining skills that will equip them for their own future careers in sustainable agriculture.

As N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative interns, Suhanee Anand and Olivia McCormack have been indispensable in helping carry out the work of the initiative’s Demo Lab.

Led by Sarah Dinger, program manager for education and extension outreach, the Demo Lab showcases ongoing N.C. PSI research projects to the public and serves as a hands-on educational area for students, teachers, extension agents and others.

In 2023-24, the lab welcomed about 1,000 K-12 students to the university’s Plant Sciences Building.

This year, Suhanee and McCormack, both undergraduates in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, have gained experience in science education programming for middle and high school students.  

They recently shared more about their paths to plant sciences, their career goals, and the impact of their internships.

Anand: ‘Every time I walk into the Plant Sciences Building, I know I’ll learn something new.’

When Anand was growing up in Cary, her family had a springtime ritual of filling her garden with annual vegetables and herbs and repotting perennial flowers. She developed a penchant for plants that blossomed in high school as horticulture classes and FFA involvement led her to her realize that she could make plants a career and, along the way, help humankind flourish.

Now a sophomore in the departments of Horticultural Science and Plant and Microbial Biology, Anand is exploring ways to make agriculture more sustainable. She’s interested in both teaching and research and is intrigued with the idea of conducting botanical research with NASA.

It was the first time I had worked with so many students at one time, and it was inspiring to see their energy and enthusiasm.”

“Exploring how plants grow in different environments, especially ones that we haven’t seen would be my dream,” she says.

Anand says her internship has not only helped deepen her knowledge of plants, it’s also been “a blast.”

“Every time I walk into the Plant Sciences Building, I know I’ll learn something new, whether it be how to make a gravity sensor or how trichomes produce secondary metabolites. I am then able to immediately share this knowledge with others through our outreach efforts,” she says.

“Interaction with students not only improves my communication skills but also brings me fulfillment as I watch their interest in science grow.”

Co-leading a plant propagation lab for Plant Science Outreach Day was particularly gratifying. The event drew nearly 100 students and parents to the Plant Sciences Building.

“It was the first time I had worked with so many students at one time, and it was inspiring to see their energy and enthusiasm,” Anand recounts. “Even though it was a busy day, it was rewarding to see so many students show genuine interest in our field.

“My hope is to inspire the next generation of agricultural leaders in North Carolina and our nation,” she adds. “Exposing students to agriculture is crucial, because it is our future. Getting to do that with PSI has truly been an experience I wouldn’t trade.”

McCormack: “My time at the PSI has opened my eyes to the agricultural world.”

McCormack, of Asheville, came to NC State with little knowledge of plant sciences and agriculture, but her internship with the N.C. PSI has opened her eyes to their importance and helped shape her educational and career goals.

To fulfill an elective toward a degree in biochemistry, McCormack had enrolled in a plant physiology class when she learned about the PSI internship opportunity.

“Since I enjoy working with kids, I decided to apply,” she says. “Collaborating with Sarah in the Demo Lab has provided me with real-world experiences in plant sciences beyond the classroom.”

Through exposure to the N.C. PSI’s research and collaboration with farmers, I have seen how deeply science is intertwined with agriculture.

The internship has given McCormack the chance to design several plant science-based protocols for teachers and to engage students directly in hands-on science activities. And it provided her with the motivation to add a second major in biological and agricultural engineering and consider a career that would advance sustainable agriculture.

“I never realized just how essential agriculture was to … our state or how much research it requires,” McCormack says. “Through exposure to the N.C. PSI’s research and collaboration with farmers, I have seen how deeply science is intertwined with agriculture.”

She also says the experience has introduced her to aspects of extension that she’d not known about.

“Staying involved with PSI has kept me inspired,” she says, “and shown me that there’s a clear path to pursuing the work I want to do.”