State Fair Birthing Center

Animal Science Undergraduate and IAA Students,

Once again, we’ve been invited to operate the Maryland State Fair Birthing Center.  This is a great opportunity for those of you interested in getting real, hands-on farm animal experience and are interested in a career in animal management, are applying to veterinary school, are going to graduate school or are just interested in sharing your love and knowledge of farm animals with the public. Six students will be hired (yes, you will be paid!) and trained by me, Dr. Rachael Quinn and our attending veterinarian, in the care of sows, dairy cows and their offspring before, during and after parturition (also hatching chicks!). These educational and enjoyable tasks will be carried out at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium. Fall classes at UMCP will start on August 26 and run through the second and third weeks of the fair, but we’ll make sure you get time off to attend classes. This year the fair will again follow its new “three weekend” schedule. It will start on Thursday evening, August 22, at 5pm then run all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday, then be closed the following Monday through Wednesday. It will open again on Thursday, August 29 at 5pm and be open Friday through Labor Day Monday. It will then be closed Tuesday and Wednesday before reopening on Thursday evening, September 5 and be open the following Friday, Saturday and Sunday, for a total of 11.5 days. Our group is known as the & University of Maryland Agricultural Fair Team & (UMAFT) and we are easily recognized by our bright red coveralls. The Fair will provide housing for us at a nearby hotel and provide many of our meals through State Fair vendors. You will work long hours and be totally exhausted by the time the fair ends, but you will have had the experience of a lifetime!

If you are interested in working with us and can commit to the 11.5 days at the fair and a training day in late May or June (date to be determined based on our schedules), apply by replying to this email by COB, Wednesday, March 20. I will review the applications and those selected for interview will be contacted to schedule interviews, which will on campus in April. With your reply, send a resume containing relevant information for this job and a transcript (unofficial is ok) of your college work. Note: You must, at a minimum, have already completed ANSC 101 and ANSC 103, earned a B- or better in both of those classes and have a CGPA of 2.5 or better through the Fall 2022 semester. You must also be enrolled as an ANSC undergraduate or IAA student through the Fall 2024 semester. Make sure your resume lists and describes all your animal experience. Finally, make sure your resume includes any experience you may have had in public speaking. All this correspondence may be done by email ( tgh@umd.edu ). If you prefer to send hard copy, my snail mail address is 25518 Burnt Hill Rd., Clarksburg, MD 20871.

Based on your transcripts and resumes, I will narrow the number of candidates down to 10 or fewer finalists. I will then ask each of those finalists to set up an interview time (I will accommodate your class, study and exam schedules) in April. Each finalist will give a 1-2 minute presentation that will simulate a talk that would be given to a group of lay people (who have no farm background or experience) who are being taken on a tour through a barn at the fair. You will get to choose which one farm animal species (beef cattle, horses, dairy cattle, broiler chickens, laying hens, sheep, meat goats, dairy goats, pigs or rabbits) you will discuss. And I will ask you questions, just like the folks you are “talking to” would. The interviews will take about 15-20 minutes.

I will require proof of your COVID 19 vaccination and any available boosters at our training day. I’m an old guy with multiple underlying health conditions who would not fare well if I caught COVID. I also have enough experience with animal vaccines to know that not every vaccination “takes” and that you or I could remain vulnerable, even after being “fully” vaccinated. Many of our Birthing Center tasks will require that we be in close contact with each other and members of the general public, so there is no way that we can maintain social distance. The emergence of new variants or new surges may change vaccination requirements and I will require that all of us afford ourselves of all available vaccination and booster opportunities.

I look forward to seeing your applications, meeting you and working with 6 of you during the Maryland State Fair, the ultimate reality show. Tom Hartsock, Ph. D., Associate Professor Emeritus, Animal and Avian Sciences, and former Director of the Institute of Applied Agriculture.