BirdDawgs in D.C.

When thinking about the Department of Poultry Science, most people tend to think of our poultry science majors as future professional “chicken tenders”, groundbreaking researchers, or other traditional roles in the poultry industry. While that aspect of the major has its own charm and truth, our students also pursue additional avenues that are oftentimes less expected. One of these poultry-related pathways is policy and law. Within the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, students can spend twelve weeks under the gold dome in Atlanta through the

On the state level, participants in the Georgia Legislative Internship program work with the Chair of the Georgia Senate Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee or serve as the Georgia Agribusiness Council intern. This full-time position during spring semester requires students to research and track legislative bills of significance to agriculture, forestry, and consumer affairs, respond to constituents and interest groups, attend legislative hearings and briefings on related topics, monitor committee meetings, and more.

Each summer, students are selected to serve as Congressional Ag. Fellows work in the Congressional Offices of Sanford Bishop, Austin Scott, and Buddy Carter in Washington, D.C., where they attend agriculture committee hearings, prepare briefs, conduct agricultural research, meet with constituents, and gain firsthand experience in the inner workings of the United States government and policy.

Adeline Bennett is a current undergraduate student majoring in Poultry Science with a certificate in International Agriculture whose niche specifically focuses on her desire to solve “the shortage of rural/food/large animal veterinarians.” She even had a front-row seat to processing, digesting, and improvising the FY26 bill with committee staff and congressmen. She explained, “I stayed late working on amendments, researching, and writing remarks. It was beyond exciting and I could see that what I was doing was essential to the team and the district, but having people look at me when they had questions felt insane.” Our second student, Rebecca Evans, who is also majoring in Poultry Science with a minor in Agribusiness and Avian Biology, focuses more on her want to “connect agriculture with the people and policies that shape the industry.”

Adeline and Rebecca have completed both programs, and while each student has different areas of interest, experiential learning opportunities like these allowed poultry science students to build unique skills and a level of understanding that will benefit them in their careers for years to come.