Five students from Indiana University and Purdue University are interning at Indiana Farm Bureau this summer.

Interning with the legal team are:

• Molly Donnell, a third-year law student at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, studying environmental and natural resources law. Donnell earned her bachelor’s degree at IU Bloomington and also has a master’s in environmental law and policy from Vermont Law and Graduate School. She served as a legal extern with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management this past spring and is currently involved as a student representative with the IndyBar Environmental Law Section executive committee. In the past, she mentored elementary students and spent a summer in Beijing collaborating on solutions to localized air pollution.
• Stacia Tyson, a third-year JD/MBA candidate at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law and the Kelley School of Business. Tyson earned her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Her most recent position was serving as a law clerk at Brattain Minnix Tolliver, supporting litigation across commercial and criminal matters in state and federal courts. She previously interned at Banks & Brower, LLC, and has held roles as a paralegal at Legal Aid of North Carolina and as a rental assistance and tenant rights advocate for Wake County government.

Interning with the education and engagement team:

• Tatem Hodge, who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in agricultural education at Purdue. Hodge is a member of the Purdue Collegiate Farm Bureau chapter. She earned an associate’s degree in agriculture from Ivy Tech, Columbus, and she was also named the 2024 Agriculture Program Outstanding Graduate. At Purdue she is a member of the professional ag sorority and serves in student government as well as mentoring for the 4-H Junior Leaders Club.
• . A sophomore at Purdue, Taylor is majoring in agriculture communications. She worked as a farm hand at a cattle operation for several summers, and for three summers helped a family with four children learn and prepare for livestock shows. At Purdue she is a member of the ag sorority, the Meats Judging Team, the Salt Company, collegiate 4-H, Block and Bridle and the Agriculture Communicators of Tomorrow. She also serves as a junior board member for the Indiana Junior Swine Circuit and runs her sugar cookie business, The Classy Cookie.

Interning with the public policy team:

• Erica McWhirt, who just completed her junior year at Purdue, where she is earning a double major in agricultural business management and law and society. Her family raises Boer goats, and in 2016 she founded Dream Team Show Goats. The family also has a produce business, where McWhirt manages a three-acre garden and assists with sales and marketing. At school she is involved with the Purdue Cooperative Council, serving as vice president of finance. Her long-term goal is a career in ag law.

From left are Stacia Tyson, legal intern; Maggie Taylor, youth engagement intern; Erica McWhirt, public policy intern; and Molly Donnell, legal intern. Not pictured is Tatem Hodge, education and engagement intern.