Meet the New Summer 2025 Interns

This summer, I have taken on three editorial interns. Look for their author byline in upcoming Washington Gardener Magazine issues and on this blog -- as well as on the Washington Gardener YouTube videos and GardenDC Podcast. As a first assignment, I've asked them to write a short introduction to our readers so you can get to know them.

Hello! My name is Colin Davan and I am super excited to be joining the Washington Gardener Magazine this summer! I am a rising senior at the American University in Washington, DC, studying journalism with a minor in history. I grew up just outside of Boston in two different towns, Hopkinton and Framingham. My backyard was always filled with a wide variety of flowers, herbs, vegetables, fruits, bees, and maple syrup, therefore I have always been surrounded by a horticulture lifestyle. On campus, I have worked on different journalistic projects in courses ranging from broadcast film, podcasts, digital and print news articles, and photojournalism. I am excited to continue to develop my journalistic skills while working in the garden throughout this incredible internship!

Hello, fellow gardeners! My name is Ian Ferris, and I’m so excited to take you all through a scintillating summer of garden stories. I’m a rising senior at the University of Maryland studying journalism and sustainable agriculture. I have a passion for all things environment and hope to write about and research environmental problems that affect communities who aren’t getting their stories told in my future career. In the past, I’ve worked two summers on a garden farm called Maidstone Harvest, where I learned a lot about growing vegetables in a sustainable and efficient fashion. Hopefully, I can bring some of those tricks to the garden this summer! I just spent the last semester abroad in Barcelona, and I can’t wait to be back interacting with my home community through journalism. That’s why I’m so excited to intern for the Washington Gardener. Through this internship, I can improve my writing and journalism while learning more about the environment and its many beautiful systems. I hope you all will join me on this journey by checking out my work!

My name is Miguel Zarate, I am interning for the Washington Gardener this summer! I’m excited to be a member of the staff. I attend the University of Maryland in College Park and I am majoring in Journalism with a minor in sustainability. Outside of that, I am an alumni of the Jiménez-Porter Writers’ House and I just love all forms of writing in general. Growing up, my mother worked for Montgomery County Public Schools, starting as a head of maintenance where she did a lot of environmental work. Later, she was offered the position of director of sustainability. This is when I was introduced to the concept of sustainability and have been striving to bring it to my studies with my university’s minor program. My mother has a garden that I help out with, so far my favorite thing to grow is mint because it’s so plentiful when you get it right.