Student Spotlight: Meet Kai
Kai Stielow didn’t come to UW-Madison thinking they’d end up working on a farm–or even studying Agroecology. Agriculture wasn’t really on the radar until a First-Year Interest Group (FIG) introduced them to an agroecology course and from there, a professor’s influence pointed them toward the Organic Certificate Program. Stielow signed up for the introductory course and loved all of it.
Stielow’s interest eventually turned into a summer internship at Vitruvian Farms, where they now work as a Communications and Outreach Intern under the farm’s Marketing and Operations Coordinator.
On farm days, Stielow typically walks the property with their phone out, catching whatever is happening–harvests, mushroom barns, the day-to-day rhythm of the farm. Stielow believes the sense of community among staff has been one of the more rewarding things to capture and share.
Stielow’s match with Vitruvian was recommended through Katie Peterman, UW Organic’s Program Manager, who knew Stielow was looking for a communications-focused internship rather than fieldwork. When Stielow toured Vitruvian during an Organic Certificate seminar, the ball was rolling from there.
Stielow’s favorite moment of the internship was Farm Days—an event they helped promote for weeks beforehand. With attendance still unpredictable post-COVID, staff were not fully sure what to expect. It turned out to be the most attended event in the Vitruvian’s history, and for Stielow, that turnout reminded them of how much people still care about showing up for their local food system.
What started as a First-Year Interest Group has turned into a real direction for Stielow, and one they hope to keep building on after graduation, ideally somewhere in Madison’s local food scene. For now, Stielow is still soaking in what the internship has to offer: a mushroom barn to photograph, a recipe to test, or a story from the pack room worth telling.