FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Molly Felts, a U of A master's degree student in food science, has been accepted for an internship with E. & J. Gallo Winery in California.

Felts received the Premium Coastal Winemaking Internship and will work at The Ranch Winery in St. Helena, California. She will work with winemakers by assisting in daily harvest activities and managing ongoing winemaking projects. Her six-month internship begins in July.  

Felts is a graduate research assistant in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Science's Department of Food Science. Her research, supervised by enology and viticulture research scientist Renee Threlfall, is focused on post-harvest chemistry of fresh-market fruit and enology, and she is preparing for a career in the wine industry.

The Tahlequah, Oklahoma, native earned her bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Oklahoma.

Peter Cousins, a viticulture research scientist and grape breeder at E. & J. Gallo Winery in Modesto, California, was on campus as a guest of Bumpers College and the Department of Horticulture in 2016 to visit with any U of A students interested in internships. E. & J. is interested in students with backgrounds in biology, agriculture, food science, chemistry and engineering, among others, who are looking for "rigorous career-building work experience." Internships offer with hands-on experience in grape growing and wine making. 

E. & J. Gallo is a family owned leader in sustainable wine growing. The company adheres to sustainable practices that are environmentally sound, economically feasible and socially equitable, and encourages others to conserve and preserve.

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.