2019 Mosaics in Science Interns have been selected. It is a difficult decision each year, but final decisions have been made and 24 interns selected to participate in Mosaics in Science (MIS). Interns will work side-by-side with scientists and other professionals. Interns are part of bat research, bird surveys, seed collection projects, geological surveys, archeological explorations, and much more. Interns receive additional training through weekly webinars and help to share the mission of the program through this Blog. During a post-internship career workshop, participants have a first opportunity to meet other interns face-to-face and share their summer’s work during an oral or poster presentation. Guest speakers provide additional information about science careers and federal jobs. The goals of MIS are to provide science-based internships for racially and ethnically undergraduate and graduate students, and recent graduates to increase relevancy, diversity and inclusion in the National Park Service (NPS). We also strive to promote the mission of the NPS and to support high priority natural resource management and visitor education and interpretation projects in some of America’s most beautiful places.
How visitation is affecting the air quality in Carlsbad Cavern Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring gas in Earth’s atmosphere, but in high concentrations, the gas can act as an asphyxiant. OSHA and other government Read more…
Something I haven’t talked about yet this summer is my schedule. My particular internship is an office job, which means I have some flexibility with my schedule and some freedom to work from home. If Read more…
If there’s one thing that I’ve picked up on while working at Minute Man it’s how to spot an invasive plant around the park. After going to Grape Island in the Boston Harbor and picking Read more…
The Great Walden BioBlitz just happened to be on the hottest day of the year in Massachusetts with a high of 95. For more info on what is this BioBlitz? Check out my previous blog! Read more…
We’re walking on, as Mely puts it, the world’s shortest hike. Mely, the Latino Heritage intern at the park, and is just up ahead of me on a drainage in Saguaro’s Tucson Mountain District. Resting Read more…
Meet Saguaro’s Geoscientists in the Parks intern, Karly Chin! She hails from Redding, California, and was already an environmentalist and biologist before working in the park. She previously researched environmental change and infectious diseases at Read more…
We walk into an aspen grove, and I start grinning. Aspen trees are everywhere near my home in Minnesota, and I fell in love with how their leaves flutter in the wind. Aspen trees are Read more…
We met at 5 A.M., and have been hiking since 6, scrabbling up Madrona Canyon’s rocky drainages. Madrona Canyon is in the park’s Rincon Mountain District, which has a higher elevation (Mica Mountain, at 8,664 Read more…
Eleven weeks later and here I am, smarter and tougher with more skills and a larger network. This internship certainly lived up to my expectations and even surpassed them in some areas. Back when I Read more…
When we first got to the entrance of the Jamboree, all I could think was: “I would never in my life want to be the person in charge of organizing all this.” Picture about 45,000 Read more…
My project this summer was not only fulfilling and meaningful, it was fun. Good, real, wake up excited fun. I really enjoyed the thought puzzles of putting together a field trip that was connected enough Read more…
After many hours spent dreaming up ideas, writing and re-writing more than 20 pages of educational materials, and several practice runs, the program I have spent my summer on is ready to be used by Read more…
A few weeks ago I was able to be one of the instructors/ supervisors at a Girl Scout Ranger Weekend on the island of Brookside in the New River Gorge. Four different troops gathered to Read more…
My summer has been a long summer of new experiences. I started the program with never setting foot within the park that bordered my home. I hardly left the homeland of my people and I Read more…
I am currently hiding away in an office while movers are outside. The vegetation crew and everyone else left for the week, but I am still holding it down here. I have been told that Read more…
Ethnobotany is defined as “Ethnobotany is the study of how people of a particular culture and region make use of indigenous plants”. Most cases when you come across documents containing knowledge about ethnobotany it is Read more…
I received an invitation to help some rangers with a wilderness hike. The plan was to meet at a campground and take visitors on a longer hike through the Badlands Wilderness Area. Those who are Read more…
During my experience this summer I got an invitation to go out with the wildlife crew at Badlands. Immediately I got excited. With pure confidence I thought that I was going to see a black-footed Read more…
Hi everyone, from the post-workshop end of time and space! This is the first of my pre-workshop event posts that I’m writing post-workshop. A major component of our work at Dinosaur National Monument was organizing Read more…
Hi everyone! At the time of writing this, I have returned from the end-of-internship workshop in Washington, DC. Because it’s the freshest thing on my mind, I’ve decided to write this first and will have Read more…
The Hawaiian islands are home to many special plants and animals, many of which are endemic. Being endemic means restricted or peculiar to a locality or region. Through my time at the park, I’ve witnessed many plants Read more…
Being a Science Communication Assistant in Hawai‘i Volcanoes usually means that I’m sitting inside an office, researching and developing programs on a computer. Although it’s rewarding and fascinating material to learn, I often find myself Read more…
If you’ve ever been to Hawai‘i, you’ve probably heard about poi. Poi is a thick paste of pounded taro root, a traditional staple of Hawaiian cuisine. Traditional poi is produced by mashing the cooked corm (baked or steamed) Read more…
An exploration into Hawaiian culture. You’ve probably read words that seem unfamiliar from my blogs by now. They aren’t advanced scientific terms or even typical volcanic terms, but rather are from Hawaiian language. Here at Read more…
Exploring and teaching the impacts of the 2018 Kīlauea Volcanic Eruption This summer, as the Science Communication Assistant at Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park (HAVO), my main task is to create and develop a curriculum for Read more…
In just a few short days, my internship will be over, and I will fly to Washington, D.C. Last night, I went to the local park for an evening program and bat mask painting for Read more…
My Mosaics in Science internship concludes this week, and as I say 再见(zàijiàn)—goodbye to Carlsbad Caverns, I wanted to reflect on my experiences here over the past three months. This summer, I collected data on Read more…
I’m Bananas for Hawaiian Bananas Today, I am here to discuss an important topic: apple bananas. Apple bananas are a type of banana that’s grown in Hawai‘i, a variety of which I have fallen completely Read more…
The spirit of aloha embodies kindness, welcoming, and generosity. Pu‘uhonua O Hōnaunau is a Natural Historic Park on the Big Island, located a couple hours from Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park (HAVO NP). It was a Read more…
My Project Results After learning about how Guam’s coral reefs have been undergoing stressful events, there was no surprise as to what the results of my experiment would be. There was an overall decline in Read more…
Last week I received an email from a former internship supervisors, who are the Friends of Reefs (FOR) Guam program coordinators. It was about helping out with the FOR Guam community monitoring event. This event Read more…
Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park participates in the local town’s 4th of July Parade, which entails the Park Rangers dressing up as the endemic plants and animals. It’s a hoot and the town absolutely loves it, Read more…
Volcanic life is exciting. It’s grandiose and spectacular. Every morning, I feel grateful to walk outside and witness a true phenomenon, seeing how these islands that I am walking on have been born of fire, Read more…
Greetings to my final blog from Point Reyes! As I am writing this, I only have three more days here. My summer sure did fly by, and I am eagerly looking forward to spending the Read more…
01 August 2019 I just gave my summer project presentation in the Biscayne National Park headquarters’ conference room! It was a great way to practice for my next presentation in DC. In a nutshell, I Read more…
🦞 Lobster mini season is a very popular 2-day event in Florida every last consecutive Wednesday and Thursday of July. At this time, the public is allowed to (recreationally) lobster hunt before the 8-month regular Read more…
For many, the end is approaching since many internships are in their last week of work. For some others like me, after the career event in Washington, D.C., we will return to our parks to Read more…
Yesterday, I hiked to Rocky’s only remaining glacier, Andrews. We began our day by meandering around a few neighboring lakes: Nymph, Dream, Emerald, and Haiyaha. Then, we headed south towards the Loch, and started the Read more…
I know that I’ve talked about the volcano before, but I don’t believe I adequately described what it’s like, physically. It’s basically a mound of cinders and loose rocks. It’s not nearly as solid as, Read more…
This week was very different than most. Since starting my waysides, we’ve had to do a lot of work to provide scientific information, but to also provide an interesting experience to the visitor. To catch Read more…
This will be my last week of my internship, and I have loved every single second of it. Coming in I was kind of scared, because I took an internship on the other side of Read more…
Thanks to the Mosaics in Science Diversity Internship Program, I have a greater sense of respect and admiration for the National Park Service. Working with scientists in both the Greater Yellowstone Inventory and Monitoring Network Read more…
What is an Orthoptera? Orthoptera is an order of insects that include grasshoppers, crickets, and katydids. For our Orthoptera survey, we were looking for the presence and abundance of Mormon crickets (which are actually katydids) Read more…
Yellowstone Phenology Citizen Science Project My supervisor Erik Oberg developed the Yellowstone Phenology Project, a citizen science initiative that has been made possible by Yellowstone scientists, Yellowstone Forever, and dedicated volunteers. Now in its second Read more…
Listening to live folk music and eating cheese curds on a wooden bench underneath the glow of the stars is how I spent my Friday night a couple of weeks ago. I had never listened Read more…
For my project, I will 1) learn how to take up-close photographs of grasshoppers, 2) identify the developmental stages of the grasshoppers that we found during our Orthoptera density surveys, and 3) summarize climate data Read more…
An All-Day Tour of Yellowstone I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to take a day long tour of Yellowstone. We started off in Mammoth then made our way to Norris to see the Read more…
Christine Louis-Jacques, a Project Manager with the Greening Youth Foundation, was able to come for a site visit last Friday (12 July). Along with three other biologists, we started the cloudy day off with sea Read more…
I am so excited to start the second part of my Mosaics in Science Diversity Internship! Although I will still be going on occasional hitches with scientists from the Greater Yellowstone Inventory and Monitoring Network, Read more…
After traveling about 1,300 miles North from Southern California up through parts of Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, I was overjoyed to see the West entrance of Yellowstone National Park. My passenger and Read more…
My job this summer was to make an education program seem straightforward. However, consider for a moment that you have been tasked with this objective. Obviously the fact that you are employed by a national Read more…
I’m done with Phase 1, now I’m on Phase 2. My internship focused on dreaming up the BioBlitz which just wrapped up, so now I’m running environmental impact assessments for the park. There’s a park Read more…
Last week I mentioned some of the perks of federal employment generally. This week, I’ll show you one of the perks specific to this office. The South Florida/Caribbean Monitoring and Inventory Network offices are located Read more…
It’s my final week at Cuyahoga Valley National Park and this will be my very last blog post. I have been trying unsuccessfully to step back and reflect on the entirety of my summer. What Read more…
Last Friday I shadowed the Fire Effects crew to write an article about their work. The focus of their work is monitoring the effects of prescribed burns on vegetation, yet, they also respond to fires, Read more…
On my blog #3 named Rock the Rhyolite I explained what is Unstable Slope Management Program (USMP) and the purpose and goal of the project. We rated 16 precarious slopes, 15 rockfalls, and only 1 Read more…
The past week here at Point Reyes has been very busy with the Big Time Festival. Just to recap from past blogs, the Big Time Festival is a celebration of the traditions and heritage of Read more…
My first days on the island!
Hi, everyone! I’m Kassidy, EFTA’s writing intern here in Boulder, Colorado. I have been doing some rounds of site visits for our blogs and recently visited Vishva, the Mosaics in Science communication intern at Rocky Read more…
Mineral King is a special place and on my off days I am working to take advantage of the beautiful scenery the trails offer. This Summer, I am working alongside Ashton Hall, a volunteer in Read more…
It has been a couple of weeks since I arrived here at beautiful Mineral King, inside of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park. This summer I will be responsible for two major projects. The first Read more…
Today I spent a good deal of time catching hummingbirds. Unfortunately, our bander isn’t coming back until the end of the month. However, we can still capture them and take various measurements because it Read more…
Lab work at OSU
Last Tuesday, I hiked up Eagle Cliff to photograph the U-shaped valley and lateral moraines that are Moraine Park. As glaciers moved through Moraine Park, they produced the distinctive U-shaped valley by eroding rock. As Read more…
The night before Junior Ranger Day, the Natural Resources division decided to put on our first-ever live evening Bat Chat. This meant that twelve hours before Junior Ranger Day began, we set out into the Read more…
Participating on Derek Bristol’s expedition in Carlsbad Cavern was a very special experience for me. I had forgotten how much I loved the feeling of being on an expedition surrounded by likeminded people that are Read more…
After the webinar on applying to graduate school we had on Tuesday, July 9th, I was inspired by the words of Ricardo Escobar. Indeed, we must treat ourselves and explore the surroundings of our park Read more…
The focus for this week’s blog is something special. I recently accompanied the fisheries crew for an electrofishing survey! Before we drove out to the site, I got to pick out a pair of waders Read more…
Last Thursday I had the opportunity to work alongside beginning farmer interns at the Countryside Learning Farm. Countryside is a private program that partners with Cuyahoga Valley National Park in order to preserve the rural Read more…
Where does your wastewater go? It’s not a question everyone thinks to ask (I certainly never cared to), but it’s an absolutely critical question. Why am I asking you this? Well, as an environmental science Read more…
Transferring a hungry hungry caterpillar to a fresh sprig 5th instar IMB caterpillar A pupation shelf. All these containers contain an Island Marble chrysalis attached to skewer. Another pupation shelf caterpillars poop a lot. The Read more…
Sequoia National Park has a variety of rapid rivers that turn into waterfalls. The waterfalls and rivers are a beauty to behold, but they can be quite treacherous. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to participate Read more…
As part of my trail monitoring work, I run measuring wheels down trails in all corners of the park. In the early morning mist of the valley and the oppressive heat of the late afternoon, Read more…
Over at Petrified Forest National Park, the Interpretation Division has a lot of work to do on the daily. My supervisor, Ricardo Escobar, who is a past Mosaics-In-Science intern has done work with school groups Read more…
Chiricahua National Monument has an air quality monitoring station that studies visibility and ozone (O3), nitrogen (N) sulfur (S), and ammonia (NH3) concentrations. Every week we collect the data and send the information to associated Read more…
Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend a workshop. Under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative’s Pollinator Conductivity Working Group, I listened to different presentations from Fish and Wildlife (USFWS), USDA, USGS, NRCS, and Read more…
When I started this internship, I knew very little about WNS or white nose syndrome as a whole. All I knew was that it was a very deadly disease that pretty much destroyed most of Read more…
My grandpa’s favorite saying was, “When you assume, you make an a** out of you and me.” This past week, I learned a costly lesson from making assumptions and it was a hard lesson in Read more…
Welcome to blog number seven as I enter my last month at Point Reyes! In this entry I will highlight a learning experience I have had. A couple of weeks ago I assisted as a Read more…
This was an exciting week for flying creatures, big and small! Early this week, Emma and I hiked out to the Bald Eagle nests that we’ve been monitoring. After an hour of slipping on pine Read more…
Everything at Lava Beds is deceptively calm this week. The offices and the Visitor Center have been quiet and even the wildlife seems subdued: when Emma and I went to check on the Bald Eagles, Read more…
A common issue all over the world is invasive species. Capulin Volcano is no exception. The natural resource crew is currently working on a project to restore the native grassland to a more pristine Read more…
Greeting from Sequoia National Park! After journeying through West Texas, the Arizona desert, and navigating the 20 mile scenic drive up the winding mountain, I arrived at my internship site in Mineral King, California. Generally Read more…
Rocky’s glaciers were once incredibly massive. A mere glance at Moraine Park will tell you that. They’re small now; so small that only one, Andrews Glacier, is still technically a glacier. To be considered a Read more…
This post is for future MIS interns or, really, anyone trying to get a job in the federal government. Because anyone in the federal government will tell you that trying to get a job there Read more…
So I have been updating you guys a lot about bats facts this past couple weeks so I am going to come in fresh new topic about bird banding at Mt Rainier National Park. We Read more…
11 July 2019 With only about three weeks left, here’s a quick update on my project and learning experience overall. I’ve now completed analyses on snappers, groupers, and wrasse and am now working on barracuda, Read more…
Last week was a great journey for me, I got to travel to St. Johns, Arizona where I hosted an education program for the public library. St. Johns is a community south of Petrified Forest Read more…
About once a week I have been fortunate enough to tag along on sea turtle nest surveys. I wrote a little bit more about the details here. As of the 2nd of July, 4 nests and Read more…
Question: What’s scarier, giving a presentation about bats to a group of fidgety kindergarteners or climbing down a rocky trench and into a massive cave? Answer: Neither! Both are fantastic opportunities that will enrich your Read more…
Trails are largely experienced from two approaches: forward and reverse. Sure, differences in height can result in slight differences in how they are experienced, but those differences are minimal. Yet, these perspectives are complicated by Read more…
An unexpected adventure of my summer internship so far has been tagging along with Taylor Ellis, a park wildlife technician, for a Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) survey. The Northern Spotted Owl is threatened Read more…
A couple years ago during a summer research program in Iowa, I met a few people who were into “herping”— the process of looking for amphibians and reptiles. I had never heard of such a Read more…
