Let’s Go East!

19 May Let’s Go East!

Hello everyone! My name is Jaylin Solberg and I am so excited to be a Mosaics in Science Intern this year! I am now a Junior at the University of North Dakota where I study Fisheries and Wildlife Biology. I knew I had a passion for biology but I didn’t know if I wanted to go medical or environmental biology. It all changed when I took a zoology class my senior year of high school. The topic came very naturally to me and it got me excited to go to my classes. When I got to the University of North Dakota, I dived into the major right away and tried to get experience in everything and anything.

Last summer I got to go west to Central North Dakota and conduct research on nesting waterfowl for a summer internship. I also got the opportunity to volunteer at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Western North Dakota tracking collared elk females. With those amazing experiences, it was cemented that I wanted to work and conduct research in a National Park.

I have always wanted to go East as I have always gone West for vacations and work. When I saw this position posting for Cuyahoga Valley National Park on the Mosaics in Science website, I knew it was the position I wanted because it had to best of both worlds for me. One is the location, and the other being the research that I will be conducting which is on white-nose syndrome with the bat species that are prevalent in the park. Then I’ll be able to take that data that I collected and create interpretive ranger programs for next years rangers to use to help educate the public on such an important issue.

Brandywine Falls at Cuyahoga Valley National Park

I have been in Cuyahoga Valley for almost a week and I have been loving it every moment since I got here! I am excited to explore the park and to get familiar with this new area I now call my temporary home. I cannot wait for what is next to come!