In the Field

When I say “subalpine meadow monitoring,” I can guess the image that appears in your mind. The first time I heard about our season-long project, I was picturing rolling green Sound of Music hills, complete with frolicking and wildflowers and birdsong. And while we do...

PART 1: FRAGILITY When you visit Mount Rainier, odds are that you go up to the Paradise area of the park. Known for its showy wildflowers and mountain views, it is one of the most highly visited sections of the park, and has the impacts to...

My shift on July 10th started just like any other day. Fellow turtle intern Rachel and I were conducting sea turtle patrol on our ATVs. We drove 5 miles north to the tip of the island, to begin traversing south. I was not paying much...

One cool thing about working at Saguaro National Park, is the flexibility of assisting in many different projects. This week we worked on a citizen science nationwide project called ‘Dragonfly Mercury Project’ (DMP). It started in 2011 in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and...

So, my project is turning out to be interesting and engaging, yet somewhat complicated. Because of the delayed start time for the internship, a lot of my duties here had to be reduced or cut out. Thankfully, the main duty of monitoring Piping Plover nests...

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 helping are Jessica the wilderness and wildlife expert, Mark the history expert, led...

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 ferret. I should have realized that there was no chance since we scheduled...

Hiking Joe's Canyon trail at Coronado National Memorial. Team photo, from left to right: Erin Conway, Erica Doody, and Cody Walsh (Photo credit, Kubby, 2019). For many, the end is approaching since many internships are in their last week of work. For some others like...

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 year, this project has proved to be effective, as it...