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 the eye of the visitor there must be very good...
I know when you start an internship you are supposed to have an idea of what you are getting into and what your goals are to grow within the positon. I remember telling my supervisor, “anything with bats or wildlife, or plants or whatever. I...
Reflecting back on my past 10 weeks, I’m asking myself, “what haven’t I done?” One of the first things I did when I got to Lava Beds was to analyze the last two years of data from our NA Bat (North American Bat Monitoring Program) sites....
Prior to this internship, I had never been camping, repelling, or on long hikes. Today, I can now say I have done all three! My co-workers and I went on a camping trip to Crater Lake National Park earlier this summer, which was INCREDIBLE. I...
[caption id="attachment_7736" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Bat costume! Need I say more?[/caption] Here is something to know about me: I love talking to strangers, but give me a formal presentation and I clam up real fast. I took this internship to get me to practice being able to...
Jewel Cave keeps me both mentally and physically busy during the work week. In addition to photo monitoring and structure mapping, there are always side projects that need to be done. One such project was installing a 2500‘ PVC drainage pipeline to empty out water...
When you are following an SOP (standard operating procedure), you never know where you are going to go until you read it all the way through and they line it out for you extensively. With the North American bat monitoring program, our park has 5...
Recreational caving is new to me. Sure, I’ve poked around in small caves with a flashlight, but they’d either end or become crawlways that I didn’t feel comfortable going through. Prior to this summer, my favorite cave visit was to the Wabasha Street Caves in...
When you’re a college student like me, you probably have people behind you cheering you on as you are going through school. Last summer I had an internship at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky, and I met one of the bat interns, Katie. Even...
This past week I officially moved to Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park. It is incredible to have the privilege and opportunity to live in such a special place. [caption id="attachment_7081" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Views from a hike on Bunsen Peak trail, right near where I...