There were numerous times this season, looking upon the vast mountain ranges of Oregon, I stopped and asked myself how did I get here? I’m so thankful that one cold winter day in Upstate NY I found the CLM internship in an my colleges job listings and months later I ended up on the other side of the country; What a dream it has been!

I am always amazed with the infinite knowledge in science, it is exciting but often overwhelming! Before coming here I was intimidated by learning the flora of a whole new place but week by week I was piecing together the species of the region.

I had the pleasure to take a few classes this summer and am proud of the knowledge I accumulated. I took a botanical drawing course, expanding my botanical terminology and observation skills. I also attended a Graminoids course, trying to grasp the minute parts, microscope skills and general ecological discrepancies. When I thought I had a grasp on most of the common species of the area I took a bryophyte class and was yet again astonished at the diversity of life, even on one small rock or tree bowl. There are over 400 species of moss in Oregon, I’m pleased to say I know 10-20 of the common ones!

Just being around people with a vast wealth of knowledge and passion really inspires me to try my best and I hope someday I can be that person for others.

Throughout the season I have created a small study book of plants I learned throughout the season. Packaging tape and index cards make a great little book to learn and review species. It has been incredibly helpful for me to learn the plants this way! It’s sort of like stamp collecting but more fun for botany nerds!

Apart from traditional botany knowledge I was able to help out in a variety of unique tasks. From rafting the Rogue river, driving a huge pick up truck on the scariest roads, building fences to protect endangered plants, entering stacks of contract data using ArcGIS ….to name a few. Botany careers are not all about the plants!!

I have grown immensely from this unique experiences and would 100% recommend this program to anyone – well anyone who doesn’t care if they get dirty, sweat in the blazing sun, hike miles to see rare plants and come home exhausted and sore; In my opinion, its absolutely worth it!

Thanks to everyone who has helped me on my journey! Especially my mentor Stacy (she’s awesome – couldn’t have asked for a better mentor) and crew Shannon and Andy – wouldn’t be as fun without you guys. Cant wait to see where I will be next season!

Sienna M

Grants Pass, OR BLM

Congratulations!

Today is your day .

Your off to Great Places!

Your off and away!

You have brains in your head.

And feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself

Any direction you choose.

You’re on your own. And you know what you know.

And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.  –Dr.Suess

As the tiny amounts of water vapor in the air have begun to freeze and form wispy cloud-like blankets in the sky, I am reminded how much has changed over the past few months working in New Mexico. From the intense heat and crispy plants of the early summer to the sudden greenness of post-monsoon season, the high desert of NM is truly an ephemeral and magical place. I will never forget the smell of pinon burning and lightness of the air welcoming me to Santa Fe in June. While it seemed like just a temporary home when I first moved here from rural New Jersey, the beauty and diversity has grown on me and pulled me into wanting to stay. New Mexico really is the “Land of Entrapment”.

Thrown into a dust devil of meeting new people, leading an important rare plant monitoring project for the BLM, endless exploring, and taking on new hobbies, my CLM internship has been nothing but an exciting learning experience. Who knew you could fit climbing, alpine running, dancing, birding, cooking with green chile, soaking in a hot spring, and work in one week? Looking back at myself before moving out west, I’ve realized the amount of personal growth that has occurred. Despite being naturally shy and reserved, I’ve definitely become more outgoing and overall just more stoked about life. I can attribute this to the wonderful people and opportunities I’ve been surrounded by at work and in Santa Fe, but also the massive change of moving across the country by myself (and maybe the high elevation).

Even though I worked on rare plant conservation for a couple years back home, I had never thought I would be applying almost every single thing I’ve learned in school and in the field. I’ve utilized everything from putting on my “rare plant goggles” to spot plants to countless hours in Excel spreadsheets to writing code in R and analyzing GIS data. Tasked with designing and installing demographic trend monitoring for a variety of imperiled rare plants has been both challenging and rewarding. The realization that our efforts and dedication are the start of a long-term monitoring study, and may influence decisions that aid in slowing the disappearance of an entire species, was very fulfilling.

Working for a federal land agency has also been a huge shift from the realm of private, state, and research-based management back east. I’ve grown to enjoy the challenges of multi-use land management as it makes every decision more thought-provoking. Something as simple as choosing between aluminum or plastic plant tags becomes complex when you consider the abundance of curious corvids, hungry rabbits, and cattle. In addition, designing protocols and presenting at conferences has made me more in tune with effective scientific communication. Many people may not know what belt transects or phenology or matrix models are, but these can be easily explained if we as scientists truly understand their meaning. It is always difficult to express the importance of preserving rare species as their role may not seem as important as those which are more common. But if we look at the role of a single human, whose impacts and connections spread far beyond what we can observe, is this really that different than a single, unique, rare plant species?

One of my goals going into this internship was to narrow down my interests in the field of ecology. I’ve realized that I’m becoming increasingly more curious about how management affects plant communities and the cascade of effects this has on other ecological communities through the disruption of food sources and habitat structure. While the idea of exploring this question in greater detail sounds very appealing, I’m not sure I’m quite ready or equipped to undertake that venture just yet. Accepting the CLM internship, and all that has come with it, has been by far one of the most influential decisions on my life.

A wonder of nature in Chiricahua National Monument, AZ.

On the way to Sandia Crest

We are in the middle of the last few weeks of field weather here. Lately I have been fortunate enough to work with the Wild Horse and Burro Expert applying a new population control technique that includes getting up close to each band of horses. Approaching bands without a single set of eyes detecting your every move proved much tougher than I had originally thought. The task has been time intensive and difficult to say the least, and tactics to get close to the bands have been continually refined, but as of yet there has been very little success.

As I sat on the edge of a water catchment yesterday, I began to think of these past eight months. I remembered the small amount of office work I had to complete when I first started this internship, the small infrequent rainstorms we had to be aware of in the spring, and the muddy roads that we risked trying to not get stuck. Then I recalled the bulk of the internship. The hot, dry, and dusty conditions and how the light of day seemed to last so long. But now, I looked across a vast landscape of sage brush steppe, steep canyons, and numerous rock slides. All of the willows surrounding the catchment were barren and the once murky water was healed over with thick ice that croaked and groaned as it tried to thaw and come back to life. This frosted landscape before me seemed like a far cry from the work season I once knew. There have been a lot of great connections and experiences made on this internship and as the season comes to a close… the office work closes in.

This CLM internship has been my 4th seasonal position in the natural sciences and has afforded me many new experiences. To start, I was in a hotel on every trip rather than a tent (verdict is still out on my preference), and I was working with professionals and not only other young adults. I have come to find that this difference means a lot in terms of how you engage in your work and the people around you.

Carol is also one of the first mentors and this internship is one of the first that was not strictly structured from the moment I started to the moment I ended. I was allow to create my own projects, look at the data with my own interests in mind and actually create something that would be helpful to the program as a whole. Although daunting, I think that it created some productive struggles for me as a person, namely the confidence to follow my own path. There are so many different ways that each data set could be viewed, so many different emphasis that could be placed on work done with a land management agency and so many projects out there waiting to be created.

The next step is up in the air, as is always the case after the field season, and I look forward to seeing where the wind takes me. As of now I will be assisting the family business, learning the ins and outs of Stanton hats and getting a healthy dose of the Sonoran desert.

Stanton hat and me

So here is to raising my glass to another season of field work, to the good, the bad (it ends) and the future.

Taryn

COSO

I apologize for the title, but when you primarily work in grazing compliance for six months the puns just start flowing. My personal favorite was finding sneaky cows at a water trough and saying “well, well, well…,” (my poor field partner).

It has been an awesome season working for the BLM in the Lander, Wyoming field office. While reflecting on my time here I recalled first driving through Wyoming and noticing, a little nervously, how flat and tree-less it was compared to the forested Pacific Northwest. Now, having been able to spend hundreds of hours driving to every corner of the field office that distant concern seems silly. This state has provided the ability to see some of the most picturesque landscapes (blue skies and snow capped mountains), kooky and majestic wildlife (think badgers flinging soil feet into the air and hundreds of wild horses running through a valley), and land that has been untamed. I am going to miss the chance at experiencing something new in the field every day but I am thankful that this internship has provided me with even more of a perspective focused on the “little things.”

Being in the field for much of the season was another great chance to prove to myself how much I love working in the outdoors. I’ve realized over the past six months that whatever career I move towards, it needs to be one that incorporates hands-on field work and the ability to get outside and get a little muddy. That being said, I was also able to learn a great deal about the inner workings, policies, and politics of the BLM and worked on everything from administrative tasks to NEPA documents, which was an equally valuable experience.

This internship has provided a comprehensive overview of what it is like to work for a federal agency. Before working with the BLM I had little to no idea how public grazing worked, the extent of the role that the BLM plays in managing our lands, or what challenges surround multi-use management. My views have definitely changed this season, going from more strict, conservation based ideals, to understanding that sustainable management means utilizing resources for multiple purposes. I think that this position has helped me to gain a more realistic perspective on how to apply natural resource management principles to satisfy the major aspects of sustainability.

I am thankful for all of the things I have gained through this internship, including a tan that is already fading, friends I will have for years to come, and great insight into what my goals are for a future in environmental work. It is bittersweet to say goodbye to one chapter but I am excited to see what the next one will bring.

Cheers!

It is bittersweet to be leaving Wyoming right as winter hits. It would have been fun to experience another weather season here.

I ALWAYS had to stop the truck to watch the wild horses when I was in the field.

The leaves hadn’t quite yet started to fall in New England when I first noticed that my morning commute had become consistently longer. At one “T” in the road, I rolled to a halt, but at least the setting was scenic. A tunnel of trees grew around the road there. The sun’s rays trickled through in the morning hours, alluding to the fall colors to come. I spotted a yellow school bus in the line of cars ahead of me and it occurred to me that it was the first year that I was not returning to school in the fall. I had graduated college in May 2017 and I was instead in the midst of my 6-month CLM internship outside of Boston. I had heard about the CLM internship program from a 2015 CLM intern I had met in summer 2016 and I was intrigued by the description.

• Explore your careergoals and expand your resume
• Experiencenew landscapes, habitats, and species diversity in the United States
• Apply your education to important conservation projects

Check, check and check. Yes, my experience as a CLM intern was just as the three bullet points above promised me. Perhaps we spent more time driving than I had expected. I shrugged as I counted the cars in front of me. Even without including my drive to the carpool meeting place, our daily roundtrip could easily be three hours.

There were four of us who traveled together, scouted native populations together and split the duties of seed collection and data keeping. We had all studied a form of biology as undergraduates and shared an appreciation for natural landscapes, especially for plants. We traded the plant identification books around and swapped stories of our previous field experiences. That day in my sedentary car I was smiling and thinking about the CLM field experiences that I will share in the future.

One of the interns was an avid hiker and usually had an upcoming trip in the works, whether it be to Acadia National Park or Mt. Greylock, the tallest mountain in Massachusetts. Never lagging behind on the trail, this intern liked to point out lichen and mushrooms and guess their classification. I had always liked plants, but this intern encouraged me to widen my appreciation for other forms of life, especially in this temperate region. I was also surprised when this intern admitted to reading my CLM blog posts, adding, “I would read a book you wrote.” I saw some beautiful flourishes of nature during my internship, but I liked them even more after experiencing them with this intern and sharing our reactions. Our experiences in nature are meant to be shared.

Another intern had a knack for recognizing many plants, despite being new to the area. “They’re medicinal and my mom used to take me and my siblings out to collect this,” the intern explained on day one. Our mentor bypassed plenty of these “weeds,” explaining that they wouldn’t be of use to the landowners for whom we worked, but this other intern showed me that they nonetheless had another purpose. On another occasion, all of us interns estimated how many collections we would make by the end of the season. This intern came up with a number much higher than the rest of us. When collection days started, this intern always encouraged us to make at least one more collection near the end of the day. On one collection day when we were short-handed, this intern kept up the spirits of the team enough to haul in the year’s highest number of collections in a single day–thirteen. We didn’t reach the high collection number this intern predicted for the season, but the goal motivated us to make every collection count.

The other intern was juggling aspirations of being a food scientist after working with plants at the molecular level while working in a lab during college. This intern’s love of food was not lost on anyone based on our conversation topics during lunch hour. We were all surprised when one day this intern brought a hefty sandwich into the field and cut it into four slices; a pan bagnat. None of us touched what we had packed for ourselves after digging into this gourmet treat. It was the start of a tradition of trading food with each other. Through this generosity we learned about each other’s cultures and built a stronger camaraderie. This intern also had a strong talent for understanding the emotional states of the other team members. Through offering to take on additional tasks in the field, prompting a smile with an impromptu dance or surprising us with milkshakes on a dreary office day, this intern taught me how to maintain team morale.

As I thought about how my career goals had changed and of the astounding sights we had found in the field, I realized that what really made this internship special was my intern team. When I applied, I had barely considered with whom I might be working. There was no description of the personalities with whom I would be matched. There is no way I could have anticipated my partners and their personalities and what they would teach me about life and teamwork. There is much more to a CLM internship than the job description.

Our last day at one of our signature New Hampshire field sites.

I’m missing the field season these days. Although I feel lucky to have had my internship extended and the opportunity to further my knowledge of things like GIS and NEPA, it’s hard not to feel antsy after a summer of intense activity. Soon, the field office will begin planning for the 2018 field season, and I’ll begin to uproot my lifestyle and move on to the next one. My daydreams of wandering around Wyoming’s public lands will dwell as I zone out to aerial images from 1976 that need to be georeferenced.

The Thanksgiving holiday was a nice break. I traveled from Wyoming to the Pacific coast of Washington where I was reminded how dark canopies can make the forest floor, the smell of wet soil, and what precipitation feels like. Hiking in Deception Pass State Park reignited my interest in ecosystem diversity and forest ecology. I am now a firm believer in the importance of stepping away from your (temporary) home to gain some perspective. Although I’ve managed to travel a fair amount during my time in Wyoming, pushing yourself out of your element, or back into your element after stepping away for a while, serves as an excellent reminder that no matter where in the world you are, there’s still more world out there.

Viewpoint off a Washington beach in Deception Pass State Park.

Deception Pass State Park bridge.

In a few weeks, I’ll be off to new places. I’m not sure where yet. Reading some of the other CLM blog posts feels discouraging. Complaints of not finding another job to move on to or applying to graduate school as a result of not having other options seems all too common in environmental and botanical fields. I am also pondering the thought of graduate school, only to shrug and put the thought away. There are seasonal opportunities in warmer climates where plants continue to bloom through the winter, but it seems to be competitive for a full-time permanent position in a generation where people are arguably over-educated, a graduate degree might be necessary in this field. Please somebody correct me if I’m wrong.

Hey everyone,

It has been about 2 weeks since my internship officially ended. The last month was a whirlwind of data management.

Labeling bags of seed after a very successful day of collecting towards the end of the season

First we had data sheets to complete and enter onto Seinet, a regional herbarium database. We also had some remaining seed collections to send off for cleaning and storage.

Sorting seeds by collection before sending them off to Oregon to be cleaned

Then we had to mount all the plant samples associated with our seed collections, which was my favorite part. I loved trimming the plants, positioning them on the paper, and gluing them down to make a beautiful herbarium sheet.

Fallugia paradoxa herbarium sheet

Heterotheca villosa herbarium sheet

Once the herbarium sheets were done, we sent some off to the herbaria at the University of New Mexico and the Smithsonian. The remaining third, we kept for our own office. This process included a large chunk of time spent trying to track down FedEx boxes large enough to fit them, before realizing that we could use non FedEx boxes.

In addition we had to write up an end of the year report for the field season, summarizing our collections, challenges, and accomplishments.

We went above and beyond and even left several helpful guides for next year’s crew, including a guide to future collection sites, general tips for internship duties, and a phenology chart to show when seeds mature on different plant species in the Taos area.

After we had finished all our Seeds of Success duties, we undertook the big project of organizing the office herbarium, which was in complete disarray. We made folders for each family, and alphabetized them. The herbarium cabinets looked great after we finished!

The herbarium cabinet looked infinitely better after we organized the collection by plant family.

Overall, I’m glad that I did this internship. It was a good way to experience field work, which is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. It was my first exposure to identifying herbaceous plants, since previously I had only taken a class on woody plant identification. I feel more confident about my ability to key plants and I’m definitely lot more familiar with the plants in the Taos area.

It was fun to be able to explore a new part of the country, and I enjoyed seeing various beautiful places. I really enjoyed the sub-culture of lifestyle medicine and healthy living in Taos.

Hiking up Wheeler Peak, the highest point in New Mexico, was one of my favorite things that I did while in Taos.

William’s Lake was one of my favorite places that I visited during my internship.

I was proud to have been part of such an important mission as an SOS intern. I take pride in the fact that what I did during the last five months will help make a tangible difference in the world. I’d like to thank my mentor Lillis Urban for her guidance and positivity. I’d especially like to thank my co-worker, who prefers to remain nameless, for her enthusiasm, vast amounts of plant knowledge, and patience with my occasional bouts of grumpiness. Without her, I would have been lost without someone to consult with and bounce ideas off. I was very fortunate to be paired with someone who complimented my weaknesses and benefited from my strengths.

Me with my mentor, Lillis Urban

As time passes, I will definitely miss things from my time in Taos. Lillis. The health food store, Cid’s, which I fell in love with. The farmer’s market. The mountains. The beautiful aspens. Taos left it’s mark on my heart, and I won’t be forgetting it anytime soon.

There have been days when the sun has shone, ever bright and golden. Days when not a single cloud called the blue sky home. Days it seemed the temperatures could not possibly get any higher and the humidity and lower.

There have been evenings too. Naturally. Evenings when the sound of a cool breeze through the grass and the serenade of a nighttime choir were a nightly occurrence. Even more so, there were evenings it seemed that no “delta breeze” could ever cool the valley.

Those times have since passed. Being far from my northeastern home, it has been difficult to adapt to a climate where days are predictable. Having spent a few years in Syracuse, NY, I had grown accustomed to the chance that it could be sunny and 65, snowing and freezing, and raining torrentially all in a single week.

Summer (and most of Fall) in the Sacramento Valley left me pining for a change in weather from day-to-day. Something other than warm, sunny, and the occasional slight change in how breezy it was. October and November have so far fulfilled my wishes. We finally had our first few good bits of rain, which is a great help for our wetland management program and also rejuvenated my interest in staying here a little while longer. With the changing of seasons, I was fortunate enough to be granted a short extension. Now I will be around until the holidays, providing me an opportunity to gain more experience and to enjoy more time at the preserve with our feathered friends.

Lately, we have been in our last stages of our flood-up schedule. We just have a few more ponds to flood over the coming weeks before Christmas (typically the peak of waterfowl migration in the area). It is exciting to see all the birds utilizing the habitat we have worked so hard to manage. Learning the wetland system has been a truly interesting aspect of my internship. All the ponds are different in their own ways. In that way, managing them becomes a cooperative agreement between the manager and the wetland itself. In only a short time I feel as though I have begun to see and know some of these intricacies.

Living in provided housing on the preserve, I am lucky enough to fall asleep each night listening to the sounds of the birds that we work for. Almost like a “thank you”. They all have such unique calls and I am working to learn them.

My other major objective has been completing the installation of display panels and mounts in our visitor center. I hope that this will be my lasting contribution to the preserve. Something that I can come back to in 20 years and see. I’ll remember the process. How the walls were white and bare. How the first panel to go up was almost experimental and how it required some problem-solving to adjust. I’ll remember the wood ducks on their perch. The massive antlers from a local buck that died of old age. Hopefully, these things will be appreciated by many people to come.

I am looking to make the most of my time over the next few weeks. While I am looking forward to going home, I am beginning to process just how much the preserve and my experience here has meant to me.

One thing I won’t forget is the first rain after months without it. The rain brought me a fresh perspective and newfound appreciation for this place and my experiences here.

-Tyler Rose –

Cosumnes River Preserve

After a summer of jumping into fields of Toxicodendron my luck finally ran out and I’ve developed a poison ivy rash.  As unfortunate (and uncomfortable!) as this turn of events is, it has served to make me review the contents of my first aid kit as well as basic field prevention and risk management.  Hazards of the field can vary from the almost humorous to rather painful, and the past six months alone have seen hornet stings, ticks, turned ankles, tumbles into mud and water, and various sedge related lacerations.

The crew at SOS East have a running joke about Eu de Tecnu being our glamorous scent of choice and lunch seasoning of circumstance, but my time with the program has taught me a variety of useful practices to keep in my toolbox.  Here are some I’ve found most helpful.

1. Cover it all up

Socks!  Leggings!  Leggings tucked into your socks! Pants on top of your leggings!  Shirt tucked into your pants!  Long sleeves at all times!  In keeping the time honored conservation practice of getting all my fieldwork clothes at the thrift store, I’ve also learned that a lack of holes is essential to maximizing the benefits of this arrangement.  Ticks, unfortunately, have no respect for the fact that you didn’t know that there was a hole in your flannel and that they really shouldn’t have crawled in and made themselves at home.  

2. Wash as soon as possible

Cleanliness is next to godliness, but a good alcohol wash is at least a minor deity.  As difficult as it can be in the field, I’ve found that habitually cleaning my hands with a wipe or hand sanitizer during breaks and a generous helping of an outdoor cleanser over all exposed skin at the end of the day helps with minimizing the effects of any poisonous oils I might have picked up.  This especially helps on days we visit distant sites where several hours of driving stands between me and a good shower.  

3. Know the contents of your medkit

2 butterfly bandages.  3 packages of gauze dressing.  3 antiseptic wipes.  200 mg of ibuprofen.  The medkit is just another quarter pound of weight in my backpack until the crucial thirty seconds when I really really need it.  There is a specific kind of panic associated with fumbling like a fool for a pair of tweezers you swear was around here somewhere while someone is crying on the ground next to you after running from a nest of hornets.  Minimizing the amount of foolish fumbling will save both you and them a lot of grief.  

4. Be familiar with your body  

Knowing what my limits are and how my body feels when it’s healthy vs unhealthy has become essential as the seed collection season has become busier.  Is this the exhaustion I feel when I’m running on too little sleep or is this a sympton of Lyme disease?  Is this red itchy patch on my face a spider bite, the beginnings of an urushiol induced rash, or the questionable take-out I had last night?  Knowing how my body usually responds to certain stressors and what is unusual for it is a big help in monitoring my health – even when I don’t know what’s wrong immediately, just being aware that something is happening gives me enough of a heads up to look up potential causes and hit up a nearby pharmacy.  You know.  Just in case.  On a completely unrelated note, calamine lotion and I have become best friends.  

No workplace is without its occasional hazards.  CLM has given me amazing opportunities for growth in all sorts of areas and while this is a particularly painful lesson is unwelcome, the things I’ve learned from it will hopefully serve me well.