The month of December was full of preparation with completing the Seeds of Success Annual Report for 2012 and organizing herbarium voucher specimens from the years 2008 to 2012. After having sent the herbarium specimens to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C, I have processed and prepared more than 100 duplicate herbarium vouchers to be sent to other Colorado herbaria. This week, I had the wonderful opportunity to visit the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Herbarium where Tim Hogan and Dina Clark are the Botany Collection Managers. I was excited to have the chance to see such an extensive collection of fine and extraordinary plant specimens. Next week, I will be preparing the next collection of specimens to be sent to the Denver Botanic Gardens Herbarium Database.

Over 60 hebarium vouchers (from 2010) to process and send to the University of Colorado at Boulder

Completed folders containing years 2008 to 2012 duplicate herbarium vouchers.

Darnisha Coverson

BLM (Colorado State Office)

My time is at an end here at the Carson City District Office. It’s bittersweet because I have enjoyed my time here in western Nevada, but I am moving on to Moab, Utah to try my hand in working for the USGS. I didn’t get to see as much as Nevada as I hoped, but I am happy with what I did get to see and experience.

I have been working in the office now consistently since I have been back from a two week vacation during the Holidays. I am starting to drive myself crazy being stranded in a cubicle writing GIS metadata and progress reports. Because of these past few weeks being in the office, I am glad to be moving on because I think I need something new and a new area to spike my interests. Don’t get me wrong, the area is beautiful, but I have seen it and now I want to see more things instead of becoming content with seeing the same beauty of the Carson City District all the time.

I appreciate all that the CLM internship has done for me. I think the program is great and has given me some great experiences and skills that I can take elsewhere. The staff at CLM was always helpful in answering difficult questions and was always quick with an answer.

Thank you for the opportunity to learn new and great things while allowing me to utilize and build on my skills.

This will be my last blog post as a CLM intern & my last day in the Buffalo Field office is tomorrow. It’s hard to believe that it has been 8 months since I first arrived here in Buffalo! I feel very fortunate to have been placed here and am taking so many great experiences and memories away with me. I have been kept busy this January with exciting new projects and outreach opportunities! I recently had the opportunity to be a co-author on an ethnobotany paper here in the office. I helped the archaeology staff identify a number of plant species from one of their archaeological sites back in September and have now been able to research and write a report on the ethnobotanical significance of many of those plants to Great Plains prehistoric groups. I also participated in the Midwinter Bald Eagle survey through our field office, which was a great opportunity for me to work on my birding skills. Last week I was able to participate in an outdoor ecology lesson with 100 first graders put on by Audobon Rockies.  Teaching the kids about adaptations that allow different animals to survive the cold Wyoming winters was a fantastic way to spend the day!

As I reflect upon the last 8 months, I feel incredibly proud of my accomplishments and the breadth of projects I have had the chance to participate in.  During my time here in Buffalo I have gained experience conducting monitoring for sage grouse habitat and rangeland health, took part in numerous outreach events with elementary, middle, and high school students, conducted surveys for rare and sensitive plant species, collected over 7 million sagebrush seeds with a Montana Conservation Corps team, participated in archaeological surveys, mapped fenceline and made sage grouse fence markers to help decrease fence mortalities, helped set up a soil crust inoculation trial in a previously burned area, surveyed limber pine populations and mapped healthy trees for cone collection, and mapped saltcedar in an extensive basin drainage system.

Thanks Buffalo BLM Field Office & the Chicago Botanic Garden for such a fantastic opportunity!

My time here in Safford, Arizona is coming to a close. I have been here for 20 months!! And it has been amazing. I have made some really good friends, and my mentors have been great. The CLM program has been a wonderful experience.