Hello everyone, I started my internship in October and I am happy to say that everything is going well at the USDA Shrub Science Lab in Provo. This winter we are working with samples of Sagebrush that we collected in fall 2013. We have had good results in all our experiments of chemical ecology. Additionally my mentor is introducing me to new molecular techniques. I am still learning, but everything that we are doing is very interesting to me. Due to the weather we are on standby in the field, so instead I am working in the garden that we have in the lab.

I have been enjoying my experiences with the people of the lab. Recently I participated in a meeting where I was able to meet more people from the lab and get to know a little bit more about them.  There are a lot of things to do, but all my companions are supporting me in my assignments and experiments. My mentor is always teaching me new things, and I really appreciate all his efforts to make sure that I have everything I need to be successful in my assignments.  

I feel very good about all the things that I am doing.  But I feel more satisfied about all the things that I am learning. 

Hector

Provo, UT

USDA Shrub Science Lab

Hi All,

I’m stationed at the Cosumnes River Preserve just south of Sacramento, CA.  If you don’t already know, California is experiencing a sever drought right now.  Despite the wonderful upper 60’s lower 70 degree daytime highs, this could potentially be very bad.  Although this is supposed to be our rainy season, we have not had any precipitation in over a month, and forecasts are already predicting no rain in the month of February.  The Folsom reservoir, which supplies water to the greater Sacramento area, is under 20% full for this coming “dry” season.  The water is so low in the reservoir that a city that was flooded in 1955 with the creation of the lake is now once again becoming visible.  The city of Sacramento has already asked residents to begin reducing water usage by 20%.  This is going to be an especially dangerous fire season in California if this dry weather continues.

The unusually dry weather has also had a major impact on the wildlife migration patterns in our area.  The Preserve acts as a major winter refuge for birds using the pacific flyway.  This year, the birds just haven’t shown up.  The wetlands here would typically be blanketed with a solid covering of birds this time of year.  Unfortunately, we have yet to see any substantial numbers in our bi-monthly bird counts.  Many birds further north are not making the trip down this year thinking they are still in summer season, while others that have already made the trip to our area are heading back north thinking winter is over.  These birds seem to be very confused, and it is disconcerting to think of how this might impact future populations.

My tasks here are never ending (I am perfectly happy with that).  Most recently I’ve been working on GIS maps, facility maintenance (gutter repairs, sign installations), invasive plant recon, permitting for some of the restoration projects I am working on and equipment maintenance in anticipation of the outdoor work (summer) season.  In addition to my primary responsibilities I typically help with general tasks here like wetland water management, and all activities relating to our integrated pest management program.  I should be federally certified as a pesticide applicator by the end of February.  That being said, life is good here (at least while the water lasts).

Great trainings, great experiences, great employment preparation. CLM

Stay warm-

After spending eight months in Carson City working for the BLM I can say that I have learned a lot, I have met some awesome people, and I am ready to move on to something else. At times it was a lot of hard work, at times it was difficult to deal with exhausted and grumpy people in the field, and at times I felt like none of us knew what we were doing. However, these are the kinds of challenges that you are going to face over and over again throughout your life! Once you get over being uncomfortable and learn to work through whatever you’re facing, that’s when you really start growing as a person.
During my time here, I have gotten a lot of practice keying and verifying plants, and I learned lots of new techniques for classifying and quantifying environmental characteristics. I have gotten some serious practice with GIS and navigation in the field. I have a much clearer understanding of how the BLM functions and what they have to deal with every day.
Highlights: seeing a super cute bear cub, finding lots of obsidian arrowheads (even a 3” spearhead), plenty of beautiful scenery, and LOTS of good times with the great people I was working with.
For future interns: stay hydrated, keep a level head in the field at all times (no matter what the conditions), enjoy yourself, enjoy the great people, and enjoy the beautiful lands all around you!

With the new year rolling around additional tasks have been added to the list I am responsible for. One of those tasks is to look into how to implement habitat into some modeling and finding such models in the literature to utilize for this task.  Along with the habitat information, additional climate information needs to be found and added to all of the other parameters that will be a part of the model by the end.  The issue is to determine the best way to monitor the species of interest and the best way to implement that monitoring across bureau lines, specifically with the Fish and Wildlife Service.  We want to establish a monitoring protocol that is simple and functional so that usable data can be collected, compiled, and used to better manage and monitor the species.  With this additional amount of collected data, potential problems within the species population might be detected earlier and actions might be able to be implemented to resolve the problem.

Along with the additional responsibilities, other opportunities have become available for me to take advantage of. Workshop on the BLM’s National Invasive Species Information Management System (nisims) and the opportunity to get an applicator’s license are just two of the potential resume-enhancing opportunities that have been made available to me.

I am looking forward to the upcoming year and all of the potential career-building opportunities that this internship will provide.  I am thankful for all of the experience it has given to me during the first part of the internship.

Regards,

Nathan Redecker

BLM Colorado State Office

Lakewood, CO

The beginning of 2014 has found me lucky enough to still be working at the Safford, Arizona BLM office. While the funding has been rather up in the air since the government shutdown, my mentors have been fighting to keep me working out here, and for that I am grateful. I was able to travel home to Arkansas for the holidays to visit my mom and friends which was wonderful. Even got a healthy dose of winter weather thanks to the polar vortex! And now I am ever so pleased with the 60 degree and sunny weather that Safford is maintaining.

The end of December found our team finishing up our SOS work; we got all 44 of our collections sent to Bend before the New Year. If we ever get any winter rains, our spring collection season will begin in late February. Non-native removal efforts in Bonita Creek continue.While the days are warm here, the nights and early mornings are quite brisk. This makes removing fish early in the AM quite cold. I will be happy when the water warms and we don’t have to wear three layers under our waders.

We have some restoration projects coming up in February and March. An American Conservation Experience crew will be out to help us get some of this work done. All and all it looks like 2014 will be a great year. I’m looking forward to however long I am able to stay in Safford and am optimisitc about other opportunities I may get to explore when it is time to leave Arizona.