When I first started this internship, I was doing more Seeds of Success Collections than anything else. We were completing 1-3 collections every day and monitoring nearby special status plant populations. Now it’s that time of year where most species in our field office are well beyond the point of collecting.

I really enjoyed the collections, but I am grateful for the opportunity to learn new things. One new field experience is vegetation mapping sagebrush populations. Another fun new experience is raptor surveying. My fellow interns and I are also in the process of designing a monitoring program and potential expansion of a Buffaloberry exclosure. We were certainly surprised when close to thirty long-eared owls emerged from the shrubs! It was very exciting to see so many at once.

I have also had the opportunity to refresh my environmental education skills. I developed a botany lesson plan and taught a home school group of roughly 20 5th graders. We hiked on the Bizz Johnson Trail for 2 hours as I taught them about the native plants.

Teaching on the Bizz. Photo Credit to Jeff Fontana of the BLM Eagle Lake Office.

Luckily for the drought, not every day has been sunny and beautiful (although most are!). We have been getting some rain in the Eagle Lake field office. This has given us time to catch up on office work. We have been finishing up our SOS forms and preparing the herbarium specimens to send out soon. We have also been helping with an ongoing project of digitalizing the ELFO’s herbarium.

As usual, my weekends have been full of new adventures. A few new places I’ve explored are Humboldt Redwoods State Park, a black sand beach, and Whiskeytown’s numerous waterfall trails.

One of Whiskeytown’s beautiful waterfalls

I really recommend taking a road trip on the scenic highway 395. Yosemite National Park and Lassen National Park are definately main attractions, but the route has many other gems. The route itself offers breath-taking views of the Sierra Nevadas and even the trailhead for Mt. Whitney. I explored the mammoth lakes area, including the columnar basalt formation, Devil’s Postpile. I also checked out some geothermal areas, including a hike along Hot Creek and a soak in Wild Willy’s hot springs. Convict Lake has absolutely stunning views, making for an enjoyable hike. One of my favorite stops was the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. There is something magical about being surrounded by trees which have lived for thousands of years.

Convict Lake

The Ancient Bristlecone Pines

Only one more week to go!

Cheers,

Rachael

Sadly, this will be my last blog entry. My time with the CLM is coming to an end. This has been such a rewarding experience. I’m glad that I stepped out of my comfort zone and took a chance with a position across the country. It’s been challenging, since my husband had to stay in Ohio. But with support back home and the amazing community of friends that I made in Utah, it has been one of the best summers of my life. I believe I have grown so much, both personally and professionally through my time here.

While I’ve had previous experience with fieldwork, this position has been far more autonomous in nature. I’ve been able to plan and execute projects both with my team and on my own. We’ve ran into many unexpected issues and worked through them. This has helped me to further develop my problem solving, leadership, and organizational capabilities. You never know when you’ll pop a tire or equipment will malfunction, but as long as you can keep calm and improvise, things usually end up working out.

We got a flat while we were out inspecting troughs and installing bird ladders. Luckily, we were on flat ground so it was an easy fix.

I’m grateful for all the skills and experience I have been able to hone out here. A few of the projects I have worked on while in Cedar City are:

Raptor nest surveys
Intensive wildlife monitoring
Avian point counts
Bat mist netting and assessment
Utah prairie dog capture and relocation
Utah prairie dog sylvatic plague research
Electrofishing
Seining and invasive fish removal
Riparian Proper Functioning Condition assessments
Riparian Multiple Indicator Monitoring
Rangeland Health assessments
Rangeland Trend monitoring
Trough evaluation and bird ladder installation
Seeds of Success

Okay, that’s more than a few, but upon reflecting, I was impressed by how many projects I got to contribute towards. I’ve learned so many new monitoring techniques and got the trapping and animal handling experience that I was very much looking forward to. Aside from the protocols and monitoring methods I have learned, I’ve also gotten to develop skills with many of the tools used in the field. Something I was really hoping to get better with was GIS and GPS usage. GIS is such an important tool in fieldwork, and I was finally able to get some hands on experience with it, both out in the field and in the office. I was even able to complete a couple GIS certificates through the esri website.

My mentor has been pretty amazing this summer by arranging for us to experience many different aspects of field biology. Since the BLM is in charge of managing land, most of our wildlife work for the BLM involved monitoring and surveying the land for animal usage. We completed raptor nest and wildlife surveys for a bike trail they were putting in and assessed the data in order to mitigate any negative impacts the trail would have on the surrounding ecosystem. We also performed avian point counts, raptor nest surveys, and intensive wildlife monitoring in Hamlin Valley. This allowed the BLM to move forward with some of their land treatment plans to improve habitat for the greater sage grouse, while balancing the needs of the other wildlife. This work has been of great importance to protecting the greater sage grouse and helping keep it from becoming classified as an endangered species.

Since all of this work was hands off, my mentor arranged for us to pair with the Cedar City DNR and obtain trapping and handling experience. Not only did working with bats, fish, and prairie dogs allow me to develop many new skills, it also gave me the opportunity to get a feel for the DNR and what it is like to work for another government agency.

These wonderful ladies are some of the DNR crew we worked with for the prairie dog sylvatic plague study.

One of my biggest worries about coming out here was that I would be moving to a completely new place and not know anyone. I didn’t know if I would fit in or if I would make friends easily. I am astounded by how many new relationships I’ve made through this internship and how amazing the seasonal biologist community is. I’ve met people from all across the country and gained many new personal and professional connections. My coworkers quickly became friends and we have explored a good chunk of Utah. I think I have hiked and seen more sights this summer than all of my previous summers combined. I will be leaving here with great memories and cherished friendships. Below are photos from a few of my favorite trips.

Hiking my first slot canyon!

Backpacking in the Uinta Mountains with my co-intern and wonderful friend, Zach.

Meeting up in Escalante and going on an adventure with fellow CLM interns Jessie and Jinny. After meeting in Chicago, we really hit it off and were lucky enough to be in the same state!

Finding petroglyphs in Zion national park. As avid hikers ourselves, Nathan and I were excited to find ancient backpackers!

Overall, this entire summer has been one grand adventure. Though it was challenging at times, it was an amazing experience and I’m grateful to have been able to participate in the Conservation and Land Management program.

-Amber Barnes

Well the internship is coming to an end, and I’ve got to say I’m going to miss this job. I didn’t know what to expect when I was told I’d be going to Utah. To be honest, it was never my first pick for places to travel to, but once I met all the great people and saw all the beautiful country, I was set. I’ve made great friends, and had some spectacular adventures.

The view from Delano Peak (elev. 12,000 ft).

Over the course of this internship, I’ve watched fledgling eagles fly for the first time. I’ve surveyed and consulted the management of thousands of acres of wildlife habitat. I’ve electro-shocked, seined, and sampled through a myriad of the Virgin River’s fish. I’ve trapped and sampled from Utah Prairie dogs, an endangered species. And of course I’ve collected plants from all over southern Utah, and aided in the enrichment of its rangeland.

Excited to be in all the muck while surveying this riparian zone.

This internship was so diverse. The sheer amount of experiences I gained was fantastic, and I think it will play a huge role in my ability to succeed in this increasingly competitive job market.  I’m very grateful the Chicago Botanical Garden gave me this opportunity, and I hope the Cedar City BLM office has seen that through my work.

Good times with good friends.

Saying good bye to Big Indian Gorge

Time can be a complicated concept. The ticking hands of a clock concretely mark the seconds of a day, but that day can seem to last both an eternity and fly by in the blink of an eye. In this same way, it seems strange to be writing my final blog post today. Five months felt like forever in the beginning, but summer always ends too soon.

Astragalus whitneyi var. confusus seed pod, one of my seed collections

Regardless of time, this internship was jam-packed with learning experiences, all of them rewarding whether pleasant or otherwise. Here’s a short list:

-cardboard from your plant press and a tiny spade can get a monster truck un-stuck from wet clay

-always say yes! even if you’re terrified of public speaking, being seen & heard can lead to a job

-it can take a really long time to count to 10,000

-the world of botany is relatively small; anyone can become a networking wizard in no time

Erigeron compositus var. glabratus

This internship also provided me the opportunity to improve my botany skills. There’s no better way to learn than to sit in a meadow of wildflowers with a flora and a hand lens. I keyed all the plants I could, most of them charming little herbaceous guys. What a dream job! Working with the BLM collecting for Seeds of Success, I made voucher specimens (pressed plants) for all my seed collections.

A few of my 52 SOS specimens I mounted for the Portland State Herbarium

This gave me the opportunity to learn proper herbarium curation procedure. And, my voucher specimens will be housed at the Smithsonian! It was great fun looking at all the flowers I had pressed earlier in the season and creating (what I would consider) works of art. It’s too bad herbaria don’t showcase exceptional collections at museums with pieces by Picasso, Frida Kahlo, and Georgia O’Keeffe. 

making new friends

I believe my experience was different in the fact that I was a team of 1 in the field, but even so I met numerous like-minded people over the field season. Networking really was a large part of my internship, from my contacts at the Burns District BLM office, to the Oregon/Washington state office, the people I met through the Oregon Native Plant Society, touring the Bend Seed Extractory, meeting other CLM interns in Chicago, working with the Portland State Herbarium, and coordinating with Steens Mountain flora expert Don Mansfield. The more people I met, the clearer it became that the working (and retired) botanists all knew (or knew of) each other — and now they know me!

magical fairy land spring covered in Arnica mollis and monkey flowers (Erythranthe guttata & Erythranthe lewisii)

Working as a CLM intern has been truly excellent. If you are a recent graduate with any interest in plants, I recommend you apply. I am grateful that a CLM intern recommended I apply last year. My resume and skill set have grown exponentially while being able to make payments on my school loans (this internship pays better than most entry level field jobs I’ve found). Remember: say yes!

Before anything else, let me just say that if you the reader are an employer and looking for a highly competent wildlife biologist, look no further!

Alright now more realistically, that’s five months wrapped up. An adventure that was absolutely worth driving across the country. I was actually a little slow with getting this up. So I am now writing this in a Starbucks in North Carolina visiting friends.

I am extremely thankful for all of the experiences gained through my work with the BLM Prineville district. But if I had to limit the lessons learned down to a handful of tid-bits, it would be this:

1. Own up to your mistakes and you’ll learn more from it and faster. Especially when I first started working this summer, making mistakes was practically a habit of mine day by day. The worst moment was when I failed to write down directions to a specific site. I dumbly assumed that the roads would be easy to follow…they were not. This bold assumption making two of us marooned on dirt roads, unable to get to our site, with my coworker understandably considering strangling me when it turns out I never wrote down the directions. This leads me to-
2. Keep a notebook on your person. Credit to Kathleen for this one! She’s right. Always keep a notebook around, old school style. It happens all too often that people sporadically tell you valuable info at the worst moments. Those notebooks can be a lifesaver, or at least help you find difficult locations in rural Oregon!
3. I don’t know what the deal is with country songs, there’s nothing “fun” about driving a 4×4 through muddy roads. And if it is fun, then you’re not on a real dirt road or you’re an extremely dangerous driver. One of the two.
4. At the specific moments you feel like you’re falling into complacency…push yourself out of your comfort zone. I was falling a little to much into a routine of just hanging out at my apartment in September, so I forced myself to go backpacking in Rainier. And I wouldn’t trade that weekend for the world. Even if it poured rain and I was on my own, which leads me finally to-
5. Learn to be alone. There’s a world of difference between alone and lonely. I think too often in the past I used me being alone as an excuse not to do any adventures. And that’s stupid. I started to accept in Oregon that I may never be around here again, so let’s see it all while I can. Hiking alone is a skill that I think is fading away, and while it is nice to have other people join, I see nothing wrong with hiking in solitude so long as you’re smart about it-as in let others know where you are. With my girlfriend still on the other side of the country in North Carolina, I was certainly alone a lot. But that does not mean you have to be lonely, you just have to learn how to be alone, which in the overly connected world we live in today I think learning to be alone is vital sometimes.

I never cared for Dr. Seuss, but I do love “Oh, The Places You’ll Go” as it always alleviates my anxiety when life comes across as too much. So now, after driving across the country twice and countless adventures, I’m excited to see where I will go next.

Cheers,

Ben

I’ve finished working at the Eagle Lake field office in Susanville, California. A lot of things have changed since I started in June. I cut my hair, for one. But more importantly, I’ve grown a lot as a person. Working here has been my first experience living away from home and completely supporting myself, and it’s my first time working an actual job at an actual workplace. All of my other jobs have been centered around the fact that I was a student working for my own or other universities. As a human adult working in a professional capacity with other human adults, I’ve had to learn to tone down how silly and obnoxious I can be sometimes because it’s not conducive to getting work done. I’m glad I got to learn this special and important lesson as an intern, because interns are allowed to be silly and mess up sometimes (right?).

Being away from home has also shown me how much I value my family and friends there. In my past experiences I either haven’t been farther than a few hours from my home base or I wasn’t gone for very long. I don’t mind being far from home, but I do appreciate my friends and family more now.

As for skills I’ve gained, I’m a lot more confident in my ability to learn and recognize an abundance of plants. I’ve gotten pretty good at recognizing the plants of our field office, and I think I’ve gotten pretty good at looking for special status plants as well. I’ve learned how to navigate the treacherous backroads that are made mostly of lava rock and misery, and I’ve learned how to use a GPS. Working with three other interns has sharpened my group work skills (I hope they agree).

One learning experience in particular stands out to me: We were driving in the Skedaddle Mountains, and it was my first time driving in the backcountry with the jeep. I’m not sure if the Skedaddles were the best place to learn, seeing as the road was mostly a mountainside full of rocks and other treacherous obstacles, and I bottomed out a few times. But I quickly gained sharper eyes to detect snags in the road.

My fellow interns are fun fun people. We’ve had a blast in the field, joking with each other and sharing lots of laughs. I’ll treasure the memories we’ve made because honestly, we’re hilarious. Also our mentor, Valda, is the best! She’s so fun and helpful, I couldn’t have asked for a better mentor.

These past few weeks we’ve been working in the office for the most part, which has been almost entirely unpleasant. Because of this, I know that I’m not cut out for the windowless cubicle life, at least not yet. Sometimes after being in the office I’m more fatigued than when we’ve been out hiking all day! I used to think I’d be able to do any job as long as it was something I believed in, even if it meant working in a cubicle, but goodness gracious I don’t think I can do it.

After this, I’m not really sure what I’m going to do. I love scientific research and I’m planning on going to graduate school, but not until 2017 at least. Until then, I want to experience as many places and fields of work as possible. I’ve got my eye on urban sustainability currently, so I’m hoping to scare up some sort of internship with the city planner’s office when I go back home. We’ll see how that goes~!

I’ll miss this job every day, though. The people are great, but the work is even greater. The beautiful places I’ve been to and experiences I’ve had are irreplaceable, and I’m so grateful to have had this opportunity.

Fall is upon us here in New England…and it’s amazing! Gone are the days of sweating profusely out in the field, mosquitoes, and landscapes covered in green vibrant plants and trees. We’ve officially entered the season of Asters, which has been a challenge for our team as we learn and re-learn how to properly identify Solidago species (Goldenrods). Here’s the jist of it:

There are about 25 Solidago species native to New England and they all look VERY similar, for the most part. The species we have come across so far are S. canadensis, S. rugosa, S. sempervirens and S. altissima.

S. sempervirens is my favorite because it’s the easiest to identify. The reason it’s so easy to identify is because it grows along the coast only, where other Solidago species cannot grow! It also has fleshy and large basal leaves (like many other plant species that grow along the coast) that are quite distinctive and help you feel confident about properly identifying the plant.

S. canadensis, S. rugosa, and S. altissima all look very similar and grow together in large stands that you would love to just be one species of Solidago, but more likely than not is a combination of several species. Our trick for properly identifying between these three lies in their leaves. Venation and hairs are two characteristics that help distinguish between these species. Whenever we come across a Solidago we check for nearly parallel versus netted venation first. That helps us distinguish between S. rugosa and the others because S. rugosa has netted venation while the others have three nearly parallel veins. To distinguish between S. canadensis and S. altissima you need a hand lens. The difference between these two species is all in the hairs on the abaxial surface of the leaf. S. altissima is typically only hairy on the veins of the underside of the leaf whereas S. canadensis is hairy on and between the veins of the underside of the leaf. Although this seems pretty straight forward, it’s definitely not black and white. Sometimes we see S. altissima individuals that appear to have hairs on the veins and in between the veins, for example.

The New England team has been busy collecting other species beyond the Asters as well. We recently went to Ponkapaug Bog in Milton, MA and collected the following bog species: Cloethra alnifolia, Chamaedaphne calyculata, and Kalmia polifolia. I especially love visiting this bog because I find bog habitats to be so special and unique. Sphagnum moss has always been one of my favorites. The way it creates a majestic carpet of shades of green and red has always intrigued me.

On another note, we have officially surpassed our goal of 200 seed collections, which feels incredible! We were able to reach this milestone through hard work and an opportunistic attitude. I think we were all a little surprised how quickly we reached our goal and how quickly this season has gone by. With only a month left we have each placed bets on where we will end up by the end of the season. My bet is 248 collections, but who really knows! As seed collectors, we are at the will of mother nature, which is always unpredictable. For all we know, our pace of seed collecting could double or be cut in half this November. I guess I’ll have to check in at least one more time to let you know where we end up!

Until next time,

Anna

Bungee jumping!

October has been very busy. I cannot believe my internship is almost over! I am finishing up my final report. My final report deals with the pilot rearing project at the Fish Evaluation Station (FES) monitoring. I should be done with it sometime next week. Every first Monday of the month we have an all staff meeting. This month we had an all staff meeting/ going away potluck/ clean-up day. It was a lot of fun. Everyone pitched in and got us interns a little present. I received an insect field guide. It is pretty sweet. Darrick planned another going away party at the local restaurant. It was so much fun and really nice of everyone to come out.

Greenhouse and fish ponds at Gone Fishing. Photo Credit: Julie Day USFWS

James from BOR, Alia, and I installing pond lining at Gone Fishing. Photo Credit: Julie Day USFWS

KFFWO donated their greenhouse to Ron Barnes at the Gone Fishing Facility. We dissembled it and took it over to his facility where we resembled it. We also assisted with the lining of the ponds. It was hard work but we managed to get it all done in a few hours.  KFFWO plans to utilize his aquaculture ponds for future sucker rearing efforts. This facility has unique geology that provides geothermal water for the fish ponds.

The geothermal water allows for a warm water supply year round. Minerals in the water cause parasitic Lernaea (Anchor worm) to die off. Suckers salvaged from the A Canal, next week, will be transported to Gone Fishing and held over winter.

Alia thinking about fish.

We went out with Sue last week to gain insight on her position. She works for the partners of USFWS. It was really neat to see all the incredible work she has done. She focuses on river and stream restoration and works with a variety of people. Sue is someone I look up to. She has a lot of passion about the environment. We went to check out a couple of her current projects. We also planted sedges along the toe of a stream that was disconnected during installation of a fish screen. This week we had the chance to go out with Sue and Nolan to broadcast seed and plant more sedges. It was really awesome to see our previous plantings were growing and the stream was now connected.

Photos of a closed mouth can be useful for sucker identification.

Adult Klamath largescale sucker (Catostomus snyderi) caught in Gerber Reservoir.

Josh has been collecting genetic samples from Klamath suckers to get an understanding of the genetic diversity present in sucker populations. We searched for pools at Gerber Reservoir to electrofish. We successfully turned over 20 juvenile suckers and collected genetic samples via fin clippings. This past week we went into the reservoir to set trammel nets. This was my first time working with these types of nets.

We set two trammels out of a canoe for one hour. Working fish was really cool. We caught a few crappie and a ton of catfish. In total, we had about 17 adult suckers that we were able to get genetic samples from. Some were fairly large. They were all in good condition. Most of the suckers were Klamath largescale (Catostomus snyderi) and a couple were shortnose suckers (Chasmistes brevirostris).

Right before I jumped 300 feet into a gully.

I took a couple personal days off and my cousin from North Dakota came to visit. We had a blast exploring Oregon. We went up to Bend, OR and went bungee jumping! It was awesome!!! We went to the coast and saw whales in Depoe Bay. We stopped in Lincoln City for the night. My birthday was last weekend and we went up to the coast. It was amazing! We saw sea lions in Florence. Alia and I found an awesome campsite in Yachats, OR called Tillicum. It was right next to the ocean. It was a great way to spend my birthday.

My last day is November 11th. This has been such an amazing experience.

Until next time… the last time,

Erica