How lucky am I to have a job where I get to be outside all day long! I have always loved the outdoors, but working retail at an outdoor clothing store is not very fun if you have to be inside all day on a gorgeous day. This internship has been quite a change from my last job and the location has been quite a change as well. It is a very different lifestyle moving from Seattle to Provo, Utah, but right now it is cold and rainy, so there isn’t much of a difference in the weather yet!
I was not sure what to expect since I did not know that much about the Seeds of Success program, but fortunately I was able to attend the Native Seed Conference in Snowbird, UT (in addition to the CLM SOS workshop) and I learned about an entire seed industry which works closely with federal land agencies. I majored in Biology and studied a lot about ecology, conservation, and animal behavior, but did not really know anything about botany. So I looking forward to learning about many new aspects of biology and conservation efforts related to the SOS program. It is refreshing to learn new things after being out of college for a year.
The past two weeks we have been out in Nevada searching for populations of forbs that will be good for seed collections. I am rapidly learning many of the common forb and grass species in the Great Basin and I am amazed at the species richness and diversity out there. I used to think Nevada was an arid wasteland, but there are gorgeous mountains to camp in and everything is very green and lush right now. I’m looking forward to spending the summer working outside, learning more about plants, and collecting valuable seeds that will help keep the great basin area blooming with color.