Hey!  I am working for the Greenbelt Native Plant Center, headquartered on Staten Island, New York.  I definitely wasn’t expecting to live in NYC when I applied for this internship, but let’s just say it has been a pleasant surprise.  I get to go out in the field everyday, traveling within a one-hundred mile radius of Staten Island, collecting seeds for the Seeds of Success program.  We mostly go to parts of New Jersey, Upstate New York,  a little in Connecticut, and of course the many green spaces on Staten Island.  Some of the plant communities of this area overlap with those I am familiar with (being from Wisconsin), but I am learning so many new plants!  I am also learning a lot about seed cleaning and propagation, since the Greenbelt Center has a native plant nursery and seed bank as well. 

Living on Staten Island has taken some getting used to.  This has been a big change for me, as I grew up in a very rural community.  I am not used to the noise, the crazy drivers, the crowds of people, or the endless buildings.  That being said, it has been great fun getting out and exploring the city.  New York has some amazing opportunities that I won’t find anywhere else, that’s for sure.  I am trying to get everything I can out of this experience, and so far it has been working. 

Pictures to come!

Martin Schoofs