My mentor Terry holds out a dried-out piece of elk scat. “We’re only looking for freshly deposited droppings,” he says. “The trick to telling if it’s fresh is to see if it has a nice ripe taste. Just try it a few times and you’ll get to know the taste.” I look up at him. Is he joking? Yes he’s joking.

Bear poop!

I’m finishing up the second week of my internship with the BLM in Grand Junction, Colorado, and in spite of my mentor trying to get me to put elk poop in my mouth (he swears he wouldn’t have actually let me do it), it’s already turning out to be an amazing experience. I’m working in some of the most remote and beautiful places I’ve ever been. I’ve seen desert bighorn sheep up close. I’m learning the names of Colorado flora, and by the end of the summer I will have greatly improved my plant identification skills. After spending so much of my life learning things in a classroom, I can’t believe that I finally get to spend every day outside, learning by doing.

Fieldwork can be a bit of a challenge, what with temperatures in the 90’s and 100’s, gnats, and lack of restrooms. On top of that I’m still adjusting to the high altitude, having come from sea level, and later in the season I’ll have thunderstorms to look forward to. However, it’s turning out to be an amazing learning experience. I get to go to work every day and be surrounded by incredible landscapes. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the summer has to offer.

A collared lizard