As I put field books back on their shelves, make neat piles of vouchers in the lab, clean out my filthy backpack, and get rid of useless papers that have accumulated on my desk, I think back to all the amazing places I have seen, wonderful people I have worked with, and all of the botanical knowledge I have gained over the past 15 months.  This internship really helped me shape where I want to go in the future.  It has helped me focus on what I want to pursue in the form of a career and has inspired me to go to back to school and earn my master’s in biology.  I will be attending Humboldt State University this fall to pursue a degree focusing on insect community ecology with an emphasis on plant relationships.  I have always had a strong interest in insects, but it wasn’t until this internship, where I obtained so much information about botany, that I realized that the greater ecological role they play in plant cycles is something I wanted to study further.

Good luck to all of you with whatever you choose to pursue next.

-Mason London