After reading the other CLM interns blog posts, I’ve discovered that everyone has been placed in some amazing locations throughout the U.S. I find myself in the city of Boston working for the East coast Seeds of Success (SOS) program, where I am stationed out of the New England Wild Flower Society. It is my first time in Boston and so far I love it here. Whenever I am traveling through the city I always seem find a new quaint area to hang out or find a new ethic restaurant with delicious food. Boston is also in a central location that will allow me to escape for the weekend from the intense traffic and fast paced city life. I am less than a days drive to a variety of beautiful retreats, including the White Mountains, Adirondack mountains, Acadia National park, and Stowe Vermont… all places I wish to see while living in Boston.
More then a mouth ago all the East Coast Seeds of Success interns and mentors met in Chapel Hill, North Carolina for our training. The training was hosted by the NC botanic gardens, who provided us with a great classroom for our training and did a wonderful job feeding us! I enjoyed learning about the history of the SOS program and discovering that this will be the first year for the East coast to be involved with the program. It was great meeting the other 14 East coast interns who all have their own unique stories of how they’ve become interested in plant conservation. I am thankful to have landed such a great internship where I can continue to learn about conservation / ecology while working with a great group of people!
James working to identify some grasses
Over the pass month my fellow New England interns and I have been calling and emailing project leaders of coastal restoration projects funded through the Sandy Supplemental Mitigation Fund. Since the SOS East program is just getting off the ground, it is important for us to make connections with project leaders and land owners so we can determine what seeds are needed for restoration projects and secondly so we can gain permission from land owners to collect seeds within their property.
Flowering SunDew (Drosera intermedia) found while surveying at Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge in Rhode Island.
Location in New England that we have visited so far
Enjoying the nice breeze among the vibrant Spartina patens.
As of now we have visited 17 sites through out the New England states. The majority of the sites have been coastal salt marshes, with exceptions being riparian areas related to dam removals. At all these sites we have began surveying and identifying species that we could possibly collect seeds from. This process includes a lot of time with the dichotomous key and plant identification books (have grown quite fond of the Sedges of Maine book). Keying out species has been great practice to get us familiar with the plant species at our collection sites. At this point in time we have made two seed collections: one of Triglochin maritima (Seaside Arrow-grass) and the other Carex scoparia (Pointed Broom Sedge). I am excited to collect more seeds in the up coming months as more species’ fruit begin to ripen.
That all for now, Cheers
Josh
A home of a wood gnome. You never know what you will find in the woods….