Today it is raining in the desert. I feel it must be a sign of some sort; things are changing. The summer monsoons have begun. The once parched wash nearby now brims and glistens. Thunder booms.

Not only is the desert transitioning but so am I. Today is also the last day of the internship, of course it is a day like no other this summer yet! Like the rain, I’ll travel away from here, soaking in the landscape as I stream across the countryside.

Today though, I am still here, still and able to reflect.

My season here at USGS began as the spring annuals bloomed after the winter rains. I characterized juvenile desert tortoise forage in the Mojave, observing the phenology shift from one phase to another, and analyzed our data. My skills in ArcGIS markedly improved – creating random points, maps, buffers, polygons – the list goes on! My plant ID skills also improved, helped along by the tiny desert annuals here that are difficult, yet thrilling, to identify – even more so when senesced!

I dove deep in Utah, unearthing and exposing insights into the murky mystery of oil well vegetation regeneration. The project demanded sifting through site selection, soil, and data, rooting around perennial shrubs, and uncovering and bringing to light the story of oil well land disturbance in Black brush plant communities of eastern Utah. Unfortunately, these wells are not ones the rain can fill with sediment and erase from the landscape, even after decades. A quick glance at the survivors will tell you this. The real mystery of course is which species regenerate and under what conditions.

In all, my experience at USGS has been incredible. From a Pediocactus survey to Night-time Golden Eagle prey surveys, increasing my knowledge of tortoises and herps in general, discovering the marvelous Mojave; this internship has been phenomenal.

Thank you so much to everyone at USGS and CBG who played a part!!

Amanda Cooke

USGS, Henderson NV

What great things will happen now, after the summer rains?