This is my last blog post, my last day was yesterday. My experience in Klamath Falls and with the CLM internship has been great. I loved living in Oregon and being so close to nature. Klamath Falls is within an hour from two national parks and within five from a lot of cool places like the Oregon coast and the redwoods. I will definitely miss it here.

This internship has helped me develop a lot of new skills. I got a much larger variety of experiences than I thought I would. I got to help conduct plant surveys with private contractors, help with outplanting surveys on Milkvetch, and do a ton of fish work. I got a lot of different fish trapping experience. The boating experience I got was fun and really rewarding. Passing the training to operate the motor boat was more rewarding than I thought it would be.

The best part of my internship was the project down at Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. I worked independently most of the summer. I did the data collection, management, and analysis.

Taking on a project like that was really rewarding because it gave me a sense of ownership over the process and this internship. I wasn’t expecting that when I started and it has been the best part. I never felt like a lackey, I felt like my input was wanted and valid. Working on my own made me feel more confident in my abilities and I learned to trust my own judgement. I have a tendency to defer to what the others on my team think is the best course of action, and while this can be good, it was really important for me to realize that I do know what I am doing. I think that lesson will be the most valuable one I will take with me, though trailer backing is a close second.

This internship has made me really excited about a future career in conservation. It has also reinforced my desire to go to graduate school. I am returning to Ohio for a winter seasonal job and hope that by next fall I will be in a master program moving toward an awesome career. I am saying see you soon to Oregon, I hope I will be back here soon. But no matter where I end up, I am excited to see where my career takes me.