The seasons are changing here in Buffalo, since the last blog post we’ve been hit with our first large snowstorm, and there is a looming cold front soon to demand warm blankets and hot chocolates out of all of us. But I’ll be out of here before that hits! The last month or so has been filled with wrapping up the finishing touches on my seven or so month internship. Included in that has been assisting with rangeland health reports, NEPA documentation, and as always some GIS mapping. But, at last I am about to head on out of Buffalo. The last seven months have been both a blast and one heck of a learning experience. And no better way to expand on just how much has gone on this internship than one big ol’ list!

• Enormous amounts of new botany knowledge. From little to a lot in a short while.
• A Chicago Botanic Garden intern workshop. A week of lectures and learning. Also meeting the many other lovely interns. Not to mention all the coffee.
• Expansive training. A week-long AIM (Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring) training, 4×4 driving, UTV driving, CRP & First Aid, GIS training.
• 36 or so Rangeland AIM plots established and completed.
• GIS Mapping of fencelines, allotments, pastures, wells, reservoirs, etc.
• Microsoft Access database entry and report creating.
• NEPA documentation.
• Report writing.
• NISIMS (weed database) mapping.
• Environmental Education opportunities.
• Office filing.
• Fixing up of the Range Improvements Database
• Many other small but meaningful tasks.

And of course the fun stuff:

• A trip to Grand Teton National Park and Salt Lake City.
• A trip up to Bozeman, MT and Missoula, MT.
• Starting mountain biking.
• Starting to learn guitar.
• An outstanding time at a mountain festival know as Antelope Butte in the Bighorn NF.
• My first ever competitive trail running race.
• Many weekends spent camping.
• First time actually catching fish while fly fishing.
• First time seeing a moose.
• Yet another trip to Grand Teton National Park, with a short visit into Yellowstone.
• An outstanding trip to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP, Moab, Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, Zion NP, and back to Salt Lake.
• Visiting the lovely land of Nova Scotia.
• First time ever backpacking alone in the wilderness.

Boy, I am sure I am still missing some things. Overall it has been an incredible time and an incredible internship. My confidence in my abilities to be an ecologist, biologist, or who knows maybe even a botanist in the future has grown immensely. The list of skills gained is expansive, and so is the practical knowledge. For those wondering what Buffalo is all about, it is a small town, but it has its charm. If the city is all to go on then maybe the internship could be a drag (though I sure enjoy bluegrass jams at the local saloon), but with the Bighorn Mountains on your doorstep, and a fantastic office to work for it’d be hard to pass up the chance to take an internship here. The internship offered a large amount of freedom, which is perhaps a little daunting early on.  Though by the end you’ve realized that independence was a benefit. It challenged my fellow intern, Corinne, and I to plan our field season mostly independent of the staff here, a skill that is invaluable. Throughout this whole position I had felt as though I was a part of this office, both asking questions of the people around me, and having them ask questions of me. And now it is a little sad to be leaving, but with this internship under my belt I can now enter the unknown of 2017’s field seasons with confidence, with future grad/career opportunities beyond.

Farewell Buffalo!

Nick Melone