Nine months after arriving in Klamath Falls, OR, having watched leaves emerge on trees, turn brown and dry in the late summer heat, and fall off as the first snow blanketed the valley, it’s time to say goodbye and begin my next adventure. Working as an intern at the USFWS in Klamath Falls has been an incredible opportunity to work in a wide range of geographies with a variety of species and projects. I have gained experience in conducting research and writing scientific reports and manuscripts. The note that I was a lead author on that discussed rearing distribution of endangered Klamath basin sucker using identification based on x-ray imaging, has been accepted for publication in the journal, ‘Western North American Naturalist’, and I am currently in the process of submitting a review paper on reintroductions of bull trout to another journal. This internship has been a great opportunity to get a wide range of experience while learning about the realities of working for the federal government in the rural west. This fall I applied for a variety of graduate programs focused on wild bee ecology and am looking forward to doing some traveling and adventuring before beginning graduate school this coming fall.
Below are a variety of photos from my time in Klamath Falls.
An Oregon spotted frog captured during an egg mass survey.
A panorama at Klamath Marsh, where we conducted Oregon spotted frog surveys.
A great egret at Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge
Inserting a PIT tag into an adult sucker.
Josh and Shilah attempting to catch suckers while snorkeling in the Link River.
Releasing a monarch butterfly after raising it from an egg.
The muddy crew after a day of fish salvage at Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge.
Our fake coyotes waiting for their opportunity to scare birds away from our fish rearing ponds.
Kayaking on Waldo Lake on a still morning.
A sunset over the Sprague River while catching larval sucker.
Wrangling Canada geese while banding at the refuge.
A fan boat prepares to herd Canada geese for banding.
Banding a Canada goose.
Electrofishing with Nolan and Shilah on Demming Creek.
Electrofishing on Three-mile Creek, where we captured one bull trout in a reach where brook trout were recently eradicated.
A panorama of Crater Lake.
A red band trout caught near where the Wood River flows into Agency Lake.
Looking out over the Klamath basin from the top of Mt. Mcloughlin.
Holding a fisher while it begins to come to after being sampled as part of a BLM study.