Tag Archives: Chicago

More than Seed Collection

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We’ve made 15 native seed collections, traveled through 5 states, and had countless exciting, educational, and inspiring days on the job. Here are some highlights!

Calumet Region Park Tour

Hegewisch Marsh Park new restoration

Our crew tagged along with the Stewardship and Ecology of Natural Areas crew for a tour of Chicago Park District restorations/re-creations on the South East side (Calumet area) of Chicago. They’re attempting a project at Big Marsh Park unlike anything I’ve ever seen. They’re restoring wetland habitat and capping an old dumping site- a super unique problem to solve, especially with little to no budget. If you’re in the Chicago area and like to mountain bike, the bike park at Big Marsh is a must. You can rent bikes and thereby support the habitat restoration efforts with your money and enthusiasm. I didn’t take any photos of the bike features because I was too busy flying around on my bike with childlike fervor.

The trunks of these cottonwoods have been buried, along with the decades old dumping grounds at Big Marsh

Neighborhood Natives

Finding native plants in the dense urban environment of Chicago never fails to be heart warming. Most of Cook County is developed and densely populated and concrete covered.

Liatris pycnosachya

Before this job, I was not at all passionate about landscaping. Oh, how things change.

Cook County, IL is also home to one of the oldest and largest forest preserve districts in the country. A Resource Program Manager of Forest Preserves of Cook County led a day of “Reading the Landscape” which included a trip to a unique Illinois Nature Preserve called Wolf Road Prairie. The southern portion of Wolf Road Prairie is crisscrossed with sidewalks—laid for a planned subdivision ended by the Great Depression. The concrete strips throughout the rare remnant black soil prairie are disorienting and thought-provoking.

My First Trip to the Upper Peninsula

The Manistique River in all its tannin-filled glory

The crew visited Seney National Wildlife Refuge in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula at the end of July. We also went on special mission to Whitefish Point which is managed partially by the folks at Seney NWR. They just put in a new parking lot at the Point, and plan to landscape it with native plants. So, we had the opportunity to botanize and collect seed on in dune swales of Lake Superior, and take an after work dip in the lake!

A breathtaking Amanita mushroom
Sedge in a swale
Lake Superior at Whitefish Point

While at Seney proper, we saw lots of Fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium), a species I don’t think I’ve seen east of the Mississippi.

Fireweed next to the CCC-engineered pool system at Seney National Wildlife Refuge

Idaho: Month 2

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I’ve been living and working in Idaho for almost 2 months now, and time seems to be going by reasonably fast. Most days I get up very early for work, drive 30 miles each way to and from the office, and come home around 5 pm. By the time I get home, I only have the energy to eat, shower, watch some Netflix, and go to sleep. I enjoy this routine sometimes because I’m busy and time flies, but it also makes me eager for adventure and relaxation on the weekends.

Me on the Snake River Feat. Diana’s toes

I haven’t had the chance to go out and explore very much outside of Twin Falls. I did take a mini road trip to Pocatello to visit a friend from school. Two other CBG interns came with me, and none of us had ever been to Pocatello, so it was good to explore a new area. However, there are still things to do in Twin Falls! I finally went kayaking down the Snake River with some friends and it was a relaxing day on the water.

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Native plant garden in Twin Falls. We came here for a forb workshop led by the Department of Fish & Game.

Almost 2 months into this internship, I can already tell that the rest of my time here with the BLM in Shoshone will be extremely valuable. Most of my time here has been spent training and learning about the botany and wildlife found in our field office. I’m starting to feel more comfortable identifying plants, but there is still so much more for me to learn and apply in the next 4 months.

In the near future, I would like to get more involved in the GIS work happening in our office. By the looks of it, many other interns are using GIS in their work, and I’m jealous. I enjoy collecting data and then analyzing it in GIS because it offers such a unique visualization. I’m always amazed by what GIS can do and I want to continue to improve my skills. If I were to go into a graduate program, I would likely focus on spatial analysis or some type of environmental informatics (GIS/remote sensing/modeling).

Doing work

Work perks

For now, I know that I want to improve my applied ecology and botany skills. Before studying something on the large scale, I want to have on-the-ground experience. Field work is the perfect way of acquiring those skills. Our training workshop in Chicago was somewhat helpful in learning about botany. It was made very clear that all of the CBG interns have varying levels of botany expertise. So when it came to the botany lesson, some people could follow along and identify plant families quickly, while several of us struggled to keep up. My school doesn’t even offer a botany or plant systematics class. 🙁 I guess most of my western botany knowledge and skills will have to be acquired on my own time and on the job. Thankfully, hands-on learning is one of the best ways for me to learn.

The training workshop was a great way to meet other CBG interns, and I am so thankful for that opportunity! I met some great people that I would love to spend more time with. It was great to see so many people with similar interests in terms of conservation and land management. I know that many of you will go on to do great things.

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Go Blackhawks!!!!

The workshop was also scheduled at a perfect time for me because my graduation was that weekend. I went to college in Chicago, so I got to see most of my friends and family. After a month of being in Idaho, I was so so so thankful to see the people near and dear to my heart. It was a perfect refresher. I got on the L after arriving in Chicago, and I never thought I would be so happy to smell the lingering odor of urine on the train. I know it’s gross, but it was a reminder of the last 4 years I spent in that beautiful urban city.

But now I am back in Idaho, and I want to enjoy my time here while it lasts. I’ve never spent this much time in a rural area, nor have I done this much field work. This area is growing on me and I’m starting to feel more at home. I’m so glad I have other interns here with me because we can share the new experience with each other.

Until next time,

Carla

BLM-Shoshone, ID