Great Basin Spadefoot Toad

Despite having lived in Providence, RI (college) and Seattle, WA (post-college) over the past 5 years, I’m a sucker for wilderness and wide open spaces. Throw in a passion for ecology/zoology and some job sleuthing, and here I am, a CLM wildlife intern in Rawlins, WY.

My job here is, along with co-intern Jackie Taylor, to travel around the Rawlins Field Office (the majority of southern Wyoming) inventorying amphibian populations to better inform future land management decisions. We’re continuing the inventorying done last year by 2009 CLM interns Timothy Barwise and Brandon Fessler, and so far it’s been fantastic driving around listening to frog and toad calls, wading around in marshes in hip boots, and taking in the experience of being a government employee (though my favorite part might be taking a few minutes while out doing night surveys to check out the brilliantly clear night sky).

Yours truly, holding a tiny boreal chorus frog

It’s been quite an adjustment moving to a town as small as Rawlins, though (population: ~9000). I’m quite used to walking, cycling, and public transportation; now, here without a car (for now), I feel quite isolated at times (our barracks are on the outskirts of town), though most of the other interns are gracious with ride offers so it’s not as bad as it could be. All in all, while I still miss city life, it’s not so bad here. Work takes up most of my time anyway. I sure do miss coffee shops, though. (Folger’s coffee is definitely not the best part of waking up.)

Kevin Neal
Wildlife Intern
Bureau of Land Management, Rawlins Field Office