Week Nine- Misc. Jobs and Tours 7/10/17 - 7/14/17
Week nine was the end of the Anabat detector surveys for Kirby and I. The biggest challenge we faced was loading up 10,100 seedlings from the DNR, trailering them to the shop and packing them in a small cool for later planting. Later, we joined the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) for other work during the week which included staining the kiosks around the refuge. Our Friends group member, Jeremy Ross, invited us over to take a tour of his house and land that he manages around it. Within his seven acres of property, he manages a wetland, prairie and a forest. We spent the day looking at the land and fishing in the wetland area to identify different aquatic species. This was the week before Kirby and I left for an Internship Conference in Minnesota to present the work that we have done over the summer.
Week Ten
Week Ten- Internship Conference 7/17/17 - 7/21/17
Two airplanes and a lot of coffee got me to Minnesota at a hotel conference for all of the interns working for region three of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. I got to present my work the very first day of the conference and got really good feed back on our unique refuge. The second day of the conference we got to visit Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge and take a small tour of the visitor center. The Third day, more employees of the Fish and Wildlife Service showed up and set up tables to have Q & A about their specialties. The whole day was full of meeting new people and creating relationships with some really amazing conservationists. The other presentations continued and I was so proud of all the work that had been done this summer by the other interns that I have had the pleasure to get to know better. The last day of the conference ended at the Regional Office and getting the opportunity to make more connections and ask all the questions I wanted. The conference was such an amazing opportunity to meet new interns, reconnect with people from my orientation and explore Minnesota.