Hi everyone! It’s been a busy and fun few weeks since my first blog post, and I hope everyone has been enjoying their summer and getting outside!

We’ve spent the past few weeks preparing for and running LEAF Academy, a week-long program for teens that BCCDKY runs with Boone County Parks. LEAF stands for Leadership, Exploration, and Fun, and there was an abundance of all three of these the week of July 12-16! I really enjoyed working with this older age group, and I learned countless lessons about environmental education from Susan throughout the preparation process and the program itself. In addition to helping out throughout the week, a few personal highlights were teaching a fire building lesson and running an “each one, teach one” activity where the students were able to teach each other. It was beyond exciting to see the next group of naturalists and conservationists in action!

Wildlife and stream monitoring are another great part of my experience at BCCDKY. From mapping out transects for bird research in Boone Cliffs to helping SD1 with a hydromodification assessment, this internship has been full of exciting opportunities to gain new skills and knowledge. It’s been great to see Stephanie’s bat research develop and to assist with monitoring, including going on a very cool night hike to observe a potential bat roost. I’m currently working on my independent project: a lesson plan on flower-pollinator relationships. My goal is to increase students’ awareness of pollinators outside of just bees. I can’t believe I have less than a month left at the Conservation District, but they say time flies when you’re having fun!

Until next time,
Kathleen Reilly

Hi again! I hope everyone has been having a great summer so far! I’m so excited to share what I have been working on with BCCDKY!

Since my last blog post I have chosen to pursue an independent research project regarding bat diversity in Boone County. In order to gather data, I have been placing stationary bat audio detectors in Conservancy Park Belleview, Boone Cliffs Nature Preserve, and Dinsmore Woods State Nature Preserve. In addition to stationary data collection I have also gathered mobile data through a predetermined driving route and through the use of Echo Meters. After the audio data is collected, I have been analyzing the bat calls through the use of two different software’s called Kaleidoscope and EchoClass. It has been extremely exciting to see how many bat species are present in Boone County! Not only is knowing the biodiversity of an area exciting, knowing what species are present can help the District in their efforts to protect and conserve the biodiversity of Boone County, as knowledge of the presence of specific species can lead to different forest management practices. If you would like to see what bats are in your area, BCCDKY has Echo Meter Touches that you can rent out and attach to your iPhone in order to see what bat species are living near you!

Aside from my independent research project, I assisted in running L.E.A.F. Academy, a program put on by the District that teaches young adults ages 13-15 not only information regarding the environment, but also skills needed in order to be a young leader. It has been great to see the students grow and learn throughout the program!

Working with BCCDKY has been amazing so far and I’m excited to continue updating y’all with what I’ve been doing!

Best Wishes, 

   Stephanie Spence

Hello everyone! I hope that y’all have been staying safe and enjoying the wonderful summer weather! My first few weeks at BCCDKY have been very busy and exciting and I’m itching to let y’all know what we have been up to!

My first few weeks at BCCDKY have been mainly focused on preparing for our summer Conservation Kids Camp. I aided in programming exciting and educational activities, such as lessons surrounding bird adaptations, edible plants, and cicadas! It was extremely rewarding getting to see the kids engage and enjoy activities that I had helped plan. I also enjoyed getting to lead my own station at camp surrounding cicadas, in which I got to not only teach the kids the information I had learned about cicadas but they also got to partake in cicada collection as well as other hands on projects that helped cement their knowledge.

Apart from planning CKC and L.E.A.F.! Academy programs, I have also been placing audio monitoring equipment out at Dinsmore Woods and Boone Cliffs. Placing audio monitoring equipment out is crucial in identifying the biodiversity of the areas, as well as identifying what bat species are present in Boone County. Knowing what species are present can help the District in their efforts to protect and conserve the biodiversity of Boone County, as knowledge of the presence of specific species can lead to different forest management practices.

These first few weeks at the Conservation District have been amazing, and I am excited to finalize my individual research project in the coming weeks! Tune in to hear about it in my next blog post!

Best Wishes,

Stephanie Spence

Hello and welcome to my first intern blog! It certainly has been a different experience interning during a global pandemic. But although the available work has been somewhat limited, I have been finding creative ways to really make the most of every hour at the Boone County Conservation District. Over the last few months, I have been working closely with Susan on educational programs, such as the monarch-tagging we did at England Idlewild Park and the birding program at Boone Conservancy. Preparing materials and helping to plan these events has given me very useful experience as an environmental educator. Susan has also been a great mentor and has taught me so much already! We have a few more events coming up before the end of my semester that I am really looking forward to. I am especially excited for the night hike on November 6^th, where I will have the chance to lead my own group.

          On my own time, I have been working on an independent project for a nature story trail at Giles Conrad Park. This will consist of signs along the walking trails with fun activities to get kids connected to nature. I am still very much in the planning stages, and currently working on a proposal to send to the Boone County Parks department, but I am hopeful that it will be a good start to a project that I will get to see the results of in the near future.

          Lastly, one very exciting project I was able to participate in recently was an environmental DNA study at Gunpowder Creek. To do this, we collected stream water in bottles to be sent off to the lab and filtered. Once filtered, they will be tested for the presence of eDNA from hellbender salamanders. It is rumored that they live in the area, and this could prove the rumors to be true, so we are all anxiously awaiting the results!

          I can’t even express how grateful I am to have had this opportunity. The things I have learned during my time as an intern here will be extremely useful moving forward in my career after I graduate in December. Working with BCCDKY has been a truly amazing experience and I have enjoyed every minute so far.  Thanks for reading!

-Kelly

Hi Everyone!

Well, with Thomas More’s fall semester starting this week my time here at BCCDKY has come to an end (kind of, but more on that later).  I really can’t stress how much fun I had working with Susan, Mark, and Pavla over the summer.  Whether it was searching for Sasquatch, taking bat equipment out into the field, or conducting my own small mammal survey I always had a blast and learned a lot.

            Over the last month or so we mainly focused on my independent project for this summer, a small mammal survey of the Boone Cliffs nature preserve right here in Boone County.  While it was a little warm while navigating through the Cliffs and conducting the study it was really fun to get back into it!  At the conclusion of the study (today actually) we had captured 33 unique individuals with 14 recaptures.  These results will serve as a baseline for future research at Boone Cliffs!

            Anyway, wrapping up, although my internship is ending, I won’t be done with BCCDKY yet!  This semester along with my classes at Thomas More I’ll be setting up an independent study with Susan where I work on the district’s bat monitoring efforts full time!  So, I’m sure this isn’t the last you’ll hear from me.

Yours Truly,

Joe Pedro

Hi all! Welcome to my iteration of the blog that interns keep up during their time with BCCDKY! While with everything going on with regards to COVID-19 we have been treading some new ground, I’m sure that this summer will still be as loaded with fun and conservation education as any other.

I officially started with BCCDKY on May 18th and when I say we hit the ground running, we hit the ground running. On my first day, Susan (the conservation district’s Conservation Education Specialist and who I’ll be reporting to for the duration of my internship) showed me the ropes and immediately introduced me to the district’s ongoing bat monitoring research and the tech that goes along with it.  Since then I’ve been working on going through the sound files that BCCD’s monitors have recorded while in the field and identifying potential bat calls, Susan and I have also been working to further the district’s bat research.  

Along with the district’s bat research, my other big project since coming on board was picking out/assembling the craft bags that were handed out at the trunk-a-tree event that took place on May 30th!  Beyond those two major items, Susan and I have also been busy in the field assisting SD1 with wetland maintenance, assessing the beaver population at Conservancy Park, and tracking sasquatch!!!

Looking forward into the summer, Susan and I have also been discussing what my independent project as part of my internship will look like (there’s a hint of what it might be in my bio under the intern section on BCCDKY.org).  For now, you guys are all caught up to speed, so I’ll see you at the end of June!

Sincerely,

Joe Pedro

Hello again! It is round two of my blog posts, and my final post before my internship comes to an end. The 160 hours I spent with the BCCDKY have been an amazing learning opportunity that has come to an end, all too soon. My plan, post-graduation, is to find a career in environmental education. The skills I learned from BCCDKY over the past few months are sure to benefit me as I move on to a career. Since my first post I have been involved in a variety of projects. There simply is not enough time to tell every detail, so I will let you in on the highlights of the last few months.

On October second, I had the opportunity to participate in an eDNA study of Gunpowder Creek. The goal was to prove the rumors that the elusive hellbender salamanders were living in the area. For those who are not familiar with eDNA, it is a DNA sample collected from the environment instead of directly from an individual organism. In this instance the sample was collected by filtering water samples. The filter paper was collected and further processed in the lab to confirm or refute the rumors of the hellbender’s existence in the creek. We are still awaiting the results of the study but will hopefully share news soon!

The other major project going on was the opening of a birding trail at Conservancy Park. After getting my hands dirty during some trail maintenance, I was inspired to incorporate birds into a lesson plan for the environmental outreach programs. I chose to create a lesson that focuses on beak adaptations and how specialization allows birds to fulfill a specific niche in the ecosystem. The highlight of the lesson was the seven-station activity. Each station had a unique food source that students had to collect by choosing the best tool. Each tool represented the different types of beaks birds could have. For example, chopsticks were used to simulate the beak of a woodcock. Their long beaks allow them to reach deep into soil to find worms. It was fulfilling to see the lesson come full circle, from an idea to a successful activity that made learning enjoyable for all involved.

Thank you for the opportunity to share my experiences with you.

~Julie

Hello! My name is Julie Arlinghaus and I am majoring in Environmental Science at Northern Kentucky University. Welcome to my blog following my journey as an intern with the Boone County Conservation District. This is my first internship so welcome to the real world of getting up early and heading to work. However, so far, my journey has not felt much like work. I suppose that is what happens when one is doing something, they are passionate about.

The first few days of my journey entailed of running through the Boone County fields catching butterflies and getting in touch with my creative side. As many may know, the Monarch butterfly migration is underway in the tristate. Like many of Kentucky’s snowbirds who flock to Florida each year to escape Kentucky’s relentless winter wonderland of cold, snowy conditions; many of these beauties have begun their travels towards Mexico’s warm weather. In order to better understand this fascinating phenomenon, Monarchs are tagged with small stickers that adhere to their wings. That is where I come in, or should I say run in? Chasing down these little guys can be quite exhausting. Who knew something so small could move so fast and fly so high with ease? When I finally chased down my first Monarch, I was disappointed to learn it was just its look-a-like, the Viceroy. Eventually, I hope to tag my first Monarch. Until then, I am enjoying helping the next generation learn about these butterflies and other insects through the environmental education programs offered by the district. These interactive lesson plans incorporate learning, a hands-on activity, and a craft. It is inspiring to see kids who are so enthusiastic about our environment and to see them chasing down butterflies in hopes of catching their very first Monarch. I look forward to learning and seeing what is instore for me next.

Until next time,

Julie