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We’re about a month into this internship and really hit the ground running. My favorite part about this internship is meeting all the friends along the way - my co-intern - Kamryn, the BCCDKY staff, Boone County Parks, Boone County Extension, students from NKU, SD1, and the TMU biology field station summer interns. I love to learn, and I learn something new every single day. Although I am the Forest Health intern, I love the education aspect I’ve been able to help out with. I believe that you have to teach people about nature before asking for help protecting it. People need to feel connected to care. I love being the one to help make that connection.
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What's Happening
- This camp was very impactful for me. I loved all 13 of the kids I was placed with, and I felt as if we all made a great team. Being the camp counselor for the Virginia Big Eared bats will forever be in my memories.
- Some Camp highlights:
- Took a hike and looked for salamanders
- Kayaked at Camp Ernst
- Made walking sticks
- Sculpted and painted clay monarchs
- Looked for macroinvertebrates in a pond
- The Bug Chicks
- KY Reptile Zoo
- Our end of camp skit!
- We had 4 bats, a 2 in 1 moth, a mosquito, and hula hoops acting as echolocation. Some kids read facts and adaptations of the VA big eared bat, and others sang the echolocation song!
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Bat Acoustic Monitoring for endangered species
- Conservancy Park: Indiana bat and Gray bat
- Boone Cliffs: Indiana bat, Gray bat, and a Virginia Big Eared bat!
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Learning and Researching
- We spoke about entomology with Dr. Parker from NKU and learned about pollinator diversity and how to study that.
- I learned about GIS and how to incorporate that into my independent study.
- I am constantly learning how to ID trees and other plants.
- Kamryn and I stop at every mushroom we see to look it up in a field guide.
- Herpetology is my favorite subject I’ve learned about this summer. We have caught green frogs, duskies, northern 2-line salamanders, and an eastern milk snake. We heard and saw American bullfrogs as well.
Field Work with SD1
- Collecting water samples from various sites in Boone County
- Hydromod survey at Dry Creek
- A tour of the Dry Creek Treatment Plant Tour
- It was exciting to meet up with some friends from NKU and the TMU Biology Field Station summer interns!
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Exciting things are on the way regarding my upcoming research projects…
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"In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks"
-John Muir