Prairie Partner Intern 2005
Graduated University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2002
Current position: Conservation biologist, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (Madison, WI)
Impact of the program on your academic and/or career path: I think it was serendipity that landed me an internship in 2000 and it all started with a discussion about birds with Mark Martin. Regardless, I was part of a great, hard-working crew that travelled around to different natural areas to work. We learned to identify and control invasives, counted silphiums and learned these were the host plant of the rare silphium borer moth, helped with erosion control, collected native seeds, and helped plant more acres of grassland. This work most certainly complemented my university training and helped solidify a conservation ethic in me that I carry to this day. It also reinforced the sense of place that is Wisconsin to me. Today, as a conservation biologist with the DNR in Madison, I use the skills I learned as an MAS intern when helping private landowners with restoration projects and in my work in helping to protect Wisconsin’s SNA, which includes Goose Pond and Faville Prairie where I worked as an intern in that serendipitous summer of 2000.
