Faville Grove Intern 2009
Graduated University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2012
Current position: Eco-Hydrologist at CBEC (Davis, CA)
Favorite memory of the program: I loved being able to spend each day outside, pick Lars' brain (former Land Steward) and come up with games with the other interns to pass time. My favorite restoration experience was tackling the willows and cottonwoods in the buffer to Faville Prairie State Natural Area. Also, I'll never forget all the times that Justin screamed while almost stepping on fawns and turkeys in Faville Woods.
Impact of the program on your academic and/or career path: Several years after interning, I became the Land Steward at Faville Grove. I was always an aspiring and "self-taught" naturalist and having the opportunity to work at Faville Grove full time was an incredible experience. It helped me figure out my future career path. Today, I use my engineering background and my experience at Faville Grove to design river and wetland rehabilitation projects.
How you used what you learned in the internship in future employment: I use things that I learned during my internship every day. The MAS internship provides an intense immersion into ecosystems (e.g., species ID, phenology, restoration ecology...etc.). I walked away forever changed in how I experience the world. When I was the Land Steward at Faville Grove, nearly every intern would bring up a story about noticing a "new" plant or bird in their hometown. They were finally seeing something that was always there but was hidden to their perception. That's what the MAS internship does. It pulls back the covers and allows you to notice the different species that inhabit an ecosystem and interpret the changes that are occurring. I take that with me wherever I go.
