Mianus River Gorge welcomed a group of summer interns who helped with an array of projects and initiatives. At the same time, through a variety of research and land management projects, interns were trained in the skills they will need to pursue a successful career in the environmental sciences.
Megan Chun is a senior at Colby College where she’s studying environmental science. While at MRG, Megan worked on our black bear study, comparing where we photographed bears and where people reported seeing bears to predictions of bear distribution from existing habitat models.
Zack Spivek is a senior at Kenyon College in Ohio where he’s studying biology. At MRG, Zack worked on our on-going deer population monitoring project. MRG deploys 25 cameras to monitor the deer population in the Preserve to determine the size and whereabouts of the herd.
Charlotte Shih is a sophomore at UC-San Diego where she is studying ecology, behavior, and evolution and also majoring in English. She stayed an extra week to work with Director of Research & Education Chris Nagy on a coyote connectivity map. Coyotes across the country have made a home in the suburbs. This fragmented landscape of yards, small forests, golf courses, and parks is the perfect habitat for many of the coyote’s prey species and the coyote has taken advantage of it. The map will help track how and where coyotes move throughout the region and create dens.
Maximus Santos is a senior at University of Vermont, studying environmental science. He was working on creating a hemlock database to better organize data and the treatment schedule for more than 2,000 Eastern hemlock trees in our forest. Mianus River Gorge applied for and received a grant from the Rusticus Garden Club to support a summer intern. Maximus was the Rusticus summer intern.
The interns also got drenched in the pouring rain, sweated through hot days, and collected a few ticks along the way. We are especially grateful for their hard work helping us complete the new Interpretive Loop Trail that opened in June. The loop trail was funded with grants from New York State Department of Environmental Conservation / Land Trust Alliance, TD Bank Charitable Foundation, Athletic Brewing Company’s Two for the Trails, and individual donors.
