Dear Mr. and Mrs. Svitek,
My internship’s focus was on salmon population monitoring and research. I was working with the Fairbanks Field Office Subsistence Fisheries Branch. The main goal was to collect population and health data that can be used for the management of salmon species in the Yukon River Drainage.
I spent most of my summer at a video fish weir on the Gisasa River. This is a tributary of the Yukon about 200 miles from the ocean. We were a small crew of four and spent about two months in the backcountry. When we first arrived at camp we had to install the weir. This involved a few labor intensive days, but once it was done we were ready to count fish. The weir blocks fish passage upstream except for a chute in the middle. The fish move through the chute and at the same time a motion camera records the fish so that we can count all of them moving upstream. On a typical day I would count fish moving through the chute for six hours. The two main salmon species counted were chum and Chinook salmon. During that time I would also sample some of the fish. This involved getting their length, sex, species, and collecting scales for aging. The fish were released alive so they could continue to move upstream and spawn.
Thiamine sampling of Chinook salmon was another project I worked on. This was an exciting and active project. Thiamine is an essential vitamin needed for normal development in salmon. It involved helicoptering around the Gisasa River spotting female Chinook salmon. When we spotted some, we would land, then hook them and bring them to shore. There we would try to extract eggs for sampling, then took a fin clip for genetic sampling. This was an amazing experience and it was great to see the big female salmon.
While I was in Alaska, I took advantage of the extensive lands around me. I was able to camp and hike in Denali National Park. The park was beautiful and it was amazing to hike off trail. I did numerous other hikes around Alaska, seeing some of the massive state. I learned to fly-fish this summer and caught fish I had never seen before. These are all experiences that were possible through working in Alaska.
This internship was an unbelievable experience. I gained so many experiences and skills that will be beneficial for future jobs. This was a great networking experience, and I met some influential professionals in the field who are great mentors and references. Working in a small crew, I got close to other crewmembers who also have experiences to share working in the field. Through my positive experience with this internship it may lead to a job with the same office post-graduation. This was all made possible through your generous award. Thank you again for your wonderful gift.
Sincerely,
Amanda Adams
Dear Svitek Family,
Because of your help I was able to live in Burlington and take in all the summer season Vermont has to offer, while at the same time working on interesting research. I was very thankful that I could focus on the work I was interested in and not have to worry about multiple part time jobs. My internship took place in the Geology Department of UVM in the Biogeochemistry lab under Professor Julia Perdrial. I worked there four days a week in the lab as well as in the field.
Getting fieldwork experience was a high priority for me when looking at options for my summer. The ability to be outdoors for a job is very attractive to me, as well as a lot of other Rubensteiners I’m sure, so I am happy I got this opportunity. Our research focus was on the soils of the Mad River floodplain in central Vermont. More specifically, we were interested in how land use along with increased flooding activity could alter floodplain carbon stability from a carbon sink to a carbon source - meaning that the bioavailability of carbon in a certain area may be greater than another, allowing for more microbial consumption and thus more carbon dioxide.
We would go out and sample a healthy amount of soil samples in three different locations in both forest and agricultural land use areas. These locations would be streambank, riparian, and forest or agricultural field depending on the land use. Then we would bring samples back to the lab where they would be processed. With the data we collected, the hope is that we can discover what protects carbon most from microbial attack and what the expected floodplain carbon content will be of an area based on location and land use.
I very much enjoyed this work, and I believe it is a great step in the right direction for my career. I feel strongly about the importance of the work I did and am actually still working in this lab, and I am incredibly thankful for you to help give me this opportunity. I appreciate it immensely, as I’m sure the other recipients of the award do. You have touched all of our lives in a positive way and I will not forget it. Thank you.
Sincerely,
David Jaeger
Dear Svitek Family,
As a rising senior in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, countless opportunities are soon going to be knocking at my door. But anticipating the approaching “real world” I knew to seek out opportunities beforehand to ensure I explore my research interests, add skills to my toolbelt, and experience new places. Both the summer after and Freshman and Sophomore year, I participated in internships through the Research Experience for Undergraduates program under the National Science Foundation where I tried my hand at devising, conducting, and presenting my own research, galvanizing my passion for the research process and the spark of discovery. And during the summer of 2014, I was introduced into the astounding field of avian behavior during my research on nest construction. This led me to forming my goals of someday studying how climate change is affecting bird migration. The first step was to gain field experience studying and handling birds. And luckily, I was accepted into the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) program under the Institute for Bird Populations (IBP) and did just that.
Working with one other intern, our location included six stations in the sandhilll pine prairies along the western edge of Fort Bragg, NC. It was beautiful country in its own way and the longest stretch I have been outside New England. Each work day we drove out before dawn to one of the six sites and set up ten mist nets, which resemble volleyball nets but with enough slack to let the birds get tangled, as well at the banding station in the bed of our big pick-up truck. Next we checked all the nets every 40 minutes; even on days we didn’t get many birds that still meant a lot of speed walking. If I came across a bird in the net, I quickly extracted it using the skills and techniques I was taught during the two-week training period that began the day I flew in. It is all about being as quick as possible but as safe as possible because the bird’s safety is our top priority. Once out, the bird was carefully placed in a small drawstring bag so it would be safe and calm while being brought back to the truck.
At the banding station, I took the bird out of the bag and kept hold of it using a bander’s grip and proceeded through a series of steps that always starts with putting on a band. The bands themselves are pressed aluminum and each have a unique 9-digit ID number. We determine its size using a leg gauge and give it a band. Its number is recorded on an extensive datasheet along with its species, sex, wing length, capture time, etc. Estimating the age is a bit complicated; it involves looking for usually minute differences and clues in the plumage. Usually we can discern a specific age, but there are many birds we cannot definitively age. Lastly we weigh it and let it fly off. Getting all the data is preferred, but if at any time the bird is showing signs of stress, we let it go. We were also trained on how to treat a variety of injuries, which were very rare occurrences.
By the end of the summer I had banded 101 birds, handled 163, and in total we had over 260 in the net, with 38 species. We had more and more recaptures as the summer went on, including a Northern Cardinal male that was originally banded in 2007! We mostly had songbirds, the occasional woodpecker and even a few hummingbirds. We also caught three of the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker, which has been rebounding wonderfully over the past decade thanks to the conservation efforts of Fort Bragg.
As you can see, not only was it a whirlwind of a summer but fit my desire to gain field experience perfectly. There are so many other positions out there that I found while looking in the spring that require previous banding experience because of the steep learning curve, and now many many more of them are open to me for after I graduate. My next interest is in mapping individual migration routes using geo locator tags on birds to examine how climate is affecting their timing. This internship will open so many doors over the next few years I plan on spending in the field before continuing on to graduate school to pursue my own research and instill my passion for research, science, and wildlife in others. I have already seen how explaining my summer and showing pictures of the birds to people at home have lit up their faces and sparked a new curiosity for the world around them.
So I thank you again for your generous support. It definitely eased a bit of the burden to make this summer happen as the position only had a per diem stipend and did not offer travel compensation between Massachusetts and North Carolina. I hope that I was able to honor Kate’s memory by spending my summer outdoors, reaching out to open the eyes of those around me to the complexity of the natural system they didn’t consider before, and taking initiative to gain valuable experience before graduating somewhere far from home.
Best wishes,
Jessica Mailhot
Dear Svitek Family,
While at Cedar Creek, I had the opportunity to perform savanna surveys, run a TDR (Time Delay Reflectivity) probe, and conduct an independent research project. While conducting savanna surveys, I learned over 200 plant species and got to see many beautiful landscapes. I also learned how to run a TDR machine, which measures the amount of moisture in the soil.
Thanks to your contribution I was apply to conduct my first independent research project. I studied how the photosynthetic rate of Acer rubrum (Red maple) differs in monocultures vs. polycultures. I got to work with a graduate student mentor who taught me how to conduct my own research and work a Licor machine. A Licor machine takes many measurements, but I was focused on the amount of CO2 an A. rubrum leaf was taking in, and how much water was being released. Thus, giving me an idea of the photosynthetic rate of that A. rubrum tree. Each tree is surrounded by eight trees, either of the same species or a different species. With my results, I hope to see a correlation between the diversity surrounding an A. rubrum tree and their photosynthetic rate.
Once again, I would like to thank you for your generous contribution. With the award I was able to make the long journey from New Jersey to Minnesota. I was also able to live on site without worrying about paying for rent. Not only did I learn a lot from the internship, but I gained valuable experience from being hours away from home, on my own. I got to meet incredible people and even see the Northern Lights. All these experiences would not have been possible without your help. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to intern at Cedar Creek this summer!
Sincerely,
Rachel Smith