Interns Part 3

As promised, we've got more information on our new interns. This time, we would like to introduce our new intern Kelsey Sudol.

Kelsey is currently a Junior at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, pursuing a BA in biology. Besides wanting to be more outdoors this summer, she also wanted to gain hands-on research experience by interning with us. Being local, she's already familiar with the town of Litchfield as well as some of the trails on our property. Look out for Kelsey and our other interns as they help out at White Memorial this season!

Interns Part 2

We'd like to introduce yet another intern that will be joining us this season. 

Her name is Isis Lawson and she hails from New Orleans, Louisiana. Isis already has a BA in Environmental Science under her belt and has come to New England to pursue a Masters in Science at the Antioch University of New England, New Hampshire. Isis is beginning work on her thesis which is currently

focused on pygmy rabbits in the Great Basin, Nevada. She'll be interning here at White Memorial until August. 

New Interns for the New Season

The first day of summer is technically June 21st, but our summer has already started here at White Memorial. We've got new and old projects on our to-do list and some new interns to help get the job done!

One of those interns is David Milewicz who originally hails from Texas. He's currently a student at Yale University pursuing a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. He's here to help us out this summer and gain work experience thanks to the support of the Yale Club of Northwest Connecticut. 

You'll be hearing about our other interns as the month progresses, along with the projects we're currently working on. Until then, enjoy yourselves out there on the property! 

Introducing Our Summer Interns

We have several college students who will helping us this summer.  This provides them an opportunity to learn daily professional activities.  They learn a variety of techniques and methods, while also being exposed to critical species and habitats.  This also exposes them to critical conservation issues.

Oliver Loud-Stubbs, Unity College, is our Alternative Energy/Energy Conservation  Intern

Rebecca Pope, University of Connecticut, Natural Resource Management Intern

Sam Slowikowski, Unity College, Natural Resource Management Intern

Introducing Our New Student Intern: Ethan D'Orio

Ethan D'Orio

Ethan D'Orio will be working with us this summer, lending a hand with various wildlife projects. He is from Brookfield, Connecticut and is going to be a sophomore at Brookfield High School. Ethan is an avid cross country runner and enjoys studying biology and other environmental sciences. In the future he would like to attend college and pursue a degree in a science related field. Currently Ethan is helping out with amphibian cover boards and putting together track plates to monitor small mammals. We look forward to working with Ethan this summer and give him more experience with wildlife conservation.

Introducing Our Graduate Student Intern -- Abby Conroy

Abby Conroy, MS Graduate Candidate at Green Mountain College checking amphibian cover-boards.

Abby is pursuing a Master of Science degree in Environmental Science while concentrating on Conservation Biology from Green Mountain College.  Abby grew up in Bantam, CT right down the road from White Memorial.  She was raised hiking the trails and rowing across Bantam Lake while attending Taft School.  Abby graduated Allegheny College with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies.  Currently, she is examining potential thesis topics that she can explore in the Shepaug/Bantam River Watersheds.  Abby has traveled to Costa Rica to perform research, as well as working with CT DEEP Fisheries Division as a seasonal technician. We are looking forward to learning from Abby during her intellectual development at Green Mountain College.

Introducing Faye Curran: Our New Student Intern

Faye Curran

Faye will be working with us over the next several months to gain practical experience in science.  She graduated from Wamogo Regional High School with several Advanced Placement credits in June and wants to attend the University of New Hampshire. She is interested in a career in Genetic Counseling and during her "gap" year is working as a child caregiver at a daycare center.  Faye has monitored neotropical migratory songbird populations in the Costa Rican rain forests and studied the periphyton and water chemistry in several of Connecticut's rivers.  She is currently helping us with sampling chytrid fungus on White Memorial's amphibian population.  With all of Faye's experiences, we are looking forward to her contributions to the program.

Introducing More of Our Summer Volunteers

Ryan Gannon

Ryan is a senior this year at Litchfield High School and has helped the program in a variety of capacities.  Ryan helped us with last year's Crayfish Survey and continues to help us with this project again this year, as well as with several other projects.  Ryan has turned into an ace crayfish rustler and is able to call out a field identification standing in shoulder deep water.  When he is not helping us, you will commonly see him running on White Memorial's trails training for the various cross country races that he runs in the area.

Madeline Bove

Madeline is a self-starter who is helping White Memorial Museum as well as the Research Program.  Although Madeline is fairly new to volunteering for White Memorial, she has been around attending the Education Programs.  She is great with multitasking.  Madeline can ring up a purchase at the cash register, run outside to capture Cerceris Wasps, and be back at the museum answering visitors questions, while smiling and asking if there is anything else she can do.  We look forward to having Madeline around because she brings a great deal of energy and enthusiasm with her.  She loves school, especially science courses, and is a sophomore at Litchfield High School.

Amanda Downey

Amanda attends the Agriculture Education Program at Region #7 High School, in Winsted, CT.  Amanda has was showing off her skills and abilities while we were bushwhacking through the Five Ponds area on the The White Memorial Foundation Property.  She was following the GPS to locate the salt-laden stakes used for the Porcupine Survey.  Amanda was climbing up cliffs and traversing every valley while focusing her attention to find the next stake.  Amanda was a real trooper and demonstrated that she has true grit.  We are looking forward to having her around White Memorial.

Friday's A-Team

(l to r) Marcus, Nicole, and Olivia S.
Our Friday's A-Team!
photo by Gerri Griswold

We know when quality people walk through the door!  Marcus, Nicole, and Olivia help us with a wide variety of tasks.  Lately, they have helped us with several tasks in the Museum, as well as helping us with the Amphibian Cover-Board grids and Remote Trigger Camera Stations that we use to monitor wildlife on the property.

Nicole Morin
photo by Gerri Griswold

Nicole Morin has been volunteering with us for over a year.  Nicole is a student at Wamogo Regional School in the Agriculture Education Program.  She knows the program inside and out, which makes her at times one of our specialists with several jobs, especially animal care.

Marcus Johansson
photo by Gerri Griswold

Marcus is a student at Region #7 High School and is in the Agriculture Education Program where he wants to focus his attention towards Forestry.  Marcus is our kind of guy because last week he asked me "When are we going outside?!" while rain clouds loomed to the north of us.  Marcus is a kid who wants to be outdoors, even when a storm is brewing!

Olivia Scott
photo by Gerri Griswold

Olivia is a cool young lady!  She is lives in New York City and grew up visiting her parent's home in Cornwall during the summers.  She attends Berkeley Carroll School where she is a junior and is focusing on becoming a veterinarian.  Olivia is always quick with the questions.  Curiosity is Olivia's guide.

Introducing Our Summer Intern -- Rebecca Solnit

Rebecca Solnit

Becca is a Bachelor of Arts candidate at Dickinson College where she will be entering her senior year as a history major.  Becca lives in Morris and grew up spending her vacations at her grandparent's home on Bantam Lake.  She now lives there full time with her family and decided to learn a little more about the Bantam Lake environment by volunteering her time at White Memorial.  Becca has worked in other research related endeavors in the History Department at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.  She recently returned from a trip to India.  Read about her adventure at her blog by clicking on her profile.  Becca is helping us with a wide variety of projects this summer, so if you are in the neighborhood please stop and introduce yourself.

Welcome Our New Intern, Olivia Riccio!

Olivia Riccio, Junior Bachelor of Science Biology Candidate
 at Saint Joseph College, West Hartford, CT

Olivia has a strong interest in Biology and is helping us with various tasks within the program.  Olivia reside in Burlington, Connecticut and will be one of our interns this summer.  She performed some maintenance on the snake cover-boards during her first visit, where she showed off her snake handling skills (See photo)!  She will occasionally post her observations to this blog, so check back often to hear what she is contributing to the program this summer.