Thursday, October 29, 2015

2015 TLC Interns

Bill Collins, Executive Director, Thumb Land Conservancy

The spring and summer of 2015 was busy for the TLC. With the help of Professor Carrie Dollar and Professor David Webb of the Biology Department at Saint Clair County Community College (SC4), we recruited four student interns to assist with preserve stewardship and gain valuable experience in ecology.

Professor Carrie Dollar, Department of Biology, Saint Clair County Community College.

Our first intern was Alex Roland. She was with us from May through August and is now at Michigan State University pursuing a degree in wildlife biology. Alex’s first activity was our May 01 burn on the Michigan Road Preserve that we manage for Saint Clair County. On May 15 we surveyed potential habitat on the Michigan Road Preserve for Michigan Endangered Painted Trillium. We didn’t find any, but we saw it on the nearby Michigan Nature Association Jasper Woods Sanctuary and Alex was introduced to several other native woodland plants. On May 16, Alex and her mother helped us pull Garlic Mustard at the Dead End Woods Sanctuary. 

Left to right: TLC President Cheryl Collins, TLC Intern Alex Roland and friend Brooke at our 2015 May 01 burn of the Michigan Road Preserve in Port Huron Township, Saint Clair County.
Potential Painted Trillium habitat on the Michigan Road Preserve on 2015 May 15.
Potential Painted Trillium habitat on the Michigan Road Preserve on 2015 May 15.
Bunchberry - Cornus canadensis (white flower) and Fringed Polygala - Polygala paucifolia (violet flowers) on the Michigan Road Preserve on 2015 May 15.
Painted Trillium - Trillium undulatum on the Michigan Nature Association Jasper Woods Sanctuary in Kimball Township, Saint Clair County.
Left to right: TLC Intern Alex Roland and her mother at our 2015 May 16 Garlic Mustard pull at the Dead End Woods Sanctuary in Fort Gratiot Township, Saint Clair County.

By June, we gained three additional interns; Jeff Hansen, Nicole Barth, and Sarah Mensinger. Jeff is studying environmental science at Oakland University. Nicole is studying biomedical science at SC4. Sarah is now at Western Michigan University studying freshwater ecology. Alex, Jeff, and Nicole assisted us in collecting vegetation data at the Michigan Road Preserve as part of our annual monitoring for Saint Clair County. In August, we worked together on a special project, weeding the parking lot rain gardens at SC4 in preparation for additional native wetland seeding. On August 27, Sarah represented the TLC at the Back to School Bash, a gathering of school kids at White Park in Port Huron, sponsored by Diverse Unity Outreach Center.

Left to right: TLC Interns Nicole Barth, Alex Roland, Jeff Hansen, and Sarah Mensinger.
TLC Intern Jeff Hansen recording vegetation data on the Michigan Road Preserve in Port Huron Township, Saint Clair County.
TLC Interns Nicole Barth and Jeff Hansen observing vegetation within sampling plot on the Michigan Road Preserve in Port Huron Township, Saint Clair County.

Maggie Dollar, daughter of Professor Carrie Dollar, has contributed her excellent writing skills to the TLC. In July she sent us an article about the Kirtland’s Warbler which is posted in this blog. Maggie and her mother have also been writing a rough draft of a guide for Thumb landowners wanting to promote native species on their property. We hope to see more of Maggie’s writing in the future.

If anyone is interested in helping the TLC, we have work for you. We provide unique opportunities to learn about nature and assist in protecting some of our remaining natural areas.