Monday, September 27, 2010

First Day

Today was my first day at my new job. I am an intern at Stratford Ecological Center in Delaware, OH. Stratford is an ecological center that is part nature preserve and part organic farm. I am working as an instructor for the Sunship Earth program. It's a new program for 5th graders, they come for a week to learn about the environment. This week I am experiencing the program from the perspective of a fifth grader. Environmental education is a new thing for me but it should be a quick and dirty learning experience (my internship is 2 months long).

I just finished up my internship at Archbold Biological Station in Florida last week. I can truly say that was an awesome experience. I worked in the plant ecology lab where I got to participate in a ton of different lab projects. I also did my own research on the soil seed bank. I can't even begin to tell you all the great things I learned. I can definitely say that my internship got me very excited about plant ecology and field research, and I hope to return to that sort of work soon!

I am living in an apartment right now with one other roommate, Gilda. Gilda is also an intern at Stratford, she is from Mexico City. It is interesting to live with someone from a different culture. Our apartment is nice and clean but incredibly sparsely furnished (i.e. one table, 2 chairs, air mattress... you get the idea). It's definitely a change to have a lot of alone time and down time after living at Archbold. I never thought I would miss having other people around all the time! It will be great to have the alone time but I hope to find some friends/activities to fill up my free time.

Well, I am off to find ultimate frisbee in Columbus tonight. I'll keep you posted!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Hello!

I've been having a lot of adventures lately and not enough time to keep everyone updated. In the past year I have been exploring the world of plant ecology. I worked as a research technician in Aiken, South Carolina last year and I am currently finishing up an internship at Archbold Biological Station in Lake Placid, Florida. My next adventure will be as an environmental education intern in Delaware, Ohio. More details on all this to come...