The Familiar Faces Project

This week we spent most of our time at McCutcheon High School, and my partner and I spent a lot of time on the computer researching and writing our project proposal. I actually enjoyed teaching the high school students mainly because I also learned new information. I learned how to identify a lot of native Indiana trees, different from the California trees I’m used to seeing. The trees and vegetation in the Midwest were really interesting to learn about since both are fairly

This week we spent a couple of hours each day mentoring local high school students and sharing our love and knowledge of natural resources with them. The groups I helped mentor were taught how to use field guides efficiently and to their benefit. Something I think they will definitely remember is that lamb’s ear is the best natural toilet paper you can find. This week I also went through one of many unique field injuries, as I appeared to have had some adverse allergic reacti

This week we worked with high school students at McCutcheon High School. I really enjoyed working with the students, especially those with an interest in natural resources, and I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to gain extension experience. Teaching people about things I’m interested in, especially when it comes to the environment, is a passion of mine. My partner and I finished our research proposal this week and we will begin data collection this coming week. We scope

Even though we’ve only been in the program for two weeks, it seems as if much more time has passed. This week, we were tasked with creating lesson plans related to our research projects and using the plans to teach local high schoolers about natural resources. Michael and I decided to guide our groups of high schoolers through some soil testing and tree identification crash courses. We took toil samples and ran them through an NPK testing kit to determine nutrient concentrati

This week was interesting because we did extension work with high schoolers, something I’ve never done before. It was a challenge to engage them and teach them about our research project when they didn’t seem too interested in natural resources. However, we started doing hands-on activities with them, they seemed to actually enjoy it. It was fun to see them having a good time and feeling like I had taught them something new. We also did more work on our research project and I

This week I learned the qualities of good data sheets vs. bad data sheets as well as the existence of a metadata sheet and its significance. Prior to this internship, I had no extensive experience writing a scientific paper. However, thanks to the help of my research partner and mentors, I was able to contribute to the creation of a research proposal. Technical writing, specifically science writing, does not come easily to me. After years of being instructed to write eloquent

This past week we started our extension work with the local high school. We were working with two general biology classes to demonstrate the different things you do and learn as a professional in forestry and natural resources. We decided to teach our two student groups how to identify some common macroinvertebrates in their local creek. We also taught them that an increased variety of macroinvertebrates found in water can be a relatively good indicator of how clean a water s

Working with the students from McCutcheon High School was a great experience. I taught students about soil science and the importance of soil for plants and other uses. Engaging the kids was tough at first, but as the week progressed they clearly had taken an interest in the soil testing and texture analysis activities we were doing! My partner and I have been working hard with our mentors to put together our research proposal and we will be presenting it next week. I’ll be s

Week two down, six more to go! This past week I’ve learned how to plan extension activities and communicate information to high school students with my herps partner Coby. I really enjoyed being able to engage with the high school students because I got to teach them more about herptiles. While none of the students in my groups wanted to pursue careers related to natural resources after graduating, it was nice to get them out in nature and have fun while learning something ne

Week 2 was exciting because we got to do extension work with students at McCutcheon High here in West Lafayette. Alexis and I put together a fun project where the students in our groups were able to make molds of animal prints like black bears, bobcats, foxes, coyotes, eastern grey squirrels, deer, and more. After teaching the students about proper data management, we spent a lot of time looking for real animal tracks in the forest behind the high school. The kids seemed to r

This week we went to the local high school to teach the biology students about natural resources and my groups were focused on reptiles and amphibians. Our goal was to find some salamanders, but, unfortunately, we didn’t find any. Although, we did find some salamander eggs and a crayfish! One thing I learned this week is that you must find a way to capture the interest of your audience when teaching them about natural resources. Not everyone is interested in the subject, but

This week was a very busy week setting up camera traps, doing extension work at a local high school, and writing our research proposal. Setting up the traps was the most fun for me because I got to see deer on my hike to set them up. Teaching the high schoolers about natural resources was also fun because I got to learn how to identify mammal tracks, which was really cool. We found opossum, raccoon, gray squirrel, and even coyote tracks! Although, the highlight of the week wa

This week has been quite interesting! I have been going through Indiana social studies and science standards to see which ones fit lessons plans in the Freedom Seekers curriculum which connects Great Lakes science and literacy principles to the Freedom Seekers, the Underground Railroad, and the abolitionist movement, as well as some Civil Rights figures. I didn't realize how complicated and specific some of these education standards are, and I feel so badly for teachers! I'm

This past week has been an absolute blast! I’ve gotten to know and have started to bond with the other interns over the past few days. I’ve also started to develop my research project with my partner Michael and have nearly finalized it. We are going to be looking at how soil characteristics and tree physiology impact disease severity in butternut trees. I’m excited to investigate if there are any cellular differences between disease resistant butternut trees and butternut tr

No way we have only been in this program one week! I cannot even begin to contemplate all the amazing things I have learned so far. I’ve learned so much about forestry and natural resources, wildlife, the awesome interns and mentors that are participating in this research experience, and even myself. Coming into this program I felt a little worried that I wasn’t experienced enough and that I didn’t know enough facts about trees, plants, or the wildlife we have in Indiana. I d

This week really just flew by faster than I expected. We spent the first few days getting to know each other, including my fellow interns and the various mentors we will be working with throughout the program. We also got to go hiking and tour the field sites we will be working at to get a better sense of the types of research projects we could design. I got to meet Dr. Marisol Sepulveda and Evelyn, the faculty member and graduate student mentor, respectively, that Grace and

This week has been a bit all over the place for me, but I don't mind because I like having a dynamic job with multiple projects. I'm someone who loves to stay busy! This week I've had the opportunity to get to know the REEU interns and learn about some of the cool projects they've designed. I've also been able to edit their blog posts on this website, refine my editing skills, and learn how to use a web design interface. This week I was also introduced to the Illinois-Indiana

This week has been a great introduction to the REEU program. Getting to know all of the other interns has been nice, and I can’t wait to see how we all work together in the future. We went on a field trip to the Indiana Dunes National Park and learned about the diverse ecosystems and ecology, as well as how to ask helpful questions that will aid us in our research. Writing a research proposal has been difficult, but I’m enjoying the opportunity to challenge myself. Next week,

This week was a very busy week. My group's research is based upon the upcoming Brood X cicada emergence, so we had to set up camera traps this week to get data before they emerge. It was an extremely fun experience hiking through underbrush and fumbling around with the cameras trying to attach them to trees. I would totally recommend. That was my most memorable experience for the week, and I'm excited to actually look at the camera trap pictures next week!

One thing that I learned this week is that Indiana has a species of plant from the cactus family called the prickly pear. On our trip to the Indiana Dunes National Park, the naturalists that gave us a tour pointed them out. They told us that the Indiana Dunes is one of the only places on earth where you can find desert and arctic plant species in the same general area. I really enjoyed the trip to the Indiana Dunes because you could see such a wide range of habitats all in on