This week we worked on our extension projects. We had to come up with activities for PALS and Riverfest. We also had our second set of high school students here to help us test our ideas. Reece and I decided on three activities: one focused on the water cycle, one on macroinvertebrates, and one on water use. I liked each of our three activities, so I hope that the kids at PALS and Riverfest like them too (and learn something!). Megan helped us with two of our activities, so we had extra time this week to help the other groups work on theirs. I think my favorite activity was a capture the flag type game the herps group is doing. We also got a lecture from Dr. Williams to teach us about extension and outreach. He helped us work on our elevator speech, learn about different outreach publications, and how to talk to an audience. Wednesday was the last day for the high school students and they had their end presentation. They all seemed like they learned a lot and had a really good time. I was excited to hear that two of them had an interest in natural resources and that it was something that they wanted to do in the future.

Hopefully, they apply for the program next year so that they can go out and get hands-on research experience with the next group of interns. Thursday was the 4th of July and we got to have brunch at Dr. Flaherty’s house and dinner at Megan’s house. It was a lot of fun to be able to all hangout and relax with one another. We also set off fireworks that night at Megan’s house. Setting off fireworks was a mess, but I would not have expected anything less from this crazy group. Reece and I ended the week by sorting through macroinvertebrates. We are definitely getting a lot better at it. We only have three weeks left and still a lot of research to do, so I am ready to get back to it this coming week! Here is a video of a snapping turtle that was caught in one of our fyke nets snapping at me: