Congratulations to the Fall 2024 Natural Resource Interns who completed their semester-long internship!
For four months, our eight Natural Resource Interns—Ally, Chris, Zaira, Kaitlyn, Ryan, Seth, Alyssa, and Andrea—collectively gave 1276 hours of their time to ACT. During the semester, interns learned how to safely use and maintain power tools like brush cutters, hedge trimmers, and chainsaws, learned plant ID, and completed a variety of land management activities.
Interns completed many projects on ACT preserves, including treating invasives at Blues Creek Ravine, Orange Lake Overlook, Prairie Creek, and Little Orange Creek; building kiosks for some of our new preserves, installing a fence and clearing trails at Little Awesome Preserve. Other projects included preparing burn units at Prairie Creek Preserve, Little Orange Creek, and Santa Fe River Preserve; removing hardwoods at Saarinen, and completing many days of hurricane clean-up across our preserves.
Additionally, interns worked with ACT staff and external partners throughout the semester. They completed a Forestry day at LEAFS, a fire prescription-writing workshop (that culminated in prescribing Saarinen), a grant-writing seminar, a botany day at Prairie Creek, a post-fire site visit with FWC biologists, and a visit to Herzog cave to look at crayfish. Interns collected native grass seeds at Flamingo Hammock and Ordway-Swisher Biological Station, dug a grave with the Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery, and surveyed Etoniah Rosemary with the Florida Forest Service.
Interns take away many things from their semester, and this fall, Zaira was no exception.
She said, “My experience with ACT as a natural resource internship has taught me practical skills that I feel confident and capable of carrying out. In addition to learning these skills, I have been introduced to job trajectories and paths through our experienced guest leaders. I couldn’t be where I am now, personally or professionally, without this internship and the healthy environment it fosters. My fellow interns and our shared experiences shaped my attitude and enthusiasm for this field for which I am eternally grateful.”
Internship applications for the Summer 2025 semester will open at the beginning of March and close the first Friday of April (Friday, April 4th). The Summer internship will run from the third week in May through the second week in August.
For more information on the Natural Resource internship, check out our website: https://www.alachuaconservationtrust.org/natural-resource-internship
If you have questions about the Natural Resource Management Internship, please reach out to Amy Compare (amy@alachuaconservationtrust.org).
If you would like to support the growth and development of young natural resource professionals, consider donating to the Internship Fund In Memory of Ryan Crowder & Julia Reiskind. https://www.alachuaconservationtrust.org/donate
