It is insane to me that the final week of the DFP is coming around the corner. It has gone by so fast, and I can’t believe it. I have been super busy for the last couple of weeks and I have just grinding out any assignments and tasks that have been given to me, so I guess that may be a reason why I haven’t noticed the time passing so quickly.

In my last post, I talked about the range update meetings I had for the Morefield’s leather flower and the Tennessee yellow-eyed grass. Since then, I was able to take any suggestions and critiques I have gotten from those meetings and have been able to implement them to make a range map that all the biologists can agree on. The range for the Morefield’s leather flower was approved and should be posted on to ECOS soon! I have a meeting with the Tennessee yellow-eyed grass biologists next week and hope to get approval from them before the DFP ends.

Besides those two large assignments, I have also been assigned to another species to make a range map for. The species is the Dusky Gopher Frog, which is located in the deep south. I have really enjoyed working with this species because I had to use Land cover data (data that breaks up a region based on different land attributes or formations) to make this range and it was really interesting to see all the different types of landcover within the area of interest. Plus, it was also really cool being able to manipulate the land cover data set and filter out areas just based on what the land cover is.

Another large assignment I have been working on was compiling a bunch of data sets together to make a data library for rule-based models (a specific type of model we make for species ranges). To make this library, I had to meet with team members and discuss a bunch of data sets that they use regularly when making rule-based models. After those meetings were conducted, I would go research them, download them into a shared folder, and add them into our data library spreadsheet. While this task could be quite tedious at times it was definitely quite useful to see a bunch of datasets and data portals that I could use in the future when I do my own GIS work. Plus It definitely will help the teamwork much more efficiently when they create their own maps and models.

Other than the things I have mentioned above, I have been working on other small tasks, such as doing simple GIS processing for other team members. I have also had to consult with FWS workers in Puerto Rico about ranges they created since they lack the proper metadata. Unfortunately, they have been unresponsive.

I have done and learned so much this summer as a DFP intern with FWS and I cannot believe it's coming to an end. I really am grateful for this opportunity and will never forget this experience.

The photo I have taken for this week is me changing my work setting because working remotely from the same place every day can make one feel pretty dull and stagnant. So I decided to work from my deck today!

Agency: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Program: US Fish & Wildlife Service - DFP

Location: USFS Headquarters, Washington Office