I can’t believe I am already two months into my internship as a temporary park ranger here at Desoto National Wildlife Refuge! I am local around here and came out here on a regular basis when my college courses went remote in spring 2020. I was in an ornithology course and upon going remote we were encouraged to practice birding weekly on our own since we could no longer go out as a class. I came here, and it was such a welcome break away from my computer. To now get to come here as an intern feels really special for me..

I have spent much of my early time soaking up all I can, trying to learn all about our refuge here. From our land management practices, school environmental curriculum, waterfowl identification, and all the general visitor service needs that we fulfill. We received all of our Junior Duck Stamp entrees, and I had a great time helping our coordinator go through all the applications to get them ready for judging. Seeing how talented the kids are and knowing they spent time on an artistic and conservation related project is really encouraging. 

Everyone on the team here has been really incredibly welcoming, patient and thorough in getting me up to speed with our work. I primarily have worked the last 8 years working for small companies. Working with a big government agency felt a little bit intimidating at first for me, but everyone here has made it a really positive experience for me so far. 

One of my projects that I was given right off the bat here was to plan out a new pollinator garden by our visitor center. It’s a fairly large garden that got damaged during the flooding that had occurred here in the past, and is in need of a spruce up. This has been a really enjoyable project for me so far. I have worked with plants for a long time, but I have never had the opportunity to plan a garden of this scale before. 

I have been coordinating with a great native plant nursery in our area to get us the amount of plants for our space. I selected around 50 different species and ordered almost 650 individual plants from them! I was really aiming for diversity and making sure we have blooms early spring through the fall.  I will get the opportunity to work with some school groups and volunteer groups to get these planted up in our space. We also got some of our very own seeds started that were collected from the refuge -very exciting! We got those planted up in seed starting trays and we are just starting to see some seedlings pop up. I plan on taking progress pictures as we go along and will share them ! 

All in all my start here has been really smooth and exciting. I feel like I am really getting a well rounded exposure to all the aspects that make up working for a federal wildlife refuge and I am really excited for the rest of the summer! 

Image: Cotyledons of a compass plant seedling that was collected on the refuge.

Agency: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Program: US Fish & Wildlife Service

Location: DeSoto and Boyer Chute National Wildlife Refuges