Our interns have been busy this summer assisting with updates to our Reference Wetlands Database, our annual reference site sampling, and the addition of new sites in the Piedmont ecoregion. Their time with Riparia and coming to a close, so we asked them to reflect on their time with us and how their experience integrates into their educational plans. We wish them luck in their future endeavors!

 

Brandy Savani:
I am majoring in Environmental Resource Management with a minor in Environmental Soils, as well as Watersheds and Water resource management, and will be graduating this December. I am fascinated by the soil water interface. I have a strong interest in how large systems in nature interact with each other, as well as how human activity impacts these systems. That is what drew me to wetland research. Wetlands provide complex environmental functions that benefit nature and people. They satisfy my interests because they are at the soil water interface, and have a variety of things happening in one area that require breadth of knowledge to piece together. At Riparia, I get to apply my basic knowledge of wetlands, soil, and water, and put it all together to understand what is going on in the landscape. Being able to have first hand experience has ignited my excitement to dive deeper into understanding the chemical and biological reactions that are happening in these ecosystems.

Jack Nix:
I am in my last semester at Penn State. I am a Environmental Resources Management Major with two minors, Sustainability Leadership and Watersheds and Water Resources. Excited to get my feet wet in the swamps this summer, I enjoyed data collection and learned about what needs to be done to create a reliable dataset. After this experience I believe I am ready to work a full-time job outdoors.