New internship

Last fall I was offered a supervisor position back at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve where I interned last summer.  I originally accepted the offer.  But as the school year moved along I realized that this is possibly my last summer to intern.  I am graduating in December 2010.  I then realized that I have never spent a summer at home since returning to school!  Skott and I had many talks about the pros and cons of this supervisor position and being gone yet again.  It wasn't an easy decision but I decided to turn down the supervisor job and search for something local.  Internships are RARE in the Eau Claire area but I was willing to take that chance.

A strange series of random "right place at right time" incidents happened that led to me applying for an internship with the DNR (Department of Natural Resources).... and I found out Friday that I got it!

This internship encompasses a variety of things including field work, education, public speaking, and networking.  I am really excited that it is pretty flexible and (for the most part) local.  This will allow me to continue research with my plants professor that I worked with last summer up at Cedar Creek.  But most importantly, this means I actually get to spend a summer with my wonderful husband and family!  We are looking forward to growing a small veggie garden, camping, sitting in the swing, fires in the fire pit, bicycle rides, farmers markets, yard sales, disc golf, ........ and our list keeps growing!

I will be working with the endangered species of Karner blue butterfly.  I will admit, I dont know much about them yet.  I have training the first week of June.  Luckily, my advisor has been working on Karners for about 15 years so she is a wealth of knowledge.

Here is a link if you are curious:
 http://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/insects/kbb/kbb_fact.html