Hello! My name is Spencer Varga, and I am one of the 2021 Siegele Conservation Science Interns. One of my goals for this summer was to gain experience working in the field while exploring other natural resource careers. This Siegele Internship with CNHP has allowed me to do exactly that and more. I had very little fieldwork experience prior to this internship, and I’m grateful for all the skills and various experiences I have gathered from each trip this summer.
From southern Colorado to Wyoming and several places in between, I loved the variety of projects I got to work on and was always learning something new from plant identification to soil characterization and more. Here, I would like to highlight one of my trips to Wyoming with one of the BLM Lotic AIM crews. During this week-long trip, we surveyed several stream reaches (river segments). The other crew members were great to work and camp with and were very willing to teach me the various sampling methods and measurements needed for the project. I enjoyed the hands-on nature of the work and being able to learn many new skills. These skills included measuring bank and pool dimensions, streambed substrate and size, how to measure canopy cover, slope, and more.
Overall, my summer working with CNHP staff, interns, and other professionals was certainly a great time and valuable experience.
