When I arrived in mid-June, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The rest of the fish crew had already been here for three weeks or more, so I was the last to arrive. It was not an issue; my roommates and the rest of the crew were so welcoming, and I was excited to join them this summer! 

I stayed in a large farmhouse at the park and practically lived on our porch swing to beat the heat. I made friends with the skunk, deer, mice, groundhogs, frogs and toads, squirrels, and foxes that lived around us. 

In my spare time, I went for hikes and swam in lakes and rivers within the park. I also learned more about the history of the town of Luray and Page County, Virginia. I visited Washington, D.C, to see the sights while I was on the East Coast. 

I remember my first few days were a barrage of paperwork. I completed onboarding and learned about safety, NPS rules, the park, and its history. I discussed with my mentor the important role the division of natural and cultural resources plays – specifically in natural resource conservation. 

One particular issue the park and the division of natural and cultural resources are facing is climate change, specifically, how it affects native brook trout populations. As the climate warms, so do stream temperatures, decreasing the amount of suitable brook trout habitat within the park. The park wanted to develop a community-science program to track trends in brook trout habitat loss, vulnerability to climate change, and brook trout presence within the park. I was hired on for this purpose. 

I discussed with my mentor the goals for my project. My focus was to write and test a protocol for an underwater brook trout monitoring program, then decide if an underwater video or eDNA-based approach would work best for a community science program. 

This summer, I spent most of my time in the field with my GoPro cameras, testing different methodologies and figuring out what worked best. I simultaneously wrote down this protocol as I made improvements for the park to use should they choose the underwater video method. I was able to test my protocol on two different groups of seasonal employees and ACE interns. They gave me valuable feedback on the clarity of my directions and writing. 

Once I had collected enough video data, I analyzed it. I found that the method was effective at detecting brook trout but that the methodology had room for improvement. It showed that the recording period length I had chosen may have been too short, and I may not have sampled enough times per stream. Moving forward, I decided to only increase the number of samples taken per stream because I could not choose to change both due to camera battery constraints. 

Even after the change was made to the methodology, we realized it might not be the best approach for a community science program. The protocol was complicated. Volunteers would have to know what areas to sample, how to use the cameras, how to troubleshoot camera difficulties in the field, how to upload videos, and how to properly identify brook trout in the recorded videos. For those reasons, we decided it might be best to go with the other option, eDNA. I did a cost analysis of what the eDNA method would look like for the park, and I met virtually with some representatives of local schools and Trout Unlimited chapters to gauge interest in the eDNA program. It was met with positive reception. The park’s current plan, moving forward, is that the community science program will be eDNA-based and begin next spring and summer. While it is unfortunate that I will not be here to see the program in action, I am very proud of my work and my decisions to make the program the best it can be for the park and our volunteers. 

During the 10th week of my stay at Shenandoah National Park, I joined the rest of the SIP Fellows in Montreal for the Annual ESA meeting. I gave a short presentation about my work this summer and the park’s progress regarding the community science brook trout monitoring program. I had never presented at a professional conference before, but it was a positive experience for me. I enjoyed meeting the other SIP fellows and hearing about their amazing projects in parks across the country. I had the chance to network and connect with some professionals in areas of interest to me, specifically eDNA. I was able to bring back valuable information and advice to strengthen the program at the park. Hopefully, these are connections I can continue to foster in the future. 

In addition to my own project, I was able to help the rest of the fish crew with theirs. This summer, they had two main focuses: electrofishing stream surveys (to see what fish species are present in the park) and invasive brown trout removal. I had the opportunity to help with both endeavors many times. I learned so much, from electrofishing to identifying native Virginia fish, trees, and insects. 

Being a SIP fellow was an amazing experience. I am very grateful for my time at Shenandoah, the people I met, the things I learned, the skills I developed, and the experiences I had. I am also very proud of my work and what it means for the conservation of native brook trout and getting communities involved in science and with their national parks!

Thank you to everyone who makes the Scientists in Parks program a reality: Jessica Johnston, Jessie Ribera, and Teresa Mourad from ESA, Kiersten Jarvis and Chelsea Bitting from NPS, my NPS mentor Evan Childress and all the other NPS mentors across the country. This would not have been possible without you! 

Hi everyone! I can’t believe that I’m already writing my last blog post of the summer. Time has really flown by during this internship. Last week I (along with my SIP Fellows cohort) had the opportunity to present my SIP project at the Ecological Society of America annual meeting in Montreal, Canada. It was so fun to meet the other SIP Fellows and be able to hear about all of the amazing research going on at national parks throughout the country. Since then, I briefly returned to Bozeman before moving back to Logan, Utah to finish up my Master’s degree.

I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to work with the National Park Service this summer. I made some amazing connections with other Greater Yellowstone Network employees and was able to see some truly beautiful places. I also learned a lot about working for the federal government and I feel much more prepared for job hunting than I did before.

I am excited to continue working with my NPS colleagues on a few projects after my internship officially ends. One of these ongoing projects is writing an article about the Yellowstone River flood to be published in Park Science, an online journal about research in the national parks. We are also hoping to write a scientific article to be published in a peer-reviewed journal detailing the results of my water quality modeling work this summer. Be sure to keep an eye out for both of these papers in coming months!

Signing off for now,

Ally

Getting to know your mentor and their experiences is an important aspect of that connection because it can help you know what to expect as you start your journey pursuing your own career. To do that, I decided to interview my mentor, Evan Childress, to gain some insight.

Evan Childress is the Supervisory Fish Biologist at Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and has been for almost three years. Within his position, he is responsible for a wide variety of duties, including managing several ongoing projects and the people that protect the park’s natural resources, coordinating with outside researchers to implement projects within the park, analyzing long-term monitoring data, and documenting trends in natural resources (like declining brook trout populations), communicating with other branches of the park, and more.

1. Did you always want to work for NPS?

“No, but I’ve always wanted to do science to inform conservation and I’ve been able to do that for a few different agencies: USGS, USFW, and now NPS. I like them all, and each of them has a major role to play.”

2. What steps did you take that put you on the right path for a job that aligned with your interests? Degree? Internships? DHA? Etc. 

“I have degrees in biology – undergrad, a master’s in environmental science, and a PhD in freshwater and marine science – all of which are relevant to conservation and in aquatic environments in particular, which is my primary interest. I did a postdoc with USGS and that was kind of my entrance into the federal world. I was a contractor there at first, but I was able to convince them to hire me as a term employee. That made a difference. It allowed me to then get a permanent, internal job with the fish and wildlife service.”

“I think throughout my education, I did focus on working with agency people and nature conservancies and others that made it clear that I was interested in doing this and that I demonstrated some ability there. Ultimately, developing the skills that were in demand at the time was the thing that got me those job – especially the quantitative skills.”

3. What has your experience been like working up the GS ranks? What was your first position with the NPS?

“I started as a GS 11, as a postdoc. With no experience and a PhD, you can start at a GS 11. Then I got an 11-12 ladder position as my first job with fish and wildlife and then I was promoted there to a GS 13, as a manager. Then I took this job, which is GS 12. I actually downgraded to come here, because of largely the location but also the content of the job.”

“I think it’s extremely variable. What people often say is you have to move around to move up. It’s not always true – sometimes there are opportunities that come up but, if you think about the available jobs at Shenandoah National Park, there’s one biologist in a few different areas, it’s not like you move up into those, and then there’s the division chief. The biologists are typically GS 11s and the division chief is a GS 13. You cannot directly move there. That does mean that you have to move around to move up. There are often not the steps in a ladder in place that you are, in one place.”

4. How long did it take/what did you need to do to acquire a permanent position with NPS?

“I have one path. I’m not sure how representative it is. For my permanent position, having a PhD was appealing to that particular supervisor, for that particular position. Population ecology, quantitative skills, a PhD, an interest in conservation, and some experience with the endangered species act were all things that got me that job. I think that with less education, and coming up the ranks, starting as a seasonal and coming up that way, I think it can be more of a slog – I came in the side, more of the education route, hopping over from academia to the federal government. That worked well for me, so I don’t want to dissuade people from doing that.”

5. What is your favorite part of your job?

“The times when I can really integrate the management decisions with the science – like collecting data, and that directly feeds back into a decision that we make and we really close that loop, those are best. At USGS my projects weren’t really like that. Other people at the USGS do that in a serious way. That’s well regarded and supported at USGS, that just wasn’t what I was doing. I did it in a very complete way at the USDFW, particularly with a captive rearing program for a couple of species of endangered fish. We collected monitoring data to see how well the fish were surviving and then adjusted the operations of the facility to try and improve that. And here, we are trying to implement something like that with the endangered Shenandoah salamander, a formal adaptive management program. We aren’t there yet with the fish. Managing the fish at the park looks like allowing fishing and removing brown trout. It’s not a lot of management, we don’t have that integration here yet.”

“The place I would like to go here is looking forward – getting prepared for climate change and understanding what the suite of options is for our streams and for our fish populations. Figuring out what we can do now to get ahead of that and what we should not worry about. My sense is that the NPS is going to move into a more active management phase here as climate change comes to disrupt these systems, being prepared for that and laying the groundwork for that so that we can make moves when the time comes is what I’m working towards.”

Being in the Phoenix area has really made me appreciate LYJO, particularly because there is so much more light pollution here. It’s hard to try to tackle such a big project as dark sky preservation in just a matter of weeks, especially when it is something that relies on collaboration amongst communities. However, I think that I have made significant contributions to this effort. By monitoring sky quality at the LBJ Ranch and suggesting light retrofits to further improve the dark skies, I am helping prevent light pollution at LYJO and hopefully helping set an example for other places in the Hill Country. Additionally, through outreach like my night hike and viewing party for the first James Webb Space Telescope images, I am helping foster an appreciation for dark skies within the community.

Most importantly, dark sky preservation at LYJO did not begin and will not end with me. Much of my work this summer was built upon work that previous NPS employees started and will be continued by current future NPS employees. The International Dark Sky Association requires their Dark Sky Parks (which includes LYJO) to regularly report their lighting compliance and sky quality measurements and to host night sky related events, so this work will continue! Additionally, I designed the night hike to be repeatable and to be adaptable to other locations, so even programs I made will outlast my time at the park.

I am so incredibly grateful for everyone who has helped make this experience so special for me. I will always treasure my time at LYJO and I look forward to hopefully returning someday!

  Oh wow!

Twelve weeks have passed and my internship is over. I have spent this exciting and short time, at least to my perspective looking back, doing all kinds of things that have further armed me with the tools necessary to continue to walk the path towards a long and fruitful career in the preservation of our Mother Nature. During my experience at Everglades National Park, my work revolved around community outreach to find the best ways to communicate climate change in a culturally relevant manner, but that wasn’t all, I had the opportunity to shadow scientists across different fields such as in Butterfly surveys, science dissemination, and lobster surveys. 

Everglades National Park is located at the tip of Florida in a subtropical environment. Home to hundreds of species of plants and animals, it is considered the thirds biggest national park in the continuous USA. Neighboring the 9th largest metropolitan area of the USA, its location and tropical environment not only makes it susceptible to direct land pollution, but it also makes it greatly susceptible to climate change. Having direct access to a big population provides this park with a great opportunity to disseminate science and stewardship towards the land. To do this we must find the most effective ways to engage with the different communities of the area, which is the work I did this last twelve weeks. From my interactions with the community I found 4 coon trends that if interpreted and used correctly in the development of educational material, can be vital in creating a deeper connection and understanding when disseminating climate change science to the public. 

Through my interactions, I was able to find 4 common trends;

First, most of the people I spoke to had a formed idea about climate change, an idea that seemed to alienate them from the issues brought about by climate change. People expressed climate change as a problem for the developing world, describing places around the world that were suffering from drought, or the polar bears running out of ice. Giving scenarios of things that made it seem like a foreign issue that didn’t involve them. With this in mind, we can focus on the issues climate change creates close to home so that we can internalize it and see it as our problem too. 

Second, people see climate change from an economic perspective where if they are not directly impacted in their personal economies, then they do not see it as their problem. Knowing this will help us create educational material based on the economic impacts of climate change such as; increases in taxes, increases in insurance, increases in food prices, repairs of homes and possessions, and any other factor that might affect the economy of the average American.

Third, climate change is often spoken of using projection models and scenarios that are in the future, leading the public to the notion that it is a problem that is likely to happen in the future, giving them the false idea that it is not affecting us now and that it doesn’t require action now. Understanding this is key so that we as scientists and educators can get away from portraying scenarios in the future and instead focus on the problems that we currently face due to climate change allowing people to see it as something that is already here and that needs immediate action.

Finally, after speaking to young activists I was able  to see that this community focuses on the sides of climate change that affect social groups, problems that further increase inequality. Through dialogue, we found that it is possible to alleviate the impacts of climate change and climate change itself if we take proactive approaches from a policy stand. With this in mind, we can create programs that include information of the governing bodies of our natural resources and industries such as but not limited to, the EPA and FDA, so that people understand that when voting and assembling, we must consider the impacts that our government selection will have on our environment. 

As previously stated, during my stay here I also had the opportunity to shadow scientists of all kinds and see all the work they do to preserve Mother Nature. I specifically felt a deeper connection to one particular event, the Lobster surveys. A few weeks ago I went out to the Black Point Marina, close to Biscayne National Park, and performed lobster surveys. This activity was simple, boats arrive and we measure the lobsters and collect locations of fishing, sex and species. Not such a big science, but in reality this easy but long activity can make a great difference in the preservation of this organism. The information obtained is then used to determine how the population is doing this year and along with the information from previous years, we can see how the population is behaving and if current fishing practices and laws are sustainable. Doing this kind of survey is vital so that policies can be placed when the populations are not doing well. For me this was an important moment because it allows me to see that every activity we do, no matter how big or small it seems, impacts our home. People being surveyed understood that this was important and that it would ensure that they could keep enjoying this activity thanks to the works of passionate scientists that every year take the time to go and perform this labor. 

I leave this place with nothing but a revitalized and eager spirit to preserve Mother earth,

Thank you for following me along this journey!

Part of my internship at the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park has been creating programs to share science with the general public. The first of these focused on the release of the first images

from the James Webb Space Telescope. I wrote a script for and filmed a video about the telescope and the connection that it has to LYJO. We also showed the live-stream of the image release in our visitor’s center. During this live-stream, I was present to talk to visitors about the image releases and any questions that they might have. Astronomy is a field where science communication is important because so much of astronomy happens on scales we rarely have to think about on Earth. It can be hard to wrap your head around, but effective communication that avoids jargon and confusing language can help!

At the park, I also lead a night hike around the Johnson Settlement. We began our walk just after sunset and concluded as the stars were starting to come out around the park. This provided an opportunity to discuss the effects of light pollution on the Hill Country, and especially the effects it has on animals. While the LBJ Ranch is a dark sky park, the Johnson Settlement is located in the town of Johnson City, TX and experiences the effects of light pollution more than the the Ranch. On our night hike, I talked about how animals have a relationship with the night sky and use it to regulate their behavior, and the detrimental effects light pollution has on them. Ecology is an area where science communication is especially important because of the effects climate change and the environment have on everyone. Dispersing this information in an understandable way helps allow everyone to understand what exactly is happening.

I also had the privilege to be sent by my park to visit the Space Center Houston to see how they were sharing information about astronomy and space exploration with the public and bring that

information back to our park. Science is collaborative, and so science communication should be collaborative as well. There’s always room to improve, and this trip gave me an excellent chance to become a better science communicator by learning from others! I love science and I want others to love it as well, and science communication is crucial for that.

When I first arrived at CUVA the most important aspect of my project was very obvious, to map all existing wetlands within the Ohio and Erie Canal (OEC). I have now successfully done that. When it came time to crunch the numbers the results of my work were awe inspiring! In total, I documented 43 wetlands along a 11.7 mile long stretch of the OEC. These wetlands occupied 86% of the canal. Within those wetlands I identified 15 unique habitat types, which occurred 169 times within the canal. Additionally, I documented 16 streams which contribute to the hydrology of the wetlands in the canal and discovered 28 culverts along the canal, most of which have a negative impact on the ecology in the canal system. Finally, I identified 190 species of plants that grow in the wetlands of the OEC, three of which were state listed plants.

When I wasn’t out wandering around the OEC mapping wetlands and searching for cool plants I got to participate in some awesome projects the Resource Management department has going on at CUVA. This included helping deploy native muscle silos, which are concrete structures placed in water that house Fatmucket Clams (Lampsilis siliquoidea), for an experimental growth and survivorship study on the muscles of the Cuyahoga River. I also was given the opportunity to help in electro-shock fishing surveys, headwater stream surveys, eDNA collection, and a brief scouting trip around the park with my mentor, Ryan Trimbath, to look for potential spots for future ex situ rare plant introductions. But perhaps the most exciting multi-day project was conducting aquatic plant surveys by kayak along the Cuyahoga River with one of the region’s top aquatic plant experts, Mark Warman. This was an incredible learning experience for me as I rarely get exposure to native aquatic plants in Ohio. The tutelage and expertise of Mark Warman on aquatic plant ecology and identification was an experience I won’t forget.

Finally, getting to show off my work in the canals this summer to others was a lot of fun for me and was a very rewarding way to end my time with the park. I was able to help organize a tour by bicycle along the OEC, in which I curated several stops along the canal in interesting spots at which I shared the results and findings of my project. Being able to do it with two different groups of people made it even better, my coworkers from the National Parks Service and affiliated partner organizations, and a second tour for the general public. This was a summer I will soon not forget as it was one full of adventure, research, professional development, and networking.

Our field season has had to face many hurdles including wildfires and the resulting smokey conditions. Unfortunately, our crew was evacuated from our home base in Wawona when the Washburn Fire began. We were very fortunate that our supervisor was able to coordinate for us to backpack and sample in Kings Canyon National Park while smoke conditions were too hazardous for us to work in Yosemite. We made our way into Dusy Basin from Inyo National Forest where we were able to sample insects and document plant-insect interactions in the alpine habitat.

I was able to document many species I had never seen before such as the Sierra Nevada Parnassian (Parnassius behrii). This butterfly is often seen in rocky outcrops at high elevations in the Sierra Nevada. I found this specimen (pictured below) resting in the wind shadow of a boulder around 11,000 feet elevation.

Our crew has faced many challenges this season. Despite these challenges we were still able to help our program manager decipher the best way to move forward with the pollinator inventory project. Working with my supervisors at Yosemite was an invaluable experience that I will be forever grateful for.

While managing the land and its resources, it can be easy to focus on one aspect. To focus on just the affect that Beech Bark Disease has on the Beech tree population or see the growth of the Piping Plover population after a very successful nesting season but taking a step back shows much more. The death of Beech tree will lead to it falling and opening a gap in the tree canopy. This gap provides the opportunity for fast growing invasive plants to establish and out compete native plant species. While the successful control of the invasive Baby’s Breath can provide a more suitable habitat for the Piping Plovers to create their nests within the dunes.

These are just examples of the importance of looking at the big picture and managing through a landscape approach. There are certainly limitations to the landscape approach, as it requires a lot of time and multiple large datasets. There is also the benefit that landscape approach promotes collaborations between different disciplines and backgrounds. Within my project, I have been focusing on the overall landscape of SLBE while developing a GIS prioritization model for adaptive invasive plant management. By considering the locations of invasive plants as well as the known nesting areas of the Piping Plovers, the locations of resistant Beech and Ash trees, the varying landcover types, the locations of rare plants, the proximity to recreational areas, water bodies and so much more giving an encompassing look into the area.

Even with the drawbacks of landscape approach, the application of it in the adaptive management of natural resource can be extremely beneficial. I see it being applied more often as scientist continue to discover and work to understand the environment. Overall, the understanding that the natural world is all connected is incredibly crucial and will not only help projects today but is needed when planning for what’s to come.

Katmai faces a number of unique natural resource and visitor use management challenges. Located in a remote location in the Alaskan Peninsula, the park protects habitats for numerous wildlife species including brown bears and salmon, and it provides exceptional access to undisturbed forests, watersheds, and volcanic areas. As a designated wilderness and backcountry area, park managers must balance the unimpaired quality of these natural and cultural resources with increasing visitor demand and the challenges of managing millions of backcountry acres. Adding to these challenges are the numerous climate impacts projected to occur in the park, and the Wilderness and Backcountry Management plan aimed to use scenario planning to integrate climate information into the decision-making process.

First, experts at the NPS Climate Change Response Program used climate modeling to create “climate futures,” which project how climate drivers like temperature, precipitation, and sea level rise might change into the future. Because of uncertainties in future global greenhouse gas emissions and differences in models, the futures span a range of possible conditions. These differences were grouped into three futures: “warm-wet” (moderate temperature rise and increasing rainfall), “warm-dry” (moderate temperature rise and decreasing rainfall), and “hot-wet” (severe temperature rise and increasing rainfall).

Next, we turned the “climate futures” into “climate scenarios” by analyzing how changes in climate drivers affect park resources. Planners identified key resources, such as brown bear habitat, natural watershed conditions, and opportunities for solitude, and we analyzed the impacts of climate conditions on each. Some resources were affected similarly under each climate future; warmer temperatures, for example are likely to increase the range of invasive species under every scenario. Others have big differences; for example, forests might see higher risk of forest fires under a warm-dry scenario, but higher flooding under wetter scenarios.

We then used these scenarios to refine the goals of the planning process. Plans often begin by establishing “desired conditions,” which are broad statements of what the plan hopes to achieve. I helped to examine the feasibility of each desired condition to make sure it was robust against all possible climate futures. Sometimes goals had to be refined. For example, increasing water temperatures may limit efforts to preserve natural salmon habitats, while increasing forest fire risks might create challenges for managing trails. Finally, we identified potential management actions to address climate impacts. To address changes on bear habitats, for example, managers might increase efforts to monitor bear populations, while visitor limitations, trails, and access areas might be changed to reduce risks to flooding and wildfire. Planners must consider how climate change affects both project goals and proposed actions as they look into the future.

Parks planners have many factors to weigh when thinking about how to manage natural and cultural resources, and climate change often deeply affects of these decisions. Using scenario planning in Katmai helped to ensure that plans are climate-informed, take into account multiple scenarios and consider future changes rather than just historical conditions. I look forward to continuing to develop frameworks for parks to include these considerations in their planning through my SIP fellowship!

Stay tuned for more updates on how climate change is being integrated into NPS planning processes!