Hi! My name is Kelly Crispin and I am one of the interns this summer at St. Marks. I am a recent graduate from the University of Florida, where I studied Wildlife Ecology and Conservation. I was born and raised in Florida, splitting my time between Stuart and Okeechobee. In Stuart, I spend most of my time out on the boat or at the beach, and in Okeechobee, I spent most of my time working out on my family’s ranch. Being raised with a great appreciation of the outdoors is what initially inspired me to pursue a degree in the natural resources field. Studying at UF was great because it allowed me to learn about the ecology in our state and simultaneously enjoy the Gainesville area. I spent most of my free time there in the surrounding state forests and parks hiking with my dog, Samantha. Graduating was very bittersweet, as I really loved my time there, but I am very happy to finally be starting the next chapter of my life!

I was initially interested in the St. Marks internship when I saw that we would be working with red-cockaded woodpeckers.  I previously had an internship on Camp Blanding Joint Training Center that focused heavily on RCW work and I enjoyed it very much, so I was eager to apply here for this summer. Once I did some more research about St. Marks, it was clear that this was where I wanted to be this summer—the close proximity of the woods and the coastline is too good of an offer to pass up!

I have really enjoyed my time at St. Marks so far. I’ve already gotten the opportunities to do more RCW work, help out with frosted flatwoods salamanders, and explore the refuge a ton. I’m excited to help out with the rest of the projects this summer has in store, including turtle, bird, and gopher tortoise surveys. I think this internship will help me gain some great experience that I can hopefully use to land a job in the natural resources field here in Florida.