Hello! My name is Emily Forner and I am excited to be one of the Biological Interns at St. Marks NWR for the winter/spring of 2020! I’m from a small town called Beaver, Pennsylvania about 40 minutes northwest of Pittsburgh. I love to run and have competed in cross country and track since my sophomore year of high school. From a young age I’ve loved the outdoors and have been camping, kayaking, hiking, biking, climbing trees, and white-water rafting since I can remember!

My entry into the wildlife conservation field has been a pretty unconventional one. When I got to college, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do for a career. I thought for a while that, because I enjoyed science and I wanted to have a positive impact in the world, I should become a doctor. So, I majored in Global Health Studies at Allegheny College with minors in Biology and French. I took classes ranging from medical history to cultural studies, epidemiology, and economics. These were fascinating subjects, but after a few semesters I realized there was something missing: I was going through the motions of my classwork, but I didn’t feel passionate about what I was doing.

During the summer before my junior year, I pursued an internship with a botanical garden called Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh where I helped to install raised-bed vegetable gardens in people’s yards. I taught residents about home composting, beneficial garden insects, and how to live healthy, environmentally sustainable lives. It was my first taste of working outdoors and learning about plants and wildlife, and I was eager to explore more! My next few semesters, I decided to pick classes that sounded truly exciting to me: medical entomology, conservation biology, environmental GIS, and forest ecosystems. In these classes I completed research projects looking at everything from land use history effects on forest health to monitoring vernal pools for salamander and frog occupancy. I also interned at two local farms, and even assisted with drift fence trapping of spotted salamanders to help one of my cross-country teammates with her senior thesis.  

After these experiences, I knew that the conservation field was for me! Having completed my final semester at Allegheny, I applied to some conservation-based internships, and landed one working through American Conservation Experience to monitor and manage invasive plants on National Wildlife Refuges in Virginia. I traveled to 10 different refuges throughout this past summer utilizing GIS mapping techniques to inventory the invasive plants located there. With my fellow intern, we inventoried over 300 acres of land and treated approximately 40 acres for 15 different invasive species using both herbicidal and hand-pulling measures. I now have a whole new understanding and appreciation for the work it takes to restore and maintain our natural landscapes! We also assisted with other biological work at the refuges including surveying for diamondback terrapins, monitoring and relocating sea turtle nests, and even installing nest cavities for red-cockaded woodpeckers.

I’m now looking to broaden my skills, particularly with wildlife, so this internship with St. Marks could not be more ideal! I’m thrilled to get to work hands-on with the frosted flatwoods salamanders as I’ve fallen in love with amphibians and think that I’d like to eventually pursue a master’s degree researching them. I have a lot to learn when it comes to wildlife conservation, but this position is going to expand my knowledge so much. It’s only been one week, but I’ve already gotten to help track and radio collar red wolves (hands down one of the coolest experiences of my life!), assist with check stations during the primitive weapons hunt at St. Vincent NWR, and process salamanders we’ve caught in drift fences. I couldn’t ask for more knowledgeable and thoughtful people to work with, or a more beautiful and unique ecosystem to explore. I know this internship is going to set me up for great success in the future, and I cannot express enough how thankful and excited I am to work here this spring. Thank you so much!