Howdy! My name is Nora Honkomp. I am one of the 2020 summer interns at St. Mark’s National Wildlife Refuge. I’m from Cincinnati, Ohio, and I attend Kent State University for Zoology. I’ve been passionate about animals, and specifically birds, for as long as I can remember. I started volunteering at our local zoo as soon as I was old enough for their teen program where I got to engage with visitors, share my excitement for animals, and of course sweep up plenty of goat poop. For the past three summers, I have worked as a naturalist at a county park teaching visitors about Ohio’s local wildlife with the help of their animal collection (including reptiles, amphibians, insects, and raptors). I love introducing kids to the great outdoors because I know it’s something that will stick with them their whole lives and hopefully inspire a sense of concern for our planet. My most recent wildlife endeavor took place this past august when I officially joined the birding community. I have observed 230 species so far. Quite a few of those were spotted here in Florida!

At school, I am involved in undergraduate research with several professors. One project I am particularly excited about involves taking tissue and feather samples from several songbird species to examine seasonal changes in gene expression. Another exciting project I have recently begun is my honors thesis, which is intended to teach me about large data set analysis. I am aiming to examine temporal and spatial patterns in bird migration using data collected through citizen science. After I get done working on these each week, my remaining time is spent organizing meetings and activities for the two clubs I lead (one is a bird watching club and the other is for empowering women in STEM fields).

I am very fortunate to have gotten the opportunity to study abroad. This past December, I went to Costa Rica for three weeks with a professor and students from my school. We travelled to four different biological research stations and completed an individual study at each. I studied mammal foraging in a dry forest, epiphyte diversity in a cloud forest, reptile and amphibian populations in a tropical rainforest, and bird abundance on the shore of the pacific. My favorite part was spending an evening mistnetting bats to monitor species presence. Getting to work with local scientists and seeing the researchers from around the world that travel to these stations for their work gave me the sense that I am part of something bigger than myself. It was exciting to see that scientists everywhere are working to preserve the earth’s biodiversity.

Following this final year of undergrad, I plan to go to graduate school to study avian ecology. Though I’m not sure exactly what I want my career to look like, I’m hoping to gain experiences from this internship that will help me decide what direction to go in. It will be really beneficial for me to see the physical management that takes place on a refuge and learn some of the conservation practices that are already in place. I am very grateful for the opportunity to work at the refuge and am particularly grateful that this internship is able to continue despite the recent events of the covid-19 pandemic, as I know many of my friends have had their internships cancelled, potentially putting them behind in their career plans. I am greatly looking forward to all of the things I will learn this summer! Thank you so much!