Michael Mecham

Hello Everyone! My name is Michael Mecham, and I’m incredibly grateful to be an intern at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge for the 2025 winter/spring season. I grew up in Eastern Kentucky, where I spent a lot of time hiking, birding, and running in the Appalachian Mountains. This time spent in nature was foundational for me and has certainly led to my interest in environmental issues as I’ve grown older.
Throughout high school, I always knew I wanted to do work relating to the environment, and entering college, I felt this was best accomplished through studying renewable energy, which led to a major in physics. I had the opportunity to see how physics could be applied to environmental issues with an internship at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. While I loved the experience, I soon realized my skills were better suited for more direct conservation fields, so I added a major in environmental science. The fact that I wanted to work directly in conservation was solidified by coursework in Conservation Biology, Ecology, and Ornithology, along with an involved internship doing fieldwork on a local stream. After graduating from Berea College in May of 2024, I was prepared to put what I had learned to the test in the workforce.
I was lucky enough to land a position through the Great Basin Institute that allowed me to work with USFWS as an intern at Camas National Wildlife Refuge in Idaho. The wetland ecosystem in the high desert plains of Idaho attracted thousands of migratory waterbirds, and I absolutely loved working with the wildlife. Being able to see how conservation efforts affected species of interest was engaging and interesting to me, and it confirmed that I wanted to continue down this path of conservation and land management.
This path brings us to the current day, where I’m beginning work at St. Marks! While Florida is a drastically different climate compared to both Idaho and Kentucky, I am still beyond excited to be working with salamanders and birds in such a new environment! This opportunity will help me continue to gather skills and knowledge that I need for a career in conservation and will simultaneously allow me to do work that I feel is important.