St. Marks Interns
Since the start of the program in 2014 there have been over fifty interns at St. Marks which are supported by Friends and Project Sponsors. These bright, industrious people were selected for their background and training for the tasks at hand. They’re listed here, starting with the most recent year.
2024
Austin Stewart
Intern
Hey everyone, my name is Austin Stewart. I am one of the 2024 summer interns at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. Currently, I'm a junior in the Wildlife Ecology and Management program at Auburn University. I was born and raised in North Alabama. With a lifelong passion for the outdoors and wildlife, I'm excited to be a part of St. Mark's intern program where I can enjoy doing what I love in such a beautiful place. Read the full bio.
Ryan Wagner
Intern
Hi everyone! My name is Ryan Wagner, and I am extremely grateful for this opportunity to work as an intern at the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge for the Winter/Spring 2024 season. I grew up on the southeast end of Long Island, where I was a short drive from the barrier island beaches, bays, inlets, and salt marshes that characterize the natural beauty of Long Island’s dynamic history and present. Read the full bio.
Maddie Tiemann
Intern
Hi! My name is Maddie Tiemann, and this is my second seasonal position with St. Marks NWR. I grew up in southeastern Pennsylvania outside of Philadelphia and spent a large portion of my childhood outdoors. To the east were the shorelines of New Jersey and to the west were part of the Appalachian Mountains, providing plenty of opportunities to explore! Read the full bio.
JD Flores
Intern
My name is JD Flores, and I’m from Mooringsport, Louisiana. I grew up spending a lot of time outdoors catching insects, camping with my family, birding with my mom, among other activities. I knew early on that I wanted a career that correlated with my hobbies and my love for nature. Read the full bio.
2023
Emeleigh Luckenbaugh
Intern
Hello! My name is Emeleigh Luckenbaugh and I hail from a small country town in south-central Pennsylvania. I am so excited to start my internship with St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge for the fall season!! This is a vastly different ecosystem compared to the Cumberland Valley and Appalachian Mountains that I am accustomed to. read the full bio.
Kayden Barber
Intern
Emma Damm
Intern
I grew up in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, where I had access to many beautiful natural areas and sites of national significance. As a child I was always outside catching insects and toads in my neighborhood. read the full bio...
Madison Molter
LaHart Intern
I grew up on the eastern shore of Maryland living within and exploring the wetlands of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. It was there where my love of reptiles and amphibians was born. read the full bio...
Sammy Baron
Intern
I am excited to assist in the ongoing field efforts of the Fish and Wildlife Service, especially those that will help conserve the frosted flatwoods salamander. read the full bio...
Morgan Phillips
Intern
I am native to Maryland and have lived there my whole life. I have always loved animals and nature so from a young age I knew I wanted to have a career that involved these things. read the full bio...
Jarod Portillo
Intern
Howdy! My name is Jarod Andrew Portillo, but I go by Andy. I’m from Amarillo Texas, which is in the panhandle of the state. Though I went from one panhandle to the next, they could not be more different! read the full bio...
2022
Sammy Baron
Carney Intern
I am excited to assist in the ongoing field efforts of the Fish and Wildlife Service, especially those that will help conserve the frosted flatwoods salamander. read the full bio...
Cami Vanderwolf
LaHart Intern
I really enjoyed working in a longleaf pine ecosystem over the summer, and I am excited to continue exploring the plant and animal species within this environment here at St. Marks. read the full bio...
Sienna Krulis
LaHart Intern
I am incredibly excited to learn more about Red-Cockaded Woodpecker conservation during my summer with St. Marks NWR! read the full bio...
Chloe Arbogast
Carney Intern
I am hoping to broaden my field work experience with avian species through this internship as well as learn about how wildlife agencies manage the different ecosystems we have in Florida. read the full bio...
Emma Jones
LaHart Intern
I feel so fortunate to be calling such a beautiful and ecologically diverse landscape home for the season and am looking forward to exploring all this ecosystem has to offer in my free time! read the full bio...
Heather Poyner
Carney Intern
I can’t wait to broaden my experience with amphibians, try my hand at avian conservation, and get a feel for what it’s like to work in the longleaf pine flatwoods of the Florida Panhandle. read the full bio...
Olive Chen
VanderMeer Intern
I’ve long been interested in amphibian research and conservation, and thus am thrilled to have the chance to learn more about the Frosted Flatwoods Salamander as well as the other amphibians of the Longleaf Pine ecosystem through my internship at St. Marks Wildlife Refuge. read the full bio...
2021
Holly Keating
Carney Intern
I’m especially excited that our focus is on the endangered Frosted Flatwood Salamander as I haven’t had the opportunity to really work with amphibians despite my interest in their conservation needs. read the full bio...
Madie Stein
Carney Intern
My ideal future career involves being able to dabble in the conversation of various species—mainly focusing on larger mammals, marine life, and turtles. read the full bio...
Emily Gusman
Carney Intern
I’ve helped graduate students with their projects, which included capturing Roosevelt elk calves to attach radio collars and identifying prey items from barn owl nest box camera footage. read the full bio...
Emily Munch
Carney Intern
I finished my final year at LSU working on my undergraduate thesis, which was titled 'Bat Species Composition and Relative Activity Across a Rural-to-Urban Gradient in Baton Rouge, Louisiana'. read the full bio...
Camille Rieber
Carney Intern
Having the opportunity to continue my passion for salamanders and help in the conservation of the frosted flatwoods salamander makes this internship very exciting to me. read the full bio...
Caroline Wolfe-Merritt
Carney Intern
I am eager for this opportunity to work with conservation efforts for both the Frosted Flatwoods Salamander and the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker, and to gain experience in the National Wildlife Refuge system! read the full bio...
Sage Kruleski
VanderMeer Intern
I had always wanted to leave Nevada after graduation, so when I saw the posting for salamander conservation at St. Mark’s, I knew the stars had aligned. read the full bio...
2020
Chloë Dubben
VanderMeer Intern
I helped to control the spread of invasive cogon grass, band and translocate Red-cockaded woodpeckers, and prepare for and run a drift fence along with USGS for a study on frosted flatwoods salamanders. read the full bio...
Brittany Welch
VanderMeer Intern
My love for animals pushed me to intern with the National Marine Life Center, helping with the rehabilitation of harbor seals and Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles. read the full bio...
Aubrey Labarre
Carney Intern
This past year, I tracked (via telemetry) and performed health check-ups on California condors and recorded their behaviors during mating season. read the full bio...
Kelly Holland
Carney Intern
I volunteered at The Conservancy of Southwest Florida where my love of coastal ecosystems was realized as I educated the public on conservation concerns Florida is facing. read the full bio...
Nora Honkomp
Carney Intern
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. read the full bio...
Kiara Valentine
Education Intern
Her experience with local children made it obvious that early environmental education experiences was sorely needed to connect a new generation to nature. read the full bio...
Emma Buckardt
Carney Intern
I went to State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) to study Environmental Biology. read the full bio...
Emily Forner
Carney Intern
I traveled to 10 different refuges throughout this past summer utilizing GIS mapping techniques to inventory the invasive plants located there. read the full bio...
Megan Nichols
Monarch Milkweed Initiative
I first volunteered at the milkweed nursery in 2015, as a member of the Environmental Service Program at FSU. read the full bio...
2019
Brianna Bjordahl
Carney Intern
In the spring of 2018, I had the incredible experience of studying abroad with the School for Field Studies in Paro, Bhutan. read the full bio...
Kelly Johnson
Carney Intern
After graduating, I was accepted as a Chesapeake Conservation Corps member with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service at the Chesapeake Bay Field Office in Annapolis. read the full bio...
Chloë Dubben
Biology Intern
I helped to control the spread of invasive cogon grass, band and translocate Red-cockaded woodpeckers, and prepare for and run a drift fence along with USGS for a study on frosted flatwoods salamanders. read the full bio...
Caitlin Walker
Carney Intern
I am currently attending Clemson University, for Wildlife and Fisheries Biology, where I will be starting my senior year when I get back in the fall. read the full bio...
Carol Gause
Carney Intern
During my time at North Carolina State University, I thoroughly fell in love with ornithology and avian ecology, so I pursued any opportunity I could find related to birds. read the full bio...
Arcata Leavitt
Carney Intern
My first experience working professionally with wildlife was in Flagstaff, Arizona where I was a fisheries research intern for Arizona Game and Fish. read the full bio...
Preston Earley
Monarch Milkweed Initiative
I believe in the importance of our natural world in all its beauty, and more specifically, in the inherent value of biodiversity. read the full bio...
Kiara Valentine
Education Intern
Her experience with local children made it obvious that early environmental education experiences was sorely needed to connect a new generation to nature. read the full bio...
Bailey Dunn
Carney Intern
I interned with Yellowstone to Uintas Connection to set up camera traps in Idaho to monitor large carnivore activity. read the full bio...
Melissa Rogers
Education Intern
Missy shared her energetic love of nature with many children while she was at the refuge. read the full bio...
2018
Shelby Bauer
Carney Intern
Later in my college career, I lead the College of Science Student Advisory Committee (COSSAC) and initiated the Integrative Biology Peer Mentor Program. read the full bio...
Kelly Crispin
Carney Intern
I was initially interested in the St. Marks internship when I saw that we would be working with red-cockaded woodpeckers. read the full bio...
Sarah Wells
Education Intern
Not only did she bring with her experience from the National Park Service, she brought formal educational experience form the public school system in Leon County. read the full bio...
Rachel Schutes
Carney Intern
In addition to the experience that I gained while at school I also had the opportunity to work with USGS on a long-term marine turtle tagging study last summer in Cape San Blas, Florida. read the full bio...
Ashley Meade
Carney Intern
Following graduation, I moved to St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands for 7 months where I worked as a research assistant with the Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research. read the full bio...
Olivia Wetsch
Carney Intern
In the Spring of 2017, during my junior year, I also studied abroad at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia. read the full bio...
Bryan Marquardt
Education Intern
Not only is Bryan remembered for his amazing height, we found him to be a capable and passionate interpreter with field experience in Natural History read the full bio...
Shaylee Church
Carney Intern
I am so excited to be back at the refuge and have the opportunity to continue helping with the RCW’s and frosted flatwood salamanders. read the full bio...
2017
Megan Ellis
Carney Intern
My love for reptiles and amphibians started at a young age, but I never thought it would become so important in my career path. read the full bio...
Brieana Shook
Carney Intern
I am ecstatic to be working with the USFWS (an agency I would love to work for in the future) on a project that is focused on conserving endangered species and restoring habitat. read the full bio...
Jeannie van Vianen
Carney Intern
After graduating in December 2016, I had an internship at Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge. read the full bio...
Edlyn Nunez
Carney Intern
I visited multiple sanctuaries dispersed throughout Tasmania, and studied the different captive breeding programs in place for the endangered Tasmanian Devil. read the full bio...
Brynn Huzzen
Carney Intern
I have always known that I wanted to work to defend the earth, and the creatures that live on it. read the full bio...
Chloe Moore
Carney Intern
My research focused on environmental DNA and hellbenders, the largest species of salamander in North America. read the full bio...
Guy Stewart
Education Intern
He was very interested in the plant communities on the refuge and was energetic and outgoing. read the full bio...
Shaylee Church
Education Intern
Shaylee led the fall Tots on Trails programs, helped with education programming both on and off site and shared her enthusiasm of wildlife read the full bio...
2016
Jamie Nicholson
Carney Intern
While at UF, I studied abroad in Swaziland South Africa for three weeks and also did my own traveling after the trip to Victoria Falls in Zambia and Zimbabwe and also Dublin, Ireland. read the full bio...
Jaclyn Selden
Carney Intern
I’ve found that enjoy both working in the field directly as well as engaging the public through environmental education. read the full bio...
Tori Stackhouse
Carney Intern
Tori is a certified to teach in the classroom and in the water as a Scuba Dive Control Specialist and works with Adventure Sports II in Auburn, Alabama. read the full bio...
Amanda Kearns
Carney Intern
Following her passion, Amanda attended the University of Florida studying wildlife ecology and conservation with a concentration in management under the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. read the full bio...
Domenique Price
Carney Intern
During my time at Auburn University, I was exposed to a plethora of knowledge about the flora and fauna of the southeast as well as up-to-date research on management tactics, policies and conservation issues. read the full bio...
Abbey Feuka
Carney Intern
My interest in wetland science and herpetology started with my first field job in 2013 as a volunteer on a PhD project studying Blue-spotted Salamander breeding ecology and genetics in central Maine. read the full bio...
2015
Kimlynn Nguyen
Carney Intern
I stayed at the Mbuluzi Game Reserve [in South Africa], gathering data at four different parks to aid in ongoing research about the effects elephants had on the savannah’s vegetation structure and animal diversity. read the full bio...
Alex Alford
Carney Intern
Last summer I had the opportunity to go to Swaziland on a study abroad trip and was able to experience wildlife research first hand. read the full bio...
Jordan Archer
Carney Intern
Management is my focus area and I hope to manage for game or non-game species for a wildlife agency. My goal is to conserve and manage wildlife habitat to promote healthier populations and maintain natural habitat. read the full bio...
Alex Beaver
Carney Intern
On weekends and any other break from classes I work with John Draper, a Master’s student under Dr. Todd Steury, conducting black bear research in Little River Canyon Preserve in Fort Payne, Alabama. read the full bio...
Abby Walter
Carney Intern
As I became more involved with wildlife in college, I also helped with habitat restoration projects and surveys that needed lots of volunteers. read the full bio...
Mackenzie Sconyers
Carney Intern
During semesters, I worked as a teaching assistant for a freshman biology lab and volunteered for the Auburn University Natural History Museum Herpetology Collection and Dr. Craig Guyer’s herpetology lab. read the full bio...
2014
Lorna Mcallister
Carney Intern
Since last summer, I have been volunteering at a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission research lab helping the wildlife health team do necropsies of deer, panthers, birds of prey, foxes, etc. read the full bio...
Lauren Wilkinson
Carney Intern
One thing that my internship here at St. Marks has taught me is just how important wildlife habitat is. Through our project on Bachman sparrow abundance, I have seen the fragility in their occupancy with subtle changes in the environment. read the full bio...