Hi! My name is Morgan Phillips and I am very excited to be a biological science intern at St.Marks NWR for spring 2023! 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. Throughout high school I thought I wanted to go to college to become a veterinarian until my junior year rolled around and I realized that I did not want to become a vet anymore. From a combination of lack of guidance from my high school counselor and being a first-generation college student, I was unsure of how to go about looking for schools and programs. Since I still wanted to have a career involving wildlife, I decided to major in biology.

I attended Towson University, a local college where I graduated with a B.S. in biology concentrated in ecology, evolution, and conservation with a minor in environmental Studies. By my second semester I learned about the field of wildlife conservation and knew that this was the path I wanted to go. I was able to take a lot of courses that really interested me like wildlife management, wetland ecology, invasive species management, and mammalogy. I was able to participate in various internships to get some hands on experience and learn about different taxa. I interned at a native butterfly house where I was able to talk to the public about the importance of pollinators and native plants. I also helped monitor game cameras to help study the nesting ecology of the state listed Northern Map Turtle. I spent majority of 2022 as an Amphibian Research Technician with USGS out of Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge. I learned a lot of survey techniques and gained a lot of hands on experience with amphibians that are native to Maryland. I even got to do terrestrial transect surveys for the federally listed Shenandoah Salamander at Shenandoah National Park.

I was excited to apply for this position in St. Marks because it is my first seasonal position that is away from Maryland and I also have some experience working with salamanders. As someone who is also interested in birds, I am very excited to get some hands-on experience working with Red-cockaded woodpeckers! I definitely want to take advantage of the extensive birding opportunities in the area while I am here! I hope to gain a lot of new skills for out in the field as well as strengthen the ones I already have. I am still not 100% sure where I want to take my career, but I am hoping to narrow that down more through doing experiences like this. I do hope to have a job in wildlife conservation in the future that has a mixture of field work and outreach as I feel that it is very important to inform the public of the work we do and why it is important!