My name is Emily Munch and I am excited to be a working as an intern at St. Mark’s for summer 2021! I grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana, and while I did grow up in the city, I also spent time fishing and camping. However, my love of conservation and the outdoors kicked off when I began volunteering at the Audubon Zoo. I volunteered at the zoo for 6 years, and learned what is involved in animal husbandry and also how to talk to the public about endangered species. This volunteer experience really ignited my passion for conservation.

I began college at Louisiana State University majoring in Animal Science Pre-Vet, but after shadowing at a vet clinic, I realized that the outdoors and working with wildlife was calling to me. I then changed my major to major in Natural Resource Ecology and Management with a concentration in Wildlife Ecology and instantly knew I made the right decision. I then proceeded to help analyze bat calls for a semester, before starting my own project with Eastern Meadowlarks in the spring. However, the Eastern Meadowlark project was cancelled due to COVID-19. During the spring 2020 semester, I was also working on a project where I was in charge of recording the bird species on one of LSU’s property. This project made me realize how much I enjoy being around birds and how I want to continue to work with birds in the future. Over the summer, I aided a graduate student with her bat research, where we recorded vegetation measurements and searched for bat roosts in the Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana. I also had the opportunity to re-sight Bachman’s Sparrows for about a week during the summer as well. 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. 

My current plan is to gain various work experience before (probably) pursuing a Master’s degree. I am not entirely sure what I want to pursue my Masters in, but I know I want it to be related to birds. I am excited to be working with Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, because I think they’re so cool! I also love longleaf pines and am excited to be spending my summer in some of my favorite ecosystems surrounded by one of my favorite birds.