Hello! My name is Brittany Welch and I recently graduated from St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York with a Bachelor of Science in Conservation Biology. While I currently live in Springfield, Massachusetts, I grew up in Naples, Florida and was instantly enthralled with the Everglades and Big Cypress Swamp. I started exploring environmental science throughout high school while I volunteered with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. From that point on, I pursued other opportunities that would allow me to be in the field and explore our natural world.

After my freshman year at St. Lawrence, 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. While this position was really rewarding and interesting, I decided to cross veterinary medicine off of my list of potential career paths. My first time working with birds was with the Duxbury Beach Reservation in Duxbury, Massachusetts. This barrier beach was vital nesting grounds for Piping Plovers and Least Terns. In this position, I was responsible for monitoring active broods and identifying their locations and behaviors, as well as dealing with sometimes angry beach goers that did not want to share their lounging spots with protected shorebirds. I learned to be patient both with the birds and the people, but also was exposed to the field of wildlife management and I wanted to learn more. Most recently, I worked as a technician on a research project in central Kansas revolving around the success of the federally funded Conservation Reserve Program in protecting grassland bird populations. I aided in the collection of biological data on nesting meadowlarks, grasshopper sparrows, and Dickcissels with rope dragging and behavioral observations. I quickly learned how to handle young nestlings to collect blood and body measurements, which has proven useful for handling Red-cockaded Woodpecker nestlings. During my senior year, I decided to try my hand at lab work to research the change in the transcriptomes of freshwater mussels after exposure to varying environmental conditions. This project was fascinating to work on, but I missed being outdoors.

With the current situation with Covid-19, I was worried that this internship would be cancelled, and I am so thankful that we are still able to work on the management and monitoring of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers! I am looking forward to learning more about their ecology, the functions of a wildlife refuge and explore a region of Florida that I have yet to visit! Thank you for this opportunity.