Working with bird species
I can now work with any bird species and have solid biological fieldwork skills that will translate to a variety of job types.
Major: Environmental Studies
Concentration: Environment and Development
Internship: Project Puffin, Audubon Society, Bremen, ME
Project Puffin: is part of the Audubon Society's Seabird Working Group which studies the populations of nearly all seabirds nesting on their 6 islands in the Gulf of Maine. I worked as a field researcher measuring productivity, conducting feeding studies, nesting habitat maintenance and restoration, and predation control.
The internship: My responsibilities included daily species count, egg and chick counts, nest counts, bird banding, feeding study blind stints, re-sighting stints, predation control, and habitat maintenance and restoration. I acquired the ability to identify a wide variety of sea and song birds, use a variety of bird bands, learn about geo-locators and other tracking devices, and the skill of working with a small group of people over long periods of time and living with them 24/7.
I did not expect to learn as much as I did or to work with as many species as I did. I would now feel confident working with any bird species and have solid biological fieldwork skills which will translate to a variety of job types.