An Intern's Adventures (and Ant Bites)

By Alyssa Meier, CNHP Siegele Intern

I spent this past summer with CNHP as an Siegele intern. I worked on various projects all over the state and even got to travel to Yellowstone. It was a wonderful experience full of some great adventures, amazing views, occasional sunburns, and plenty of bug bites (a few too many of those, if you ask me).

I began the summer at two separate BioBlitzes, one at Brown’s Canyon near Buena Vista and the second at Spring Valley near Rifle.

Spring Valley Ranch.

The next few weeks I spent completing surveys for Arapahoe County, weed monitoring at the United States Air Force Academy, and wetland surveys in Huerfano County. I even spent some time in Montrose surveying the rare plant Eriogonum pelinophilum.

Perhaps most exciting of all was my trip to Yellowstone National Park for the GLORIA project. We spent a week in the back country of the Shoshone Wilderness just outside of the park for vegetation monitoring on several of the peaks.

Overall, this summer was very exciting for me. I learned so much about nearly everything, ranging from plants to birds to surveying techniques. It was educational and fulfilling. I wouldn’t have traded this opportunity for anything.

Northern Bobwhite at North Kiowa Arapahoe County property. 

Columbine in Huerfano County. 

Basecamp beneath the peaks – Shoshone Wilderness.