Welcome Aboard Janna, Tessa and Lauren, our new interns!

Each year District staff interview and select interns from a group of candidates who are looking to get their hands dirty and apply what they have been studying in school or other venues. This year, the Natural Resources and Water Quality program hired a total of three seasonal interns. Working with the Watershed District provides the interns with a way to build skills and knowledge for future career and educational directions by assisting staff in a variety of natural resources or water quality monitoring tasks and projects. Now that our new interns have had a few days to get into the stream of things, we’d like to introduce them to you and let them share some details about themselves. 

District Natural Resources Interns
 


Janna, Natural Resources Intern, is introduced
to macrophyte (aquatic vegetation) sampling on Kohlman Lake.

Hello, I am Janna and I am a graduate student at the University of Minnesota. I will be completing the Masters of Professional Studies in Horticulture program in the fall of 2013. I have B.S. degrees from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in Botany and Biological Aspects of Conservation. The combination of these majors has provided me with a multidisciplinary foundation in the natural sciences and I am excited to be putting this information to practical use throughout the Ramsey Washington Metro Watershed District! My primary interest is in restoration ecology and the opportunity to practically apply this interest in an urban watershed is very exciting. I look forward to all this summer has to offer!

 

Tessa, Natural Resources Intern, assists in a controlled
burn in the upland bufferabove Lakeside Pond in Little Canada

My name is Tessa, and I grew up in White Bear Lake, MN. In 2011, I graduated from the University of Minnesota Duluth, with a degree in environmental science. Since then, I have studied and researched paleolimnology in northern Sweden and worked as an environmental educator in Alaska and in Duluth, MN. Most recently I worked for the Iowa DNR and Iowa State University as a biological field technician, surveying migratory and breeding birds. I am very happy to be back in the Twin Cities, as well as to be working with the Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District, as a natural resource intern. I look forward to the opportunity to learn more about environmental issues that most affect the metro area, as well as to expand my knowledge of native and invasive vegetation.

District Water Quality Monitoring Intern

Lauren, District Water Quality Monitoring Intern
Hi, my name is Lauren and I am currently a senior at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. I will be graduating this May with a major in Environmental Science and a water focus, as well as a minor in Biology. For years I have been interested in water quality issues after conducting a water quality project back in high school.
I was attracted to the water quality monitoring internship because of the great level of experience the internship will provide in working within the water quality field.  I hope to work up to being a water quality technician or specialist after graduation. I really enjoy learning how the water quality of water bodies can be improved.
In my spare time I like to go bike riding on trails, volunteer with the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, play the piano, and go to farmer’s markets. I recently became certified as an Erosion Control and Stormwater Inspector and hope to build on my knowledge of water issues through the RWMWD. I am excited to intern with RWMWD and hope to gain more skills in water quality monitoring and participate in many of RWMWD’s exciting projects.
 
Welcome new interns!  It’s going to be a great summer.