Biology Intern Grace Smarsh

Credit: USFWS Holding a big brown bat.

Credit: USFWS Look at that cute face!

Hello!  My name is Grace Smarsh and I am a Zoology major, Animal Behavior minor at the University of New Hampshire.  Hailing from Hunterdon County, New Jersey, I spent the summer of 2008 living at the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge as a Biological intern.  I had decided to seek out an internship with U.S. Fish & Wildlife to get some real hands-on outdoor experience, and I can definitely say that I succeeded!  Not only were the people I worked for fun to be around with their enthusiasm and knowledge of wildlife, but they also did a great job getting myself and our other two interns involved in a variety of projects.  These stretched from songbird and marshbird surveys to invasive plant removal and habitat restoration, endangered bog turtle tracking, and public services including a project in which I helped create a self-guided river brochure guide.  While learning about the history, flora, and fauna of the Wallkill River I got to take some awesome kayaking trips!

The songbird surveys, with our bird specialist, was definitely one of the most interesting project.    It was a bit of an adjustment at the beginning of the summer from going from late-night studying at college to getting up at the crack of dawn to listen to birds! The surveys consisted of basically hiking into different fields and identifying all of the birds around us by sight and sound to find out which nesting grassland birds were using the fields, if at all.  After the first five minutes of sensory overload, I enjoyed learning to pick out the different species, from the “witchity-witchity” of the common yellowthroat to the scratchy robin-like call of the scarlet tanager to the flutelike musical notes of the woodthrush.
Later in the summer I got the opportunity to learn about netting bats with the “bat interns” from a sister refuge who were trying to find out what species lived in the area, particularly the endangered Indiana bat.  After I spent one night learning all about catching and identifying bats, I became hooked!  I spent several nights with the Refuge’s echolocation detector walking through the woods conducting activity surveys to find the best places to catch bats.  At the end of the summer the bat interns returned with their nets and we caught three Indiana bats in three nights!  I was so excited to have helped discover and record the endangered species for the first time on our Refuge.

Though I love science, I also enjoy drawing and painting, especially plants and animals.  In my internship, I thought that it would be fun to create a way to share my interests with the public.  With the approval of our refuge manager, the program Visually Experiencing Nature in Art was born.  I took groups of people to different sites on the Refuge to draw and taught the basics of drawing with graphite and charcoal.  Not only did experienced and beginner alike have a great time (including myself!), but people who had never been to the refuge commented on how nice and pretty it was.  I was also questioned about other trails and public programs.  Hopefully they will be back to explore more of what the refuge has to offer!

Overall, I am glad that I happened to discover the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge and took a chance in walking in to speak with our refuge biologist.  It led to a summer of new and exciting opportunities, people, and, especially, wildlife!