A Young Wolf Joins the Pack

Greetings! My name is Dana Ista Noble and I am the newest Resource Intern. 

I graduated from the University of South Florida with a bachelor's degree in Environmental Science specializing in Ecology.

I had found my passion in Conservation Ecology back when I was in elementary school where I won a poster that says Keep The Wild Alive and illustrates some of the well known endangered species. 

To this day I still have that poster framed in great condition hanging on my wall motivating me to keep moving forward towards my passion.

I had followed the efforts of the World Wildlife Foundation as a little girl dreaming of working for them as an ecologist and actually making a positive impact in the world. Every birthday I had all I asked for of my parents was a donation to be made to the World Wildlife Fund and I am proud to call myself a member of their organization.

In middle school another building block was placed on me when my science teacher gave me a newspaper article headlined Lessons From The Wolf. This article illustrated how the reintroduction of the wolves at Yellowstone National Forest restored the trophic structure of the land and allowed new flora to be able to grow again. This set my passion on fire and I want nothing more than to be an ecologist specializing in apex predators; specifically wolves and large cats.

While in college I volunteered with the Ridge Rangers of Florida Fish and Wildlife and did restoration work. I was also part of the Conservation Ecology club where we did volunteer projects for wildlife rehabilitation sanctuaries and other field work. I also worked with a graduate student conducting water tests from the Florida Aquifer. My ecology professors also allowed me to be part of their field research and restoration efforts of mangroves and oysters beds at Mosquito Lagoon.

After I graduated I spent 6 months working for Americorp where I worked for the National Park Service along the southeastern coast of the United States. The majority of my work was done in the Great Smoky Mountains where I did vegetation work similar to my current position here at Corkscrew. 

My last project working at the Smoky Mountains, the NPS manager who was my boss gave me a magazine that is all about the Yellowstone Wolf project and I nearly cried. I hope I'll reach my dream some day.

In the near future I want to be able to go to Nepal in order to join the conservation ecology team in their research on the Snow Leopard. With that experience in research I can get closer to my dream of being a conservation ecologist that makes a positive impact for those species.

For now I am learning land management strategies because without a healthy land the other species would vanish and die out.

"Everything has a Spirit - Honor that"

FGCU's 2019 Biodiversity Conference

Last Thursday, March 14th, I attended FGCU's 2019 Biodiversity Conference. This is the second conference I have attended since being at Corkscrew (the first being CISMA, 2/26) and I have to say, they are a nice way to escape the office. It is cool to be able to compare this Biodiversity Conference with the one I attended previously because they were very different experiences for me. The CISMA conference seemed to draw a much more diverse and scientific crowd and provided presentations by a variety of people, in a variety of fields. The Biodiversity Conference drew some scientists, but its crowd was much more varied and included a number of environmental activists. I think this is due to the nature of this conference, which is that it focused on one heated topic: Red Tide in Florida.

Sarah Walters Burnsed (Marine Finfish Biologist, FWC)
giving her presentation about red tide in Florida

The conference was organized with a morning session, afternoon session, and closing remarks. The morning session included a panel with people from 3 different fields: Science, Vet Medicine, and Policy/Law. There were six people total, each who gave a brief presentation about red tide from their own perspective. These presentations were interesting in that they gave some dimension to this hot-button issue. I enjoyed learning from the policy people in particular. After the panelists gave their presentations, it was time for questions. Some of the questions were well thought out and made sense for the topic, while others were directed to a specific panelist or aimed to create controversy. All together the morning session was interesting to an observer like me.

After an hour break for lunch, it was time for the afternoon session. This session was cut up into three workshops: Science, Policy, or Education. Conference participants could only attend one, so I picked policy because it is something I have a keen interest in. The workshop was nothing like I expected it to be. I thought it was going to be more about the policies and laws behind the issue of red tide in Florida but it was more about the activists being able to get on their soapboxes and complain about environmental issues. Although it was interesting, I didn't get much out of it personally.

All the organizations who sponsored the Biodiversity Conference.
Most had representatives at the conference.

The closing remarks were probably the best part of the conference because we discussed and summarized thoughts from all three workshops as the main group. It helped reinforce the big picture, which is more my style. I liked hearing about what we could do as individuals to help aid in reducing the threat of red tide in Florida. Overall I think this was a good conference to attend to observe the differences between some scientific conferences and to see how they are not all created equal.

If nothing else, it was a fun way to escape the office work for a day.

- Kendall, Conservation Intern

Another one fledges from the nest

Collecting minnow traps on a CHILLY (40 deg) morning

It feels bittersweet to be wrapping up my final week as an intern at Corkscrew. While the last 6 months have absolutely flown by, I've also somehow learned an incredible amount since I arrived here in September. Before this internship, I had never worked in a wetlands ecosystem before, and I certainly didn't have a solid understanding of the Everglades. From fish sampling to wading bird surveys to prescribed burning, I've gotten my feet wet, so to say, and have had the incredible opportunity to experience the beauty of southwest Florida through the lens of a field biologist.

Assisting in my first (HOT) prescribed fire

All the amazing wildlife that Florida has to offer allowed me plenty of opportunities to expand on two of my favorite hobbies -- birding and nature photography. It certainly doesn't hurt to live just a few steps away from the boardwalk! By far the best part about living on site was being able to access the swamp during the quiet hours of dawn and dusk. The cacophony of singing Carolina Wrens, the harsh calls of chatty Red-shouldered Hawks, and the convincingly hog-like grunts of Pig Frogs are all sounds that have become comfortingly familiar to me. I've even grown fascinated by creatures that I've never really had an interest in before, like snakes!

Male bobcat on the boardwalk at dusk

Ringneck snake found on a herp survey

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Big Cypress Research Symposium 2018

Working at Corkscrew for half a year truly allowed me to immerse myself in the vastly unique world of South Florida in a way that no other experience could have done. I am incredibly grateful for all the mentors and coworkers I've worked and lived with day and night, and who ultimately have become my good friends. For now, I'm excited to begin my next adventure working on an endangered grassland bird research project on the other side of the continent in Oregon this summer!

Feel free to reach me at my email address, larajones26@gmail.com, if you'd like to keep in touch with me beyond Corkscrew!

~Lara