2024 IDEC Summer Forestry Internship

By Maria Suarez, Increasing Diversity in Environmental Careers Fellow

This summer has been filled with fulfilling opportunities that have proven to me why I want to be in forestry.  Each and every week was filled with new things, yet there were a few projects that lasted throughout the summer to keep things consistent. Each day was a new adventure and I honestly don’t think a day went by when there wasn’t anything to snap a picture of.  Whether it was a beautiful site that we were working at, crazy weather that left us soaked, or a really neat mushroom, everyday there was a new memory that I wanted to capture.

Throughout this summer, a common project that I worked on was called the culvert project.  This required myself and another intern to drive on forest roads and use the GPS to find culverts and mark down their dimensions as well as their general condition.  This was a great way to get more familiar with the area that we were working in as well as familiarize ourselves with navigating forest roads with minimal cell service.  I am proud to say that by the end of the summer, we were rarely using google maps to get ourselves back to the office. The photo below offers an example of some of the forest roads that we were driving on.  As well as a picture of the other intern, Hailey that I worked closely with all summer.

This summer has provided me the unique opportunity to see a broad range of projects that forestry has to offer while staying centralized in a main location.  This gave me a deeper understanding of the area and enabled me to have a more in depth training experience.  Such as learning how to tow and back up a trailer, driving UTVs, operate a winch, and even spend a week driving tractors at the tree nursery.  These were valuable skills that I will be able to take with me on my career moving forward.