Anna Holder's Protfolio

Internship Work Summary

My internship was at the Napa County Resource Conservation District (NRCD). NRCD is a medium sized company. My internship coordinator, Jonathan Koehler, is the Senior Biologist of NRCD. The company's mission is to “promote responsible watershed management through community stewardship”. My responsibility at NRCD was to monitor a few creeks in town. This was a small piece of a somewhat large project given to the company by the California Department of Fish and Game. My other work objectives were to become familiar with scientific processes and to do some data entry for the company.

My main goal during my internship was to collect data for about four or five creeks. I would analyze the surroundings; whether the water was clear or murky, if I could see the bottom etc. as well as use the YSI-85 to gather other information about the water. The YSI would test for: water temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, etc. The most tedious of all of my responsibilities was to do the data entry. I would take dozens of pages of data and enter them into the Watershed Database. It was very repetitive but necessary. The best way to become familiar with scientific processes is to take part in them. The whole experience did this for me, but my favorite learning experiences were when I was able to conduct surveys with Jonathan and Chad. Chad is the field technician. I went out in the field with them twice.

The first time I went with them, our objective was to count trout, both dead and alive and their spawning beds. The whole experience was very interesting. We walked through the Napa River looking for trout. When we found them, my job was to use the GPS system and keep coordinates of where the trout or beds were. If the trout was dead, Jonathan and Chad would take samples and pictures of the dead trout and I would take a GPS coordinate. That way, when Jonathan was done with the survey he could map where everything was and be able to see how the trout were doing in the river.

The second time I went out with them we tested for gravel permeability in Redwood Creek. We looked for possible trout beds and analyzed how fast the water was moving over them. We did this because the faster the water flowed over the bed, the more likely the trout eggs would survive. The water supplies the eggs with oxygen so the faster it flowed over the beds the more oxygen the eggs would receive and the more likely the eggs would survive. Or, as Jonathan would jokingly say, “More water equals good!”

This whole experience has changed my views of science for the better. Before the internship I knew that there would be data but I did not know how important it was to put it into a system. Without doing that all you have is data, when you put it into a system and are able to see everything next to each other, you can see the big picture. The internship also showed me that, in this case, the community matters. If the land owners did not let us enter the creek we would never be able to take the surveys. I did not realize how much the community mattered in science.

In a school science was all about memorizing facts. In my internship I realized that knowing the facts was important, but if you didn't know something it was okay. You could look it up. When I think of my internship and the eight learning outcomes of New Tech, the first one that comes to mind is collaboration. There are lots of individual things that one could do alone in science, but in order to get that big picture you need to collaborate with your peers. The next thing is oral communication. I can remember helping Jonathan and Chad and all of a sudden a property owner would come out and ask us what we were doing. Jonathan took the lead and described what we were doing so that that land owner, whoever he or she was, could understand what we were doing. When I went out to analyze the creeks I would have people walk by and ask me what I was doing and I would do the same thing. I now know a little bit more about what it takes to be a scientist. While working with the NRCD I realized that science is not just about research and facts, it is also about keeping the public aware of the current situation and getting the community involved.

During my internship I was introduced to a few new technologies. I learned how to use the YSI-85. This tool was fascinating; all I had to do was put one end of it into the water, wait a little bit and press enter and I would be able to receive all of this very useful information. I was introduced to a database different from all the databases at New Tech. Instead of entering a journal or an essay, I entered data about surrounding creeks. With that entered data I was capable of seeing the progress or relapse of a creek and its surroundings.

I am very glad that I was fortunate enough to have an internship at the NRCD. I was able to experience processes that you can only experience in the field. I got to work with professionals and learn more about science in general. Because of this internship, I was able to solidify my careers goals. I know that I belong in science and know more about how to get to where I am going. The whole experience was definitely worth the while and I would definitely recommend it to any other student that is interested in science.