USU Internship Supports Utah DWR and Important Waterfowl Management Areas

Each summer the Quinney College of Natural Resources offers paid internships to undergraduate students who want to get their feet wet in a chosen professional field.

One of this year's interns, wildlife management major Grace Johnson, built hands-on experience and practical skills doing fieldwork in the Great Salt Lake wetlands and at the Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area.

Her work included surveys of waterfowl and shorebirds, control of invasive weeds like phragmites, and collecting and tracking data on animal populations, all in cooperation with knowledgeable mentors from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources — some of which are Aggies themselves.

The QCNR internship program has partnerships with the U.S. Forest Service, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Utah Forestry, Fire & State Lands, National Parks and nonprofit agencies to provide these kinds of experiences to students as soon as their freshman year as an integral part of their academic program.