VCE interns and seasonal technicians carrying geese to a release pen ©Gita Yingling

Sadly, we've said farewell to our wonderful summer interns this year. They got to work right away in the field and back in the office, helping with various VCE projects and collecting valuable data. But don't just take our word for it, read their own reflections on their time here (as well as an awesome storymap).

My Summer in Species: Illustrated

Weekly Reflections from a Summer at VCE

Searching for Butterflies: The West Virginia White

Plants ready to be moved to their experimental garden plots ©Desiree Narango

Join VCE Conservation Biologist Desiree Narango, Director of Conservation Ryan Rebozo, and staff technician Amber Jones to help plant experimental gardens in the Upper Valley for our brand-new plant provenance study.

VCE will provide the proper tools, light refreshments, and a can-do attitude!

Hanover: Saturday, September 21st

Hartland: Wednesday, September 25th

Hartford: Saturday, September 28th

Persuasive Invasives: the Catch-22 of Grassland Management

In recent years, we’ve learned that delayed haying for bird conservation creates a dilemma. Fields can’t be cut when birds are nesting, but not cutting allows invasive plants to seed and spread freely. 

Smith Richardson Wildlife Preserve Visit

This summer, VCE conservation scientist Dr. Desiree Narango and the rest of the technician team have been helping Connecticut Audubon with a key wildlife preserve in Westport, Connecticut. 

Lead Poisoning and a Love Triangle: A Tale of One Common Loon's Brush with Death

All different emotions coursed through our group of loon enthusiasts when we encountered a weak and exhausted Common Loon, resting in knee-deep water in the shade of an overhanging cedar tree.

Pink-edged Sulphur (Colias Interior) ©Kent McFarland

Are you curious why there are just as many female Bicknell’s Thrush born as males, but

in some years, there are up to four times more males than females on their Mt. Mansfield summer breeding grounds? Have you ever wondered if specific plant locations across their range impact their usefulness to the pollinators in your yard? Have you wondered how Vermont’s butterfly population has changed over the past 20 years?

Your gifts and time help VCE scientists ask and find answers to these, and many more questions.

For the curious, the answers to our questions can be found here:

Bicknell's Thrush, Plant Provenance, Butterfly Atlas

American Snout (Libytheana carinenta) ©Bernie Paquette

Congratulations to Bernie Paquette for winning the August 2024 Photo-observation of the Month for the Vermont Atlas of Life on iNaturalist! His photo of an American Snout (Libytheana carinenta) butterfly he found at Mobbs Farm received the most faves of any iNaturalist observation in Vermont during the past month. 

Read the full article here.