2015 Field Experiences

This summer, SEWISC helped to place twelve University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Department of Geography students into fieldwork internships around Southeastern Wisconsin.

Izabel Ditchev, Hannah Machura. Keith Helm and John Duecker worked with Jerry Ziegler, who manages six nature preserves for The Nature Conservancy. The students completed a wide array of tasks, including the installation of a floating dock, management of invasive shrubs in an oak savannah, sorting and moving herbicides from a building that will be torn down; monitoring boat traffic, clearing woody debris left from a prescribed burn, and Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping.

Schlitz Audubon Land Manager, Marc White mentored interns Corey Hoover and Damian Wetzel who used their GIS skills to produce maps of dames rocket and garlic mustard populations in the reptile and amphibian conservation area.  Their project maps and reports will be used for vital long-term management at the sanctuary.

Melissa Cook and Tom Kroeger of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) received the help of Andy Arnoldussen, Guy Davies, Elise Weiss, Diana Hornick, Tony Tieso and Matt Page at Havenwoods State Forest and Lakeshore State Park and on the Hank Aaron Trail. Intern tasks were numerous and included visitor counts and surveys used to summarize visitor use. The surveys also included a description of visitor activity such as walking, biking, or running.

Having accurate visitor estimates is vital to the parks; providing important information for grants, partnerships, and internal WDNR management decisions.  This information cannot be collected without the help that these interns provide.

We would like to thank Jerry, Marc, Melissa and Tom for volunteering to mentor these twelve students and for offering great opportunities during the summer through which the interns mastered new skills while honing skills gained through their University coursework.