For this week's featured Friday Intern, meet Amelia: Hi! My name is Amelia and this summer I am interning with the Maine Department of Transportation as a GIS Assistant for Vegetation Management. A large part of my role as an intern is documenting the vegetation along the I-95 corridor in Maine as part of the DOT's work to manage and support the native habitats our roadsides provide. Before I go out in the field, I make sure I have all my protective gear, and tools for data collection. Then I drive to my first site, which is different every day. A large portion of what I do is documenting beneficial flowers along our priority roadways. The DOT seeds these areas, and I am working to document which areas have been successful and which could be improved. I am also documenting the invasive species present in each location, and their severity. These plants outcompete native vegetation and can take over diverse habitats, so documentation and management are critical. As part of the DOT's application to the Monarch CCAA, I am documenting information such as milkweed stems, pollinators, and the flower cover at each location. This information helps to determine the quality of each location as a monarch butterfly habitat. Since I am on the road so often, I make lunch at home to take with me. Usually, I will find the nearest park so I can sit and look at the birds, and enjoy a new area while I eat. By the afternoon I head back to the office. Here I enter data, upload and organize photos, and map out important areas that I surveyed. I have been using the Pollinator Habitat Scorecard created by the Rights of Way as Habitat Working Group to 'score' the locations I visit. These spaces are an opportunity for us to provide habitats, food, and other resources to pollinators, especially Monarch butterflies. After I am finished, I head home for the day! This internship opportunity, through the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Program at the University of Maine has allowed me to learn so much already, and I am excited to see what the rest of the summer brings! For more featured Friday content, and photos Amelia has taken, check out the State of Maine Instagram or Facebook. #FeaturedFriday #MaineGovernment #NewEngland #Northeast #WorkInME #Jobs #Maine #JobsInMaine #InternLife #DayInTheLife #InternshipExperience #CareerDevelopment #ProfessionalGrowth #BehindTheScenes #JobShadowing #CareerInspiration #IndustryInsights #WorkLife #OfficeLife #InternAdventures #CareerGoals #ProfessionalJourney #MGSIP24
-
-
-
-
-
+3