I had just rolled into Twisp, WA for the first time in a year, this time to stay for at least five weeks. I got a text from Anna, “A colleague of mine is going out to collar wolves tomorrow. Would you be interested in joining?” In the Home Range Wildlife Research parking lot, I let out an excited squeal, practically jumping up and down in my seat, the same reaction I had to the email telling me I got into the Field Immersion Program in the first place. This is my first day?!, I thought in disbelief. I arrived to the office late on a Friday evening and hadn’t even reconnected with Anna or Carmen since meeting them at the Wildlife Field Techniques course a year earlier and I was already jumping headfirst into the good stuff.
This is what this program has felt like: every day, a new opportunity to soak up as much wisdom as I could from local biologists. Throughout the program, I shadowed a variety of professionals, including John Rohrer, to assist with handling and pit tagging Northern Pacific rattlesnakes, Julie Hovis, for a lesson in mist netting and bird banding passerines, Kent Woodruff, for banding Kestrel nestlings, Logan Parr from Conservation NW, to assist with marmot trapping, and, as mentioned, Gabe Spence for wolf trapping and collaring. We also joined the Methow Beaver Project on a mission to survey riparian areas for current and historic beaver activity. Though not all opportunities meant animal handling directly, I was able to pick the brains of professionals in the field, learning everything from live trap operations to ethical animal handling tips to navigating the human and political dimensions of this field.
Natalie Franco assisting in tubing a Northern Pacific rattlesnake with John Rohrer.
Home Range provided a variety of training opportunities for us including a Wilderness First Aid course, a Track and Sign course with Dave Moskowitz, and some bumble bee survey training with The Xerces Society for the Pacific Northwest Bumble Bee Atlas. The Wilderness First Aid course allowed us to refresh our skills or try our hands for the first time at wilderness medicine in mock first responder scenarios. To prepare for our track and sign evaluation, we spent many days out with Anna, Carmen, Kim, and Jan Sodt, studying all sorts of evidence of local wildlife before putting our knowledge to the test with Dave and walking away with Track and Sign certifications. We were also treated with a second bumble bee survey outing with John Kolts who helped us compare and identify different species. With all of our time in between, Anna, Kim, and Carmen ensured our proficiency in telemetry, necropsies, research project preparation and planning, and remote camera work. They also taught me, just from being around them, how to navigate nonprofit management with grace, how to handle difficulty with patience, and that you can produce just as professional of work while being goofy, fun, and personable.
This opportunity has meant the world to me. With one year left in my Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation program with a GIS certificate at Oregon State University, I cannot wait to get out in the field full time. This program has given me the hands-on experience needed to break into this competitive field, as well as the confidence to try and try again at daunting and new tasks. I hope to continue working seasonal jobs for a few years as a wildlife technician. I hope to work with mammals of all sorts and have realized I just might be interested in some snake or birds of prey work in the future. I plan to travel the U.S. and probably beyond through these positions. Once I feel fulfilled in my travels and experience, perhaps academia will call to me once more. But I will leave that decision up to my future self. As for present me, I know that the Field Immersion Program has given me confidence, experience, connections, and memories that far outlast the end of the program.
Logan Parr amidst the fireweeds and burn scar.
A Queen bee after being netted by another bumble bee survey trainee.
Natalie and Dave checking out an otter track.
Left to right: Logan Parr, Adrian Kirkman, Natalie Franco, and John Kolt.
A reunion of the bumble bee surveyors! John kindly offered to guide a full bumble bee
survey and point out differences between bumble bee species.
