TIDES interns help coordinate and facilitate collaborative ecosystem research within these projects. They provide input on how multi-stakeholder scientific discussions are structured and facilitated for maximum impact. They also may organize, implement, and evaluate interactions between researchers and intended users.

You can learn more about these interns' collaborative experiences by following the TIDES blog.

Most complete one year of coursework before beginning their internships, which may be one or two semesters in duration, depending on the student’s background and available projects at the Reserves. They generally serve these projects for six months, during the summer and fall terms after their first year.

If you have general questions about the TIDES internship program, contact Kalle Matso.

2012 Interns

• Meg Gardner, Waquoit Bay Reserve, Massachusetts
• Catherine Buchalski, Mission-Aransas Reserve, Texas
• Emily Troisi, Rookery Bay Reserve, Florida

Meg Gardner is working at the Waquoit Bay Reserve, in Massachusetts, on the project Bringing Wetlands to Market. This project generates science and management tools with the potential to bring coastal wetlands into international carbon markets and incentivize investment in tidal wetland restoration and preservation.

Meg’s internship involves creating communications products that will help describe the project’s objectives, field research, and the anticipated management tools, which include a carbon offset protocol, a greenhouse gas emissions model, and an economic analysis of different wetland restoration and development scenarios. The communications products she is developing include videos and fact sheets for the intended users of the project’s results, such as other NERRS sites, NOAA, local towns, land trusts, state agencies, and non-profit organizations. To ensure these products will be helpful, she plans to solicit their feedback through beta testing with intended users throughout the process. You can read about the communications work Meg is doing on the TIDES blog.

To learn more about this internship contact Meg Gardner, or her NERRS mentor Coastal Training Program Coordinator Tonna-Marie Surgeon-Rogers.

Catherine Buchalski is working at the Mission-Aransas Reserve in Texas, on the project, Balancing Freshwater Needs in a Changing Environment. This project uses collaborative approaches to unite regional stakeholders through a series of workshops in which they are working to build a system dynamics model of the Mission-Aransas and Guadalupe-San Antonio Estuaries, which will help inform future policies and the freshwater inflow recommendations for this watershed.

Catherine’s internship encompasses everything from assisting with field assessments of wetland plants and estuarine organisms, to working on land-use models of local watersheds, and engaging with area stakeholders through presentations and meetings. Catherine also spends a great deal of her time creating and distributing outreach pieces to publicize and communicate the project goals to a wider public audience through videos, the TIDES blog, and social media.

To learn more about this internship contact Catherine Buchalski or one of her NERRS mentors, Reserve Manager Sally Morehead Palmer or Stewardship Coordinator Kiersten Madden.

Emily Troisi is at the Rookery Bay Reserve on the Florida Freshwater Resource project, which seeks to help local communities manage freshwater flows in the Henderson Creek watershed in southwest Florida.

Emily’s internship involves helping with stakeholder identification and analysis, market analysis of other organizations that manage similar projects and offer related outreach programs, the creation of informational material, and conducting background research on freshwater allocation and reservations. She will also assist with stakeholder interviews and help conduct meetings and trainings. When not working on the project, she assists reserve researchers in the field, attends trainings that Rookery Bay Reserve offers, and works on community outreach about the NERRS and TIDES program through the TIDES blog.

To learn more about this internship contact Emily Troisi. For general questions about the project contact Coastal Training Specialist Janel Vasallo.

2011 Interns

• Kenny Daher, Kachemak Bay Reserve, Alaska
• Zack Steele, Hudson River Reserve, New York
• Kathryn Rosengren, Wells Reserve, Maine
• Colin Lentz, Great Bay Reserve, New Hampshire

Kenny Daher is at the Kachemak Bay Reserve, working with the project Planning for a Changing Landscape in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. This project aims to better understand the relationship between vertical landscape changes and sea level rise.

Kenny is assisting with data collection, information transfer, and training of citizen scientists for data collection in intertidal habitats. His internship also involves assessing and evaluating the extent of efficacy of collaboration mechanisms, and assisting with preparation and conducting meetings for stakeholder interactions.

To learn more about this internship contact Kenny Daher, or one of his NERRS mentors, Research Coordinator Angie Doroff and Coastal Training Program Coordinator Megan Murphy.

Zack Steele is working at the Hudson River Reserve, on the project, Promoting Sustainable Shorelines Along New York's Hudson River Estuary. This multidisciplinary project is helping local stakeholders understand the economic and environmental tradeoffs of different approaches to managing shoreline erosion and change.

Zack's internship includes data collection through interviews, meetings, focus groups, and field trips, and recommending improvements to the public participation process. It also involves participation in the development of decision support tools, including contextual maps, performance indictors, and visualization tools, as well as conducting a shoreline visual preference survey.

To learn more about this internship contact Zack Steele, or one of his NERRS mentors, Reserve Manager Betsy Blair and Coastal Training Program Coordinator Emilie Hauser.

Kathryn Rosengren is at the Wells Reserve, supporting the project, Balancing Land Use Decisions in Southern Maine. This project is using social science methods to better understand, measure, and communicate the value of services and benefits provided by waterfront buffer lands and wetlands in southern Maine.

Kathryn helps out with ecological field research, conducts interviews, and observes and supports focus groups and workshops. Her internship also involves addressing local policy evaluation of riparian buffer utilization and enforcement, evaluating town master plans, interviewing local stakeholders to identify enforcement measures and gaps, and generating a GIS map as a product to summarize the findings.

To learn more about this internship contact Kathryn Rosengren, or her mentor Chris Feurt.

Colin Lentz is working at the Great Bay Reserve on the project Managing Nitrogen Pollution in New Hampshire's Great Bay. This project is enhancing understanding of how nitrogen pollution flows into New Hampshire's Great Bay by locating nonpoint nitrogen hot spots, identifying sources of that nitrogen, and characterizing how streams, rivers, and riparian buffers can mitigate its impact on the Bay.

Colin gathers background information, reaches out to stakeholder groups to discuss how the project can inform and support decision making. He also conducts interviews about perceptions of nitrogen issues in the Great Bay and is helping to develop social media outlets to disseminate findings.

To learn more about this internship contact Colin Lentz or his University of New Hampshire mentors professors William McDowell or Charlie French.