During my internship with a conservation research group, I supported a project assessing how post‑wildfire food provisioning affects ecosystem function to inform response protocols after major fires. I drafted a summary of action for the funder and primarily scored 5,353 camera‑trap images using Aardwolf to identify native fauna across experimental plots, while also shadowing fieldwork on rehabilitated wallabies—assisting with health checks, preparing blood smears, programming camera traps, and retrieving data.
This internship opened my eyes to the ways in which fieldwork can be incorporated into research, having both an academically and spiritually nourishing effect. I used to think of ecological restoration as localized solutions to local issues. This internship made me realize ecological restoration is a field that requires a global approach; the innovation of multiple countries is needed to effectively combat the threats to a sustainable relationship between humans and nature.
Svea Peterson
Junior | UC Santa Barbara| Australia| Ecology