As my fellowship comes to a close, I find myself reflecting on all that I’ve learned, all we’ve accomplished together, and how humbled and grateful I feel. There is significant overlap between what birds need and what keeps our waterways healthy, so with Audubon Vermont’s focus on bird habitat conservation and Lake Champlain Sea Grant’s specialty in watershed and lake health, it made sense to join forces and work together on sustainable land management practices that would mutually benefit both. A healthy watershed is one in which land cover supports natural hydrologic and biogeochemical processes and habitat of sufficient size and connectivity for native aquatic and terrestrial species. This jointly funded fellowship was designed as a training opportunity for a young scientist and also to meaningfully advance each organization’s missions through on-the-ground conservation and evaluation of techniques. Thank you to the generous private donors that contributed to the funding of this fellowship. 

Click here for the full article originally posted by Lake Champlain Sea Grant. Read about all the work accomplished together in the field and on paper and what collaboration for the future looks like. 

All of the experiences I've had over the course of this fellowship have been instrumental in my development as a conservation professional, and they have resulted in real-world, tangible, and positive change through on-the-ground conservation action. The work has been deeply gratifying and energizing, and I am grateful to everyone who mentored me on my journey, fiercely encouraged me, gave me the room to grow, and wove me into teams without hesitation.

With the opportunity to demonstrate my work ethic in service to conservation through this fellowship, I’m excited to share that Audubon Vermont has offered me an extension of my position through at least June 2024. Sometimes seeing a student or employee move on to other opportunities can be seen as a sign of success, but I think the real success is having the freedom to choose to stay right where you feel like you belong and can have the most impact doing work that inspires you. I learned a lot in the short time of my fellowship, but the most ardent lesson I took from this experience is that there is great power in the things we can accomplish when we work together towards ambitious goals.

You can view the full poster presentation here.