GEM Environmental is excited to welcome one of our new members to the team! Mariah McGhee is one of our Youth Conservation Interns working as a Maintenance Intern in cooperation with the BLM at the Phoenix District Office. Mariah is from Kansas City, Missouri. She recently graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a BS in Natural Resource Management with an emphasis on Forestry and a minor in Soils. She is the oldest of 4 and grew up in the city! Mariah enjoys a variety of activities that require her to be outside. These activities are hiking, exploring new places, shopping for succulents, and believe it or not mowing the lawn (a Midwest task)! She also competes in Crossfit competitions and it is a big part of her life. Mariah values STEM education for many reasons, but mostly because STEM is the future. STEM education allows us to make connections between the classroom and the world around us to implement stability in the economy and continue to allow for sustained growth. Welcome to the team Mariah! How did you hear about this service opportunity? I heard about GEM’s service opportunity by searching Arizona Environmental opportunities. Upon finding the opportunity with GEM, I was super pleased with the mission and vision of this organization and applied immediately. Please provide a brief description highlighting your work/area of focus. My area of focus currently is on the trees and soils of the Midwest. I have been fortunate to have been exposed to a various of different stands in Missouri that consisted of tree identification, invasive removal, soil testing, stand area data, forest management plans and tons of Excel data sheets! What do you plan to accomplish during your service term with GEM? My expectations involve being able to learn continuously. I would like to grow as a knowledgeable young scholar and professional while contributing meaningful work to an important organization. I know this internship will mold me into a successful Land Manager, while helping me better understand the industry, management practices, and the forest community. I believe working with GEM will allow me to positively impact the great outdoors while encouraging others from every background to learn better ways to care for our environment. What are your career goals? Being I have just graduated, my career goals temporarily include gaining experience and exposure to what I hope to one day permanently do which is to work in the field as a Forest Resource Manger and also be a face to help diversify Environmental Sciences all together. I hope to network with multiple different people and organizations that will help me continue to acquire knowledge and allow for hands-on experiences. Do you plan to continue your education? If so, what programs or school are you looking into and what is the highest degree you plan to earn?
I do plan to further my education and go on to earn my masters degree. I plan to stay in Arizona and have considered making sure I am on the right track to be eligible to obtain my degree from Northern Arizona University. Have you had any other internship or service opportunities before this? If so, how do you believe internships have benefited you so far? In 2018, I worked as an intern with Forest ReLeaf of Missouri in St. Louis, Missouri. With this organization our work was heavily focused on the Urban Forestry side of Forestry. This opportunity helped me understand what a consistent workday is like, and also exposed me to many new environmental methods, tactics and people who have been the industry for years that were able to provide valuable information over a variety of things. Anything else you'd like to share about your work, yourself, or the STEM fields? I am pleased to have been chosen to be apart of this opportunity and very excited to meet others that share similar interests. I am also excited to work hard this summer on the tasks that are for us to complete, all while being in a different climate, topography and region! GEM Environmental is excited to welcome one of our new members to the team! Michael Branham is one of our Youth Conservation Interns working as a Range Technician in cooperation with the BLM at the Lower Sonoran Field Office. Michael is a 31 year old Arizona native. He likes to spend his free time outside. His favorite outdoor activities are fishing, exploring, gold panning/mineral hunting, and camping. He values STEM education because it gives him the educational background he needs to make sense of what he finds and sees in the wilderness. It has also instilled in him, the value and importance of it’s preservation and management. Welcome to the team Michael! How did you hear about this service opportunity?
I was connected to GEM Environmental through my college geology professor Pamela Nelson at Glendale Community College in Glendale, Arizona. Please provide a brief description highlighting your work/area of focus. As I continue through my educational career, I find myself with interests towards cattle/rangeland management and long-term ecosystem sustainability. My intended focus will be the use and preservation of public lands and sustainable land use programs. What do you plan to accomplish during your service term with GEM? I plan to gain as much practical work and field experience as I possibly can while participating with GEM. I also intend to represent the scientific community and the GEM organization to the highest standards possible while learning from active members of the scientific community. What are your career goals? My long term career goals are to be a Rangeland Manager for the BLM and/or participate in programs that focus on natural resource management and preservation. Do you plan to continue your education? If so, what programs or school are you looking into and what is the highest degree you plan to earn? I plan to finish my undergraduate program at Arizona State University and want to graduate with a bachelors in Environmental Sciences. I hope to one day complete a graduate program from ASU and wish to contribute to the scientific community with the highest level of education possible. Have you had any other internship or service opportunities before this? If so, how do you believe internships have benefited you so far? I have not had prior experience with an internship before but I have previous professional experience with the BLM. That experience has led me to want to take any opportunity available to work with that organization again. My previous experience was a pleasant one that has made me want to gain full time employment with that organization in the scientific capacity. Anything else you'd like to share about your work, yourself, or the STEM fields? I am very excited and thrilled to become a member of the GEM Team. So far through my educational studies I have found that my pursuit of scientific knowledge and answers tends to lead to more questions and pursuits. Being a part of an organization such as GEM provides me the necessary tools and direction needed to continue my educational goals. For that I will be forever grateful. Thank you GEM I look forward to the positive experiences and relationships ahead. GEM Environmental is excited to welcome one of our new members to the team! Zac White is one of our Youth Conservation Interns working as a Range Technician in cooperation with the BLM at the Hassayampa Field Office. Zac was born and raised in Arizona and spent most of his childhood outside. He was a Boy Scout and felt lucky to have the opportunity to go and explore the state by camping, hiking, fishing, and swimming in beautiful parks and trails. This time outside gave him an appreciation for the natural world and piqued his interest in having a career studying and protecting it. Zac began his college education at Arizona State University as a 1st generation college student. At ASU he floated between majors in Biochemistry, Biology and Sustainability until he found his calling in Ecology. Taking classes in each of these STEM majors broadened his horizons on understanding nature, how we interact with it and how we can help protect it. He hopes to turn his love of nature into a career protecting it. Welcome to the team Zac! How did you hear about this service opportunity? I contacted the Bureau of Land Management to see if there were any volunteer opportunities in their organization to increase my experience and professional contacts. I got into contact with Lawrence who recommended me to apply for the internship here at GEM. Please provide a brief description highlighting your work/area of focus. I graduated ASU in 2019 with a degree in Applied Biology: Natural Resource Ecology. This degree focuses on the management and sustainable uses of resources of land such as timber, land usage and fisheries. During my undergrad I worked in the Lewis lab working under PhD student Jeff Haight studying the effects of urbanization on the wildlife in the greater Phoenix area. I also Interned with the Arizona Game and Fish Department working under the Wildlife division to monitor Flat Tailed Horned Lizards in the Yuma desert. My area of interest is studying the effects of urbanization on wildlife communities and their changes over time. I want to further innovate and push new GIS and remote sensing technology to more effectively collect data, and model for future trends. What do you plan to accomplish during your service term with GEM? The primary reason I chose to apply for the GEM Youth Internship was the opportunity to gain professional work experience in the field that aligns with my career goals. I believe that academic knowledge is incomplete without being able to apply it in a professional role. I want to learn from experienced leaders that can show me how to excel in a federal agency and private sector environment. When I complete my internship I want to feel that I am competitive in the environmental science field. ASU's Ecology program was comparatively small compared to their Life Science programs cohort and there were few connections to be made with other students. By working with other students or recent graduates I hope to gain new connections with my co-interns. What are your career goals? My career goals are to find a position in a private or government entity that advocates for the preservation and sustainable use of our lands its resources. I would ultimately like to see myself leading a team to work on environmental projects and being able to work out in the field. Do you plan to continue your education? If so, what programs or school are you looking into and what is the highest degree you plan to earn? As of this moment, I am not looking to continue my education as I want to gain experience in the field. However, once if there are opportunities in the future to further my education, I would take the opportunity to earn a master’s degree. To further a career skill, I would get my master’s degree in Geographic Information Systems. To challenge myself I would pursue a MS in Biology and conduct my own research study in a topic dealing with urbanization. Have you had any other internship or service opportunities before this? If so, how do you believe internships have benefited you so far? I interned with the Arizona Game and Fish Department in the summer of 2019. This internship was a great opportunity to show me how a professional environmentalist position would be on a government level. I feel this position started me into the transitionary period from college student to young professional because of the work involved. Being a state employee wearing a state department uniform driving a state vehicle showed me how to act, speak, and present myself to a higher standard than I have been used to. I hope to take this experience from this previous internship and apply it when working with GEM and the BLM. To learn more about Zac White check out his profile on LinkedIn.
|
Categories
All
Archives
June 2024
|