2. Overview
How it all started
Educational experience
Administrative duties
Scientific research experience
Field experience with wild birds
Reflection and future directions
3. How It All Started
Found the opportunity to intern at the
Arboretum during Spring Term
Tip from North Central College Career
Development and biology faculty
Accepted to the ACI Internship Program
and the Morton Arboretum in late April
4. Educational Experience
Learned professional behavior in educational settings
Shadowed Arboretum educational events
Tracked and mailed students’ progress reports
Advertised classes to outside partners
Educational benchmarking
Organization and design of classes and class content
The Morton Arboretum
5. Administrative Duties
Lots of copying and printing,
GoogleDocs
Content of copies ties into
educational experience
Technical Experience: EventsPro,
PeopleWare
Assembling fliers and small ads to
display publicly or at Arboretum
special events
Creating directional signage for
special events
Designing app tours for visitor
interests
6. Scientific Research Experience
July 15-19
Recorded measurements
and online records for
specimens of Carex
sedges
Tested Herbarium’s new
data system to study
sedge morphology
Published records on
eMonocot Cyperaceae
7. Field Experience with Wild Birds
Joined bird monitors on
walks and nest checks
once a week for half of
the internship
Observed licensed bird
banders at work
Assisted bluebird monitors
with checking nest boxes
Data analysis a
contributing factor for the
documentation of focal
bird species for natural
resource management
Courtesy of John Skach
and Ginny Stohr
8. Reflection and Future
Directions
Three lessons learned:
Answering “So what?” from administrative and
educational perspective
Proper etiquette in both office and research settings
Application of data in research and capability of
specialization
Overall excellent experience from the educational
and administrative view
Solid foundation for building professional ethics and
specific research career interests
Helped me see my future career from a different
perspective and learn to adapt
Now better prepared for experience in research
