BTLT was lucky to have four incredible interns this summer who spent the last few months exploring trails, working on projects, and gaining an assortment of skills from public speaking to chain-sawing. While we express how grateful we are for their commitment, enthusiasm, and curiosity, we also wanted them to share their experiences in their own words.
Kaia Ganzell, Middlebury College
Throughout my internship this summer, our supervisor Julia (Agricultural Programs Manager) would often have our intern cohort share our rose, bud, and thorn each week as a way to share highlights, challenges, and things we were looking forward to. I figured this would be a great way to share my experience.
My rose of the summer was certainly the many field trips to visit the farms, organizations, and other land trusts that BTLT collaborates with. From a tour of Mere Point Oyster Co. to walking through the fields of Crystal Spring Farm learning about nitrogen fixation and crop rotation, I learned an immense amount about local agriculture, and all of the decisions and work that go into production.
My thorn (despite my time in the Tom Settlemire Community Garden being one of the most rewarding parts of my internship) was the unremitting existence of weeds. Some combination of warming conditions combined with heavy early summer rains have caused an overgrowth of weeds that was a constant battle for volunteers in the Garden this summer. Delicately pulling grass out from between the small carrots, yanking out large chunks of purslane from around the onions, and removing the seeds off of the weeds in Sivi’s garden in an effort to eliminate farther spread was certainly the biggest battle of my summer.
Something I am looking forward to, my bud, is to use the knowledge I have gained throughout this internship as I move forward in my life and my career. While I hope to pursue environmental health as a field of study, this opportunity has given me a vast understanding of the work that a land trust does, and how it connects with the land through agriculture, education, and preservation. I am also excited to look back and hopefully continue the work I have done with food resource outreach. While primarily focused on the Maine Senior Farmshare Program this summer, I hope to expand on this—as food safety and accessibility are directly linked to public and global health systems that I hope to work within in the future. Access to nutritious food, protecting natural resources, and building generally strong, resilient communities lies at the root of public health.
Izzy Afflerbach, McGill University
As someone with many interests, I was thrilled about getting to dabble in BTLT’s work with agriculture, stewardship, and education, but the other interns and I jumped right into detail, and I realized the exciting depth of BTLT’s mission.
At the Tom Settlemire Community Garden, I learned the science behind layering green and brown material to effectively “cook” batches of compost. Field trips to different farms in the community also taught me how each farmer weighs ecological, financial, and personal factors to determine how to sell their produce. While agriculture certainly involves lots of time in the dirt, the planning required to organize a CSA or sell to larger distributors, consider future soil health, and make compost takes even more perseverance than pulling crab grass out of carrot beds.
On our first stewardship day, we learned about how bog bridges support hikers, but are also imperative to conservation because they maximize the amount of undisturbed forest. Field trips to other land trusts to build and monitor trails taught us to drive Canycoms to fill holes with dirt, but also the legal details that come with easements and property rights. While not all operations across the different land trusts were identical, the overlap and support across Maine’s vast community of land trusts was undoubtedly a highlight.
Helping out at the CREA Camp also displayed the planning that ensures campers have fun, stay safe, and learn about natural world around them. Strong counselor leadership was necessary for this success, but it was particularly neat to see how Counselors in Training, who spend two consecutive weeks at camp, became more confident in their abilities to support campers. Perhaps my favorite part of getting to know campers, though, was seeing the crossover at the Farmers Market, where campers would come to BTLT’s booth to get their ‘POP Bucks,’ a program that gives kids $4 to spend on fruits or vegetables at the Market. I would feel like a celebrity when they recognized me as one of their counselors.
My summer undoubtedly had moments of hard work, like struggling to rip staples out of old fence posts at TSCG to prepare for replacement, or supporting screaming kids at camp after an unfortunate yellow jacket nest encounter, but these experiences were quickly overshadowed by the joy I encountered each day working with BTLT’s fabulous interns, staff, and volunteers.
Alexis Martinez, Bowdoin College
My biggest goal when entering this internship was wanting to establish myself as a resource for the Brunswick community and get to know community members better. I wasn’t sure what to expect at the beginning of the internship, but really appreciated the flexibility that allowed me to engage more with my community-oriented goals, namely through the Community Garden, CREA field trips, and CREA Camp.
Although these were programs where I interacted directly with community members, I also really enjoyed the internship’s ‘Stewardship Fridays’ knowing that the trails and conserved land we were working on would provide an additional resource to the community while supporting the preservation of essential ecosystem services.
I particularly enjoyed centering my work around ecological knowledge, gaining further knowledge from exploring trails, and hoping to support others in making these connections to the natural world. Another highlight was getting to work alongside the other interns, it was a great experience to share with others and made the summer that much better!
Alexei Douhovnikoff, Middlebury College
I feel so lucky to have been an intern at BTLT this summer! It was a wonderful experience because of the people I got the chance to work with. My fellow interns were awesome, always kind and positive. Every BTLT staff member I got to work with was super supportive and patient through the whole experience.
In the Community Garden I had a great time working with the volunteers in the Common Good Garden on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Because I was less of a fan of weeding, I often ended up processing compost, learning the science behind this work. Other niche skills I learned in the Garden this summer include laying down drip irrigation and using a manual push mower.
With the stewardship department, I worked on BTLT’s trails, pruning, weed whacking, and monitoring different properties. Things didn’t always go as planned. Some days our stewardship group would get rained on or stung by wasps. Despite these experiences, the stewardship experience was a lot of fun overall. Highlights include chainsawing and canoeing.
In the office, I worked on an interactive map with information about all of BTLT’s properties. I am excited that this will be displayed on BTLT’s new website which will be launched sometime in the near future.
At BTLT we love the chance to work with young people and especially to help college students make connections between what they learn in the classroom and the work BTLT does in practice. Thank you Kaia, Izzy, Alexis, and Alexei – we hope you will come back and visit us soon!
