And Then There's Margo

Hello there! My name's Margo and I, too, am a summer intern for the NSRWA! I can now say the acronym pretty fast. Much progress. I lived in Charlton, MA (near Worcester) until I was about 15 and then moved in with my dad in Marshfield, MA. I attend Marshfield Public High School here and will begin my senior year come fall! I plan on going to college in California for geology, particularly geochemistry, and studying abroad to further explore our monumental planet and its inhabitants.

I've always had an affinity for the natural world and the diverse life it holds. When I was a kid I remember learning about the Ring of Fire in elementary school and was completely mesmerized and astounded. Ever since then I dream of becoming a volcanologist! Usually when I say that people go, "Oh so like Dante's Peak?", yes except unlike Mr. Brosnan I'm a real scientist ;-D

Working with the NSRWA for the past few weeks has already been an awesome experience with only greater and more memorable things to come! Lookin forward to it indeed! Later!

- Margo (aka Polo)

Check out that knotweed yield.

Intern Number Four, Alex Rozen

My name is Alex Rozen and I am the final summer intern for the NSRWA! I am from Carver, Massachusetts and I graduated from Carver High School this spring. I am very excited to begin my first year at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the fall! Although my major is currently undecided, I am very interested in environmental science, and I am so happy to have the opportunity to help out at NSRWA.

On Thursday the 13th of June, Sara Grady, Emily Pitman, and I went out to Mill Pond to set up quadrats around clumps of purple loosestrife plants along the bank of the pond made by the Mill Pond dam.  Purple loosestrife is an invasive species of purple flowering plant that is native to Europe but was introduced to North America in the 1800s. It thrives in shallow wetlands, so Mill Pond is an ideal location for a takeover by the plant. Our mission is to release a purple loosestrife eating beetle, the galerucella, into the Mill Pond area to suppress the current invasion.

Now that the quadrats are in place, we will return to Mill Pond to record the plotted purple loosestrife and then monitor these marked plants when the galerucella are released.

Emily (in the blue) and I (in the pink) staking out the quadrats (top) and in  front of the purple loosestrife plant (bottom)

I am excited to see the results of the galerucella release and all of the other things in store for us interns this summer at the NSRWA!

Another New Summer Intern-Sara Head

Hi everyone! My name is Sara Head and I am one of the NSRWA's new summer interns.  I am from, and currently reside in Marshfield, MA.  For those familiar with the area, I live on Damons Point, located across from the mouth of the North River and The Spit.
Naturally, I developed a love for the rivers and surrounding ecosystems from years of kayaking and boating with my family.  This passion led me to study Environmental Geology in college.  I attended Eckerd College, on Florida's Gulf coast for my freshman and sophomore years, and recently transferred to Bridgewater State University.  I will be a senior this fall, and plan to continue my education in Paleontology and Paleoclimatology later in grad school.

For now, I am the secretary for BSU's Geological Society, where we host guest lecturers and go on field trips to significant geological sites.  We recently went to the Big Island of Hawaii in the Spring to study volcanoes and magma composition!

As an intern, I am extremely excited to put my love for nature to work in the field!  The NSRWA currently has several projects underway, including the removal of Japanese Knotweed, which I took part in with my fellow interns on my first day.

Japanese Knotweed is a highly invasive bamboo-like plant that grows mostly along rivers and streams.  As the name implies, the plant originated in Asia and has now made itself quite dominant here in our watershed communities.  The Knotweed may look pretty, but it actually limits biodiversity of species in an ecosystem, deeming it an "invasive species".  The plant is spread when it is uprooted and transported to new locations, usually through waterways.
Last Thursday (June 6th), we removed nearly all of the Japanese Knotweed from South River Park in Marshfield, hopefully allowing for more plant life to flourish there.  Removal of the leaves and stalk will prevent further photosynthesis and the remaining roots were treated with an organic Sodium Chloride herbicide.

For more information on Japanese Knotweed, please check out these websites:
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/plants/weeds/aqua015.html
http://your.kingcounty.gov/dnrp/library/water-and-land/weeds/Brochures/knotweed-brochure.pdf

I am very excited to continue working with the NSRWA and get my hands dirty with more projects, and I look forward to blogging more about my experiences!

Until next time,
~Sara Head

Introducing One of Our Summer Interns- Emily Pitman

Hello! My name is Emily Pitman and I am one of the interns at North and South Rivers Watershed Association this summer! I am a native to Plympton, MA and I am a rising junior at Hamilton College in upstate New York. I am a double major in Public Policy and Geosciences. At Hamilton, I am an environmental steward as part of Hamilton Environmental Advocate Group. Members of this group work on various projects throughout the year, including promoting sustainable practices and sponsoring guest lecturers.

My love of nature developed from when my family spent countless weekends camping and playing outside. My recent adventures scuba diving and hiking have allowed me to experience some of the fantastic geographic highs and lows. In my spare time and on more level groung, I love hiking, sailing, and playing rugby.

As an intern as NSRWA, I'm looking forward to helping with community and ecological opportunities. My first few days have been spent getting settled in the office, helping on a project in the field, and prepping spat settlement tiles for mussels, and I look forward to seeing what else is in store for me this summer. I'm excited to meet all of the dedicated individuals that support NSRWA, and hope to write more blog post about my experience in the future!

-Emily