Interns fill a much needed demand for the energetic summers at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, one of the most visited refuges in the nation. Interns began arriving on May 17, coming from our home state of Virginia and as far away as California.

The biology division will have seven interns, Melanie McGuire from Michigan, Mark Lester from New York, Theresa Hawkins from Virginia, Natahee Shrawder from Pennsylvania, Eric Atkins from Tennessee, and Heather Hollis from Virginia. They will be monitoring the threatened piping plover's nests and, once hatched, the fuzzy-ball chicks. Additional duties will include assisting with wildlife surveys, refuge GIS projects, vegetation surveys, and the moist soil management program.

Visitor services interns, Michaela Baggelia from California, and Nancy Stills, Kirk Marek, and Brian Moreland from Virginia, will provide customer service in the visitor contact station and entice the public with lively, educational, interpretative trail walks. The Chincoteague Natural History Association has sponsored two of these interns who will rotate their duties to include being interpretative guides for the wildlife tours.

Geralyn Mireles
Refuge Operations Specialist