This week, I got to learn how to mix herbicide together based on how many gallons are in the tank used.

What we used was a set-up attached to the back of the Polaris Ranger side-by-side. The spray nozzles hung off the side, and the tank itself sat in the truck. We had to do some troubleshooting because two of the nozzles were not working right. We filled the tank up with water just to be able to tell if it was useable.

It was.

However, one nozzle was clogged because of the filter and the other was spraying weird. The other just had a bug in it which was preventing it from working.

This was all good for me to experience, so that I am prepared for any potential situation that could arise when I am alone doing this. Once we got those working we got called out to help with a situation, and then went to the boys and girls club.

-- Allie Page

I was, unfortunately, only in one day this week. I got sick the last half of the week and could not make it in.

When I was at work, I helped out with prepping the native nursery for weeding and for plants to either be replanted or put into the ground. We had a group come out with the WV seed cooperative and take a tour of the nursery. The plants in the nursery are a mix of trees like the oak, hickory, hazelnut and some bushes. All of which are the native trees that are located on campus and around this region.

-- Allie Page

A project I worked on this week, was I remade signs for the live animals traps that were updated. The other ones were getting too old and did not stay attached to the traps well. I got to use a laminator for the first time, so that was fun. Even though it does not seem that fun.

We had some groundhogs that were making holes around campus. The problem with that, is that they dig next to the foundation of a building and water can leak in, or cause weak points in the foundation which is extremely dangerous. It is not uncommon for groundhogs to burrow near where people are. Once they are in the trap they get relocated.

Another thing I did this week, was that I went through herbicide training. I have not gotten the full certification, which I will do so soon. But this allows me to have reciprocity in Maryland, West Virgina, and Pennsylvania. This will help me a lot, later on, when I go to apply to other forestry jobs. It is also a good thing to have on my resume. I will soon be able to help with applying it, which should be interesting.

Another project I worked on, was weeding the front garden bed by the entrance. I found a snake skin in there too!

-- Allie Page

This week I continued on a project with Teresea, the supervisor of the facilities operations. I helped her with mapping out the windows from the blueprints and marking what has already been done, so that it is easier for the contractors.

I made a spreadsheet in excel for the different areas of campus that needed the window film. I made different tabs for each area on campus and put in information like window height, window number, area off the ground. Things like that. So all of that new information will be sent to our contractors and they will add film to all the other windows.

The film on the windows is to help birds see that there is something there and not get confused with clear glass and fly into it. This is being test trailed on campus. These films have white dots two inches away from each other. This is because the birds will be able to clearly see white dots. The film has proven to be extremely effective to prevent bird death on campus.

That project was the main thing that I worked on this week since it has been raining all week. I also watered the plants on the living wall by the totem poll.

Another project I worked on was cleaning up after a fallen sycamore tree fell on a walking path near one of the lodges. This tree, interestingly enough, had no root ball. So it just needed weather like this to help allow it to fall over. This could be that the tree canopy, while it was growing, made it so that it relied on the trees around it for structure, so it did not need a strong anchor in the ground.

-- Allie Page

This week I started out with a basic tour of the main part of campus.

There is about 500 acres of federally protected land that is under the protection and care of the National Conservation Training Center. During this walk I saw the well-known raccoon that lived in one of the trees next to the catwalk connecting the two sides of campus. Everyone had an unofficial nickname for him/her.

During my first day I met Randy Robinson. Randy is apart of Fish and Wildlife and he works in the archives and library. He also is the liaison between NCTC and the Friends of NCTC group, who I work for. I was able to join them on my first day at the new Shepherd Elementary School and there we had 3 stations demonstrating various information about Eagles to 4th graders.

If you did not know NCTC has had an Eagle camera set up for about 25 year, with various eagles that have lived there. Currently, the newer camera set up has ben there for about 5 years. These cameras are documenting Scout and Bella (named by the community). They have two eaglets that will fledge soon, who are 6 months old.

The first station I was there with Ellen Murphy and Sytil Murphy, no they are not related. There we had pool noodles and we attempted to have the kids build nests after they learned information about how eagles build nests. After that station I went to Randy's station, where he gave a very interesting presentation on Bald Eagles and the cam set up. The last station was Joe Spurgas, where he gave a demonstration on the “Suitcase for Survival.” This was two suitcases that were filled with various animals used for shoes, purses, bracelets, decorations, carvings, and medicinal purposes.

On Wednesday I also helped the Friends group with another event but with Pre-K children that have been learning about Bella and Scout and Eagles in general. They came out to finally see the nest in person. While outside we saw a snake and a small box turtle.

During this week I went to the out field where we have trees growing for replanting from wildfires. While out there, we did some pruning of the trees. I got to learn about the different native trees in the field. From swamp oak to native hazelnut, which I did not know we had in this region. I also started on some personal projects. I had to clear out a couple of garden beds because we are going to repurpose them for other plants.That concluded all of the responsibilities I had for the week.

For my first week working at NCTC, it was fun and I am enjoying what I am learning about the native plants in our region. I am a hands-on learner so it helps me to be able to visualize what I am learning about. I am still getting used to learning about all the native plants but I will learn them, or, at least, the important ones.

I will check back in next week for another update on what I did. (I will say it may not always be very interesting. It will probably be repetitive work.)

-- Allie Page

Hi all! Welcome to my blog.

This is very new to me; I have never written a blog before, so bear with me.

My name is Allie Page and I am the NCTC and Friends of NCTC summer intern. I will be with them for about 10 weeks this summer.

Some basic things about me are: I am a senior at Shepherd University studying Environmental Science. I am one of five kids. I have two dogs Stella and Willa. I am bilingual: I speak German and English and I intend to learn more languages. The next language I want to learn is the Slavic languages. I’ve been to Iceland and Germany.

I have a childhood goal to go to at least 10 large national parks. I have a bunch in mind. The first couple are Olympia, Sequoia, Redwood, Mt. Hood, Mt. Rainer, and Mt. St. Helens. Just to name a few. I got to live out one of those dreams out last summer by going out to Portland, OR and actually visiting Mt. Hood. To no-one's surprise it was as breathtaking and beautiful as I thought and maybe more.

My last fun fact is…that I am a triplet! I know you’re reading this and I bet your mind is blown! :) Quick side answers to general questions I get from being a triplet. Yes, it is fun being a triplet, but it is just like any other sibling. No, we are not technically telekinetic, even though it does happen occasionally. Two of us are identical and one is fraternal and all girls. Yes and no, to people being able to tell my identical and I apart; it depends how long they’ve known us and if we are standing next to each other.

Now back to my internship. I have always loved being outdoors, even when I do not spend as much time there, as I would like to. That was one of the aspects of this internship that drew me in. I knew I always wanted to do something related to science and being outdoors. 

That is a little about me, but keep in touch with the blog for weekly updates on what I am doing with NCTC!

-- Allie Page