Oh, yeah... and I hiked up to the top of the mountain 8 times.

You would figure that keeping up with a weekly blog wouldn’t be that difficult but when you are working eight hours a day in front of a computer, opening up a laptop once you get home is about as tempting as…say… attempting to gargle porcupine quills. That said, here is another go at it.

The last week and a half has been a fair mix of busywork and adventure. I am currently acting liaison between thirty SCA students and the External Affairs office of the fish and wildlife service. The last few days have been all about making sure all of my interns are settled in and cozy at their various National Wildlife Refuges (I’ll link you to a few articles on the program once they get put up on the Region website). In addition to this I have been making factsheets, flyers, editing articles and teaching myself how to edit video and use Adobe Photoshop, InDesign and Premiere. This may not sound like much but it is pretty frustrating to learn Adobe having grown up on Microsoft platforms. Upon mentioning this to my partner she immediately seized the opportunity to dissuade me from ever purchasing a Mac.

Once of my favorite tasks this week was to jump on board with a last minute adventure to Mount Mansfield near Burlington Vermont. I had the opportunity to go and film some biologists performing a study on the Bicknell's thrush, a migratory bird that lives only on mountaintops in the North east, that is of course when it is not in Haiti. I was able to participate in the capture of these creatures which entailed playing an angry recording of a male thrush next to a mist net and waiting for angry male thrush to fly into the net. Once caught the birds were placed into their own personal cloth sack, weighed, measured, processed and then hung up on a coat rack for the rest of the night. Bicknell's thrush are most active at dawn and dusk so once we were done processing them it was around 11 pm. Releasing the birds at this time would have most likely resulted in bird loss through predation as they would be unable to find a safe roosting site in the dark. What the biologists were really looking for were any of the 18 birds they set lose the previous year with geo-locators tied around their legs. Unlike a GPS, these small devices recorded information by keeping track of the length of any given day as well as the date. Because light levels in any place in the world are a known variable, when cross referenced with the time and date of the readings the biologists are able to tell exactly what route the Bicknell's thrush took to get to its winter home. The people who work for the discovery channel must get a real thrill out of their job, I felt like some rookie Steve Irwin wannbe out there with my little camcorder. I’ll get the footage up for you folks once I process it. Oh, and also note the picture of me handling the thrush, the biologists were nice enough to let me process and release a bird while I was there. And so what is the lesson of the day? When you are interviewing a biologist, make sure you turn your microphone on.

After a maelstrom of government paperwork and almost a month without an apartment I have finally managed to consummate my relationship with a pair of black dress shoes, a cozy view of the Connecticut River and a dream of a job. My name is Christopher Poulin and this summer I have the opportunity of working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

By day, I am an “Outreach Assistant” working out of the Service’s regional headquarters in South Hadley Massachusetts. By night (but mostly day) I am a journalist of youth programs sponsored by the Fish and Wildlife service and its associated partners, the External Affairs liaison for a group of 30 Conservation interns, and a professional outdoor educator looking to find his niche in the Department of the Interior. I am afraid of tight spaces, pigs, maggots, heights, oil spills, driving and sharing my writing with others. Coming out of my senior in college with a degree in wildlife conservation I am surprised to find myself working a 9-5 in an office of truly benevolent individuals who encourage personal growth with constructive feedback and the patient understanding that the evolution of a professional takes time and cultivation. Along with this is also the understanding that every keen edge must be forged in a fire.

During my first few weeks in the office I have been on two business trips, one to Philadelphia and the other to Wells Maine. I have also written several stories that will eventually be featured on the Service’s regional website. I have driven government vehicles, learned how to use an assortment of expensive media equipment, lost some less expensive government equipment, moved into a new apartment, reconnected with my community and tuned in to a world of potential. I have no doubt at this point that I am is where I want to be and this is my invitation to you, anonymous reader, to share in my experiences this summer while I figure out how to continue being where I am.