Summer internship experience
Words by: Molly Fisher and Miranda Braakhuis, CEC Interns Summer 2024
Our experience at the CEC has been one to remember. Every day was different, from feeding and setting up traps for feral pigs, to getting up at the crack of dawn to conduct bird surveys and staying up late to conduct spotlighting surveys for arboreal mammals and owls, it was always an adventure. It has been a privilege to get to know the flora and fauna of the Otways with the best team in the Universe! Some of our favourite memories include going for swims at Blanket Bay after a long hot day of setting up camera traps, caring for sugar gliders every evening, crossing multiple Ecological Vegetation Classes in one day, going on a Wildlife Wonders dusk tour, and having fun in the office.
Through our experience we have gained skills in independent navigation through remote areas, animal husbandry for sugar gliders, bird identification through calls and observation, managing large amounts of ecological data, using DigiKam for the analysis of camera trap images, and the ins and outs of feral pig management and the challenges that come with it.
Thanks so much James, Kay, Jesse, Tam and the rest of the team for having and generously sharing your knowledge with us. And an extra special thanks to Lizzie, Shayne and Tess for sharing your space with us and inspiring us as young women in our conservation journeys.