Take a behind-the-scenes look at the fascinating field work of our summer Field Fellows! Investing in the next generation of conservation leaders, this program offers paid internships for students and recent graduates to develop hands-on professional experience in Minnesota’s national park.
The Field Fellows program enriches the personal development of young adults, while preserving the wild character of Voyageurs National Park for generations to come. Meet Ian, Ellen, Gen, and Faith and learn about their lasting contributions to Voyageurs National Park!
Meet Ian Smith - Voyageurs Wolf Project Fellow
Ian maintaining trail cams for wolf ecology research / Credit: Margot Dupont
Ian graduated from Macalester College in Saint Paul with a major in Biology and a minor in English. Ian serves as a Field Fellow under the Voyageurs Wolf Project - a research project in the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem that studies the summer predation and reproductive behavior of wolves.
Ian learned about the Voyageurs Wolf Project through his mentors in college, Dr. Stotra Chakrabarti and Dr. Joseph Bump. “[Dr. Chakrabarti] became super influential in my life, realizing I wanted to work with wildlife. The Wolf Project was one of the first wildlife projects I learned about. I was really excited to work out in the field; I grew up in cities a lot of the time and didn’t get a lot of exposure to the outdoors like this, but I’ve learned so much in my time here.”
Ian has multiple responsibilities including checking wolf cameras. Here, Ian is checking up on a camera around the Ray area to study the Stub-Tail pack territory. He replaces the batteries, the SD card, and removes any grass or brush that’s grown up around the camera’s line of vision. Since the cameras are motion sensored, long grass blowing in the wind can cause the video to begin and waste precious battery and storage space. Ian plans on continuing his career in wildlife studies, hoping to travel far and wide to discover as much as he can!
Replacing batteries in trail cams / Credit: Margot Dupont
Meet Ellen Windels, Culture and Collectives Field Fellow
Ellen Windels, Culture and Collectives Fellow / Credit: Margot Dupont
Ellen has worked alongside Catherine Crawford in Voyageurs National Park's archives for the past 5 years. Starting as a volunteer when she was just 13 years old, Ellen knows the park’s history better than most!
Ellen has a passion for archeology and discovering anything and everything. Recently, one of her favorite objects to study are prehistoric stone tools and pottery pieces.
“The stone tools have flakes and come off in ridges. It is really interesting to see where it was hit, the process of making those tools,” says Ellen. She has contributed greatly to the park's archives throughout the years. One of her greatest accomplishments is creating an organized card catalogue for the entire library.
In these photos, Ellen is beginning the tedious process of taking inventory of the museum they have to report annually. Ellen serves as Catherine’s witness to make sure every book, rock, bead, animal pelt, and more is accounted for. This is one big job considering the museum storage alone has upwards of 180,000 objects!
This August, Ellen is off to Yale to study Anthropology. Thank you for all the time you have given to Voyageurs, Ellen! We can’t wait to see where you go next!
Filing through catalogue cards in the park’s archives / Credit: Margot Dupont
Meet Gen Schave, Aquatics Ecology Field Fellow
Gen Schave, Aquatics Fellow / Credit: Margot Dupont
Gen is spending her summer gathering important water quality data in Voyageurs National Park. Graduating with a bachelor’s in biology from the University of Florida, Gen transitioned from the ocean to the freshwater lakes of Minnesota’s national park.
Gen is contributing to ongoing research that better understands and protects the park’s outstanding resource waters. A typical day in the field includes hiking to remote backcountry lakes, traversing by canoe, and taking water quality and zooplankton measurements.
“I plan to continue doing Aquatic Ecology and Fisheries work. I may look into saltwater systems a little more for future plans—just being a south Floridian with a passion for the ocean. I have learned an immense amount about the uniqueness of the area and aquatic research in general. It amazes me to think about all the information there is to clean water from water—whether it’s a single drop or the deep depths of the ocean. It really connects us all,” says Gen.
Thank you for serving Voyageurs and the aquatics team, Gen!
Gen boating out to a research site / Credit: Margot Dupont
Meet Faith Jung, Voyageurs Wolf Project Fellow
Faith Jung, Voyageurs Wolf Project Fellow / Credit: Margot Dupont
Faith is from the Chicago area and graduated from Lake Forest College with a double major in Environmental Studies and Philosophy. Faith states: “I love being here, this [work] is what I’ve always wanted to do—based on my inspirations of Steve Irwin and Jane Goodall. From this project I’ve learned so much, how diverse the ecosystems are and how diligent wolves are—how they use their resources, hunt, and positively impact the population.”
Faith plans to keep growing and learning more, researching wolves and other species, like orcas. Through this work, Faith hopes to better educate the public about understanding wolves in their natural environments. Shadowing Faith through a normal day in her life was anything but normal. On any given day, Faith will be bushwhacking alone through Voyageurs National Park tracking wolf cluster points on a GPS. These points are marked when a tracked wolf spends over 20 minutes in an area—doing anything from feeding to bedding. To reach these points can mean long hikes through brush, in bogs, and on rocky cliff sides in the park, looking for wolf activity.
Faith’s work is critical to gain a better understanding of summer wolf ecology in the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem!
Faith hiking to a cluster site / Credit: Margot Dupont
Support Field Fellows:
The Conservancy’s Voyageurs Field Fellows program seeks to increase accessibility and professional development opportunities at Voyageurs National Park. The fellowship offers students and recent graduates a stipend-paid internship to engage in real world, hands-on work in areas such as preservation, natural resource management, environmental education and more. If you’d like to support future Field Fellows and their important work, please consider becoming a member with a gift today.
Funding for this project was provided in part by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).
The Trust Fund is a permanent fund constitutionally established by the citizens of Minnesota to assist in the protection, conservation, preservation, and enhancement of the state’s air, water, land, fish, wildlife, and other natural resources.
