Destiny Pauls is a natural resources student focusing on conservation law enforcement who will be graduating in Spring 2023. She spent her summer in central Oregon as a wilderness ranger for the Deschutes National Forest, in partnership with AmeriCorps and Heart of Oregon Corps.

What was the focus of your summer job?
My position focused on stewarding in our wilderness areas within the forest, educating recreationists about the new Central Cascades Wilderness Permit system, checking for those permits, and instilling a few essential Leave No Trace principles for their journey. I was able to work in the Three Sisters Wilderness, the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, Mt. Washington Wilderness, and the Diamond Peak Wilderness.

Describe the day-to-day of your job
I often spent my days geared up in uniform hiking our trails and interacting with the public. Early in the season with the late snow, our crew assisted the Trails crew with a bit of trail maintenance and helped crosscut and lop out a lot of downed trees and vegetation, then focused primarily on getting daily counts of permitted recreationists in the wilderness, counting cars at trailheads, hiking in the backcountry, cleaning up campsites of litter, and trying to disperse the impact from humans. It was such a dream to work for an agency I respect, admire, and aimed at working in an area that holds such a special place in my heart (and ankle – I have the Three Sisters tattooed there!). I am from southern Idaho and have lived in the Willamette Valley for the past 10 years and have driven that highway, recreated in that forest, and climbed those peaks during that time, so to see it come full circle- dream to reality was pretty amazing and couldn’t have asked for a better place and way to do what I love.

How will this job help you in your future career?
My focus in the natural resources program is conservation law enforcement, with the goal of being what I like to call a “tree cop” or wildland law enforcement officer in a future career. This summer job provided many opportunities to shadow other forest service programs, in which I was fortunate to experience several ride alongs with our forest service law-enforcement officers. This gave me a real face to face glimpse of what that position entailed and that was one of the primarily goals of what I was looking to get out of this experience. Lastly I want to share how hard it was for me to leave this position as I wished it could have continued past a seasonal position (future permanent job here I come!) but I will fondly look back at the people I worked alongside, the places I explored, and the connections I made within the industry, my university, and in some of the most beautiful wild places Central Oregon has to offer.

Forest engineering undergrad Casey Warburton (class of 2023) did field research throughout Oregon and California during the summer of 2022.

Where and who did you work for?
I worked in many research forests all over Oregon and California including the HJ Andrews Experimental forest, Hinkle creek and even down in the redwoods. As for who I worked for, I assisted many grad students under Catalina Segura and Kevin Bladon while also doing tasks that they had specifically for me.

Was there a favorite project?
Yes, two that I particularly enjoyed were doing synoptic sampling of the HJ Andrews watersheds where we hiked up the 2 main streams collecting water samples and also hiking up most every tributary that flowed into the 2 main streams. The second project was looking at how water flows through the soil after large storm events. To get this project setup we dug 3 soil pits along a hillslope near streams in 3 different locations to install sensors that detect water in the soil.

What is one memory that sticks out?
One memory that sticks out to me was when my partner and I were taking samples out of one of the main creeks in the Andrews forest and looking around at the water, the trees all the rocks and downed logs and thinking how we were probably the 3rd or 4th people to ever see the stream right where we were. It was like we were pioneers or early explorers seeing new land that had never been touched before.

What did you enjoy most about this job?
What I enjoyed most about the job was the variety of work I was able to do and how many different projects I got to help with. Seeing all the different research that was going on just in our lab was eye opening to all the different parts and pieces of a watershed and how they interact.

Zach Menegat (class of 2023) studies outdoor recreation management and GIS, and he spent the summer working as a fly fishing guide for his second season in West Yellowstone, Montana for Madison River Outfitters.

What was the focus of your job?
My summer is focused on teaching people from all different backgrounds to fly fish on the Upper Madison River in the state of Montana as well as going into Yellowstone National Park for my clients choice of river to fish.

Describe the day-to-day of your job.
My days consisted of getting to the shop at around 8am and meeting my clients for the day. After that we would shuttle down to the water, I would give my little lecture on an introduction of what they needed to do for the day, and have a great day of fly fishing netting big brown and rainbow trout!

What is one memory that sticks out?
One memory from this summer I had was having the opportunity to take professor Dave Stemper out of the water and he absolutely killed it!

How will this job help you in your classes or future career?
Other than showing people my knowledge that I’ve gained over the years, this job has taught me so much in regards to resource management and fisheries sciences. Most importantly it has taught me the necessity of communication in any field. 

What was the hardest part of this job?
The hardest part of my job is consistency. In the guiding industry, when you are booked for a trip by your boss or shop staff, there is not much you can do to get a day off. As a part time guide I would still have 2 days off a week, but for next year as a full time guide I will likely be 13-16 days on, 1 day off. 

What did you enjoy most about this job?
The best part of this job was calling the river my office. As someone who grew up in the river fly fishing, this is a dream job and I could not have asked for anything better as a start to a career.

Where and who did you work for?
This summer, I spent time in Salem, Oregon’s enchanting Minto-Brown Park. Freshwater wetlands, thimbleberry patches, alder groves, and waterfowl ponds dominate this urban-proximate park. Marshland Minto-Brown resides in southwestern Salem, and it abuts the mighty Willamette River. I worked, researched, and learned under the tutelage of Ashley D’Antonio (OSU College of Forestry associate professor) and Gareth Hopkins (Western Oregon University assistant professor) throughout my experience. Gleaning insight from their years of experience in the field and academic settings, I researched recreationists’ impact on freshwater turtle species. To accomplish this task, I deployed observational methods, carefully monitoring human and wildlife interactions throughout a series of field sites, selectively chosen by the principal investigators, Ashley and Gareth.

Was there a particular project or focus?
I focused on classifying the types of recreationists and turtle species within five field sites, marking data sheets with information pertinent to the study design. A major goal of this study comprised whether recreationists (kayakers, bikers, trail-runners) have a substantial impact on (a) turtle species, (b) non-native vs native species composition, and (c) the general acceptability of habitat conditions. This co-facilitated project also involves the Oregon Department of Fisheries and Wildlife (ODFW), due to their investment in healthy and suitable human-wildlife relationships throughout the state. The management recommendations from this field season will assist in current and future planning initiatives regarding freshwater turtle habitat and species health.

One facet of this field research that I took a special liking to included the usage of a portable decibel meter. I used this device to quantify the level of physical noise that pulsated through our field sites. Acoustics play a vital role in wildlife behavior, hence allowing many species to communicate and develop, but they also act as barriers for species such as turtles that might need quieter environments to concentrate on selecting suitable habitats.

What is one memory that sticks out?
About three weeks into the summer season, I came across a convocation of golden eagles soaring through a narrow channel of water. I came upon this rare sight just minutes after arriving at the third field site. While unrelated to the focus of this study, the golden eagle’s presence demonstrated the splendor of avian life that Minto-Brown offers. After this occurrence kicked off the season, I went on to observe osprey, red-tailed hawks, bald eagles, and other birds of prey, of course in addition to turtles roving the surface waters of the park.

How will this job help you in your classes or future career?
I think about this question frequently, and I would eagerly say this experience taught me about field-based occupations. I also gleaned insight into the mental and physical endurance required to work/research as a field recreation and ecological scientist. This specific line of work requires adaptability, resilience, and patience, not to mention a knack for weather fluctuations! Going into this experience, I saw myself (down the road) working in a field ecology position, somehow connected to academia, and this summer certainly solidified my passion.

What happens now with this research?
Since the field season came to a close, the research team will embark on the subsequent data analysis stages, producing a series of metrics and values from the observational measurements. This stage will tie together loose ends from the sampling season, ultimately yielding baselines for management planning. After analyzing the data, we plan to write an academic paper, outlining human-wildlife conflicts throughout urban parks with threatened freshwater turtle populations. A management plan and paper will only conclude one part of this long-term partnership among the Oregon Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Western Oregon University, and OSU’s College of Forestry, as the years and researchers ahead of us will continue to examine the critical linkages among human disturbances, turtle species, and community-based conservation science.

Name/ Major/ Where you consider home to be or where you currently live: 
My name is Rona Bryan, and I’m about to graduate with a post-bacc B.S. in natural resources with an individualized specialty option in art, education, and outreach and a minor in fisheries & wildlife sciences. I was born and raised in Hood River, Oregon and currently live in Salem.

Why did you choose the NR program and OSU College of Forestry? 
After I finished my first degree in art, I ended up serving and bartending for many years and always felt like I was missing a part of myself. As soon as I realized that I wanted to go back to school to study the natural world, OSU was my #1 choice. The fact that I could get a degree through Ecampus without entirely disrupting the life I had already built was even better. I chose the NR program because I wanted to apply my art background to my science studies, and the College of Forestry was open to that kind of interdisciplinarity in ways that set them apart from other options.

What do you hope to do after graduation? 
After graduation, I’ll be jumping right into OSU’s Master of Natural Resources program to delve deeper into my research on art and design in natural resources. Once I complete that program, I hope to work in an outreach and education capacity to increase the accessibility of science communication, bolster ecological literacy, and foster public engagement in environmental issues. 

What was your favorite experience or class or professor and why? 
I’ve had too many amazing classes and professors to pick just one, but any class that incorporated getting out in the field as a regular part of the curriculum never failed to recharge and inspire me. Collectively, engaging in hands-on work with the soils, waters, fish, vegetation, and ecosystems that are right in my backyard has been one of the best experiences of my life.

Sophia Brownlee, Class of 2024, is a natural resources major (ecological restoration option) in the College of Forestry, and this summer she worked for Chaco on their Fit For Adventure tour. This tour travels around the country offering on site repairs to keep their sandals on feet (and out of landfills) longer.

Describe the day-to-day of your summer job.
Our activation typically runs 12:00pm to 6:00pm which allows us a leisurely morning. I’ll either bike to work or catch a ride with the rest of the crew in one of our vans. Once we arrive at our activation, where the Chaco bus is staged, we begin to unload all of our equipment and set up the activation space. This includes a large table for checkout, a display table with the try-on Chacos and Chillos, and a design table featuring webbing options for folks’ custom sandals. Once activation begins I’ll either work on the ground getting people fitted in their Chacos, diagnosing Chaco repairs, completing transactions, and sharing stories and fond memories involving Chaco footwear. Otherwise, I work on the bus making and repairing the sandals themselves!

What’s one memory that stands out from your experience working this summer?
One thing that’s really stuck with me from working this summer is how excited people are to repair their Chacos. We offer free repairs to customers to promote sustainability and longevity of the shoes. I’ve worked with a few customers who were overwhelmed with joy that we were in their city and could repair their sandals, saving them from the landfill. They share stories of how important their Chacos are to them; how many states, rivers, trails, and countries their shoes have traversed. We get people who are so emotionally attached to their Chacos, they have a hard time saying goodbye! It brings us a lot of joy to salvage such a sentimental thing.  

What was your favorite place you traveled for this job?
Bozeman, Montana. Without a doubt. The people there were just lovely, and they were incredibly stoked to have us visit. On the bus, we have a capacity of 45 custom sandals/repairs, any additional orders we send to our factory in Michigan. On one of the days in Bozeman, we hit our capacity just an hour after opening! Bozeman has a great community of outdoor adventurers, and we felt right at home. The scenery was also spectacular, and we even got to witness an epic thunderstorm while rafting on the Gallatin river! I can’t wait to visit again, hopefully for a ski trip.    

How will your job this summer help you in your classes or future career?
This job opened my mind to the world of marketing and promotion, something I hadn’t been exposed to. It also piqued my interest in product development and design, which I’m considering adding to my curriculum at Oregon State. Besides the job itself, traveling and experiencing new cities has given me an appreciation for what we have in Oregon that may seem so commonplace, but does not exist, or is less accepted in other places. For example, bike lanes, quality tap water, a $13.50 minimum wage, and government-funded programs to help students access quality, local food are not available in most of the places we’ve traveled.   

Describe your perfect pair of Chacos.
This is a tough one! My favorite style of Chacos is the classic Z/1. I haven’t owned a pair of Chacos with the toe-strap (a Z/2), but I’d be willing to try ‘em out. The perfect pair of Chacos starts with a perfect fit, which is contingent upon the size, of course, and how the straps are adjusted. As for the design, it would be paralyzing to try to pick out even a handful of webbing options I’d consider my favorite, however, off the top of my head, the NRS, National Parks, and Grateful Dead collections are super rad.

What I did this summer is a profile series of students, faculty and staff in the College of Forestry. Did you have a great job, vacation, or field research experience? Contact CoFThisWeek@oregonstate.edu and we will be in touch!

Hannah Proffitt has received the Oregon State University (OSU) Outstanding Student Award from the Oregon Society of American Foresters (OSAF). Proffitt accepted the award at the virtual 2022 OSAF Annual Meeting on April 28, 2022.

The OSU Outstanding Student Award is to be presented annually to an Oregon State University forestry student who is a member of the Society of American Foresters; participates regularly in OSU SAF activities, including a leadership role of some kind; represents the OSU SAF Student Chapter at state or national SAF gatherings; and who demonstrates good academic standing, good citizenship, and excellence in extracurricular and professional work activities. 

Proffitt is a graduating senior in the College of Forestry who has been active in the student chapter throughout her academic career. She was part of the team that salvaged the remainder of the Christmas Tree Farm and has led the efforts out there for two years, even through COVID. In addition to being a solid student, Proffitt has worked for the College Forests and stays involved with university functions like the Career Fair.

John Bailey, a professor in the department of forest engineering, resources & management at OSU who nominated Proffitt, shared, “During a recent maintenance work party weekend on the Christmas Tree Farm, I worked with Hannah mowing for a couple of hours along with another student. Her commitment and energy are infectious even in these odd times.”

In recognition of Proffitt’s award, a donation was made in her name to the OSU Student Chapter.

OSAF and its 15 local chapters represent all segments the forestry profession within the state. The society includes public and private practitioners, researchers, administrators, educators, and forestry students. Its mission is to advance the science, education, technology, and practice of forestry; to enhance the competency of its members; to establish professional excellence; and to use the knowledge, skills, and conservation ethics of the profession to ensure the continued health and use of forest ecosystems and the present and future availability of forest resources to benefit society.