An Internship in Conservation & Caring
Interns from Sageland Collaborative and Utah’s Hogle Zoo processing boreal toads on a 2022 survey.
In the world of wildlife conservation, the warm summer breeze breathes life into the early mornings and late afternoons spent hiking to survey sites and gathering data. This season, “Fieldwork season,” means packed lunches on sun-warmed rocks, muck boots and blue vinyl gloves, and the opportunity to reconnect with the species and places that inspire this work.
While fieldwork is always a great time, it’s the Sageland Community that truly makes this season the best. From our outstanding project partners to our dedicated volunteers, enthusiastic staff and passionate interns - these are the people who turn fieldwork into an an experience that’s worth revisiting over and over again.
Today we’re highlighting Cole Nelson, University of Utah student and our Summer 2022 Boreal Toad Intern. Get to know Cole and hear about his experience on the project in our interview with him below!
What did you enjoy most about surveying for Boreal Toads?
Interning on the Boreal Toad Project has been one of the highlights of my university career!
I made quick friends with the amazing people at Sageland Collaborative and the Hogle Zoo Conservation Team. I discovered beautiful hikes that are now some of my all-time favorites; I worked with wonderful volunteers who are passionate about restoring the environment; and most importantly, I helped with a project that is important for both the conservation of these cute little toads, as well as the greater conservation of the fragile boreal ecosystems of Utah.
It made for a fun and fulfilling summer, and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone that is remotely interested in animals and/or the outdoors.
Do you have a favorite site from your time as an intern on the project?
My favorite sites to visit were the Lake Creek sites in the Uintas! The area is beautiful, it feels like you're surrounded by nothing but nature, and we found toads on every trip up there! Hiking to and from the sites was always an adventure because we usually ended up "off-roading".
My first trip there was especially memorable because we found dozens of tiny toadlets near the end of the trip, which made us lose track of time and stay out longer than we planned. Because of that, we all had to charge up the mountain back to the cars as fast as we could to make sure that one of the other survey members could get to the Garth Brooks concert on time! It was a fun day!
What is the importance this project, and what do you wish people understood about Boreal Toads?
This project is important to me because of the influence these toads have on conservation work in Utah.
Boreal toads are one of the best indicators of how the environment is doing, and they are experiencing many different threats that are leading to massive population decline, including chytrid fungus, urbanization, droughts, and water pollutants. As a very sensitive indicator species and a uniquely important nutrient cycler, we need to do all we can to help boreal toads.
They're also cute and fun to catch!
Cole Nelson is currently finishing his undergraduate degree in Biology at the University of Utah, and is preparing to take the MCAT in hopes of getting into medical school next year.
We’re so grateful to Cole for the contributions and passion that he brought to the Boreal Toad Project!
For more information on how to get involved in the Boreal Toad Conservation, follow these steps or email us at: borealtoad@sagelandcollaborative.org
All photos throughout this blog have been generously shared by Cole Nelson.