UA Graduate Completes Everglades Ecology Internship

Conway native Christopher Patterson, a recent graduate of the University of Arkansas, recently completed an award-winning, Everglades ecology internship at the West Palm Beach-based Arthur R. Marshall Foundation. Patterson, who graduated in May with a bachelor's degree in environmental, soil and water science, said he became interested in the 10-week internship because he wanted to learn about environmental issues in places other than Arkansas.

"I knew almost nothing about the Everglades before the internship - just that it had birds, water and animals in it. Now, I want to go to grad school to study the Everglades ecosystem," he said.

The paid internship was designed for graduate and undergraduate students interested in careers in the environmental sciences.

Over the course of the summer, the interns snorkeled in Florida Bay to examine the effect that Everglades pollution has on organisms there, made a presentation at the Greater Everglades Ecosystem Restoration conference in Orlando, Fla., and planned and implemented an extensive tree-planting project at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.

The group graduated at a July 27 luncheon at the National Croquet Center in West Palm Beach. About 100 well-wishers attended, including parents, friends and some of the many water management professionals who served as mentors during the internship.

In all, the Marshall Foundation has graduated 19 students from its five-year-old internship program. Many have gone on to impressive achievements in the environmental field, including Adam Fox, who completed the internship in 2003 and later won a Fulbright Grant to study wetlands in Israel, and Nicole Lynch-Cruz, a 2002 intern who recently completed Columbia University's prestigious environmental science and policy graduate program.

The internship itself won recognition in 2004 from the Florida Association of Environmental Professionals for its content.

Founded in 1998, the Marshall Foundation has three goals; restoring original plant life and water flow patterns to the greater Everglades ecosystem, educating young people and the public about Everglades ecology, and delivering the message of restoration to as many people as possible through comprehensive public outreach programs. In recent years, the Marshall Foundation has planted more than 77,500 native Florida trees in wetland areas, awarded more than $250,000 in scholarships and internships, and involved more than 4,000 volunteers in hands-on restoration projects.