Some photographs of the area I've been working in (Newcastle)

First Month

My work load has significantly increased from the first two weeks.

Starting where my last post left off, June 3rd I woke up at 530 am on the floor of a friends house in Auburn because I had a prompt arrival time to Augusta for 630 am. A vanload of biologists, the other intern and I all traveled to Eddington for an interagency meeting regarding the proposed connector road between I-395 and Rt-9.

Minutes for the meeting-->

( C:\Documents and Settings\Elizabeth.E.Mitchell\Desktop\I-395 - Route 9 - June 3 2008 Agency Scoping Meeting Minutes.htm )

The rest of that week Katie (other intern) and I prepped for the following week when we were planned to be in Newcastle at the Sherman Marsh project. I quickly learned how to use several more functions on the Trimble GeoXT (including creating polygons of areas not just points!--like in the example image below)

--- example of what a polygon from GPS looks like in a GIS

credit google image

Monday June 9th, I was taken to two mitigation sites (for DOT construction), one in Madison (near Skowhegan) and one in Augusta. Both were streams that were put under easement( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_easement ) and the mitigation was to create a stronger woody vegetation buffer zone around the stream edges to increase water quality.

The site in Madison was at an organic dairy farm. Part of the mitigation was to get the dairy farmer to move his cow fences back from the streams edge, which he did more than willingly. He and his wife had apparently been more than willing to assist with the project. With less direct nitrogen exposure, and newly planted woody vegetation it is hopeful that the stream's water quality will dramatically increase. When we went to visit the site, we were visiting to check the status of the planted vegetation. Out of about 200+ plants, only 13 needed to be replaced. To get to the stream, we had to hop the electric cow fence a couple of times!!! talk about odd field hazards!

( http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&ll=44.796805,-69.688318&spn=0.003502,0.006609&t=h&z=17&msid=102721720068564146891.00045019879a5f17281ac)

The site in Augusta was farmland that had been bought around a stream (http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/reg/200001630FY06.pdf ) <---check out this pdf for sure, at the end of it are some nice photos of the site and a map of the old proposed planting. After the first planting failed terribly, the new plantings are doing quite well, though there are a handful of casualities which is why we were out there checking up on the site.

Tuesday June 10- Friday June 13 I was in Newcastle. Tuesday we met the USM grad student, Abby, and we all trekked out into the marsh with a total of maybe 80 lbs of equipment! The worst part was that we had to cross an old box culvert that only had an 8 inch wide plank spanning the 10 foot gap, and I am phobic about heights!! Somehow I managed to cross it with all the equipment I was carrying (both on the way out and on the way back).

--location of crazy box-culvert crossing (yellow arrow)

On wednesday I had to be at the marsh at 530 in the morning to help with a bird census, so I spent the night at a friend's house in Bowdoinham. The DOT field biologist Jerry Therrien and I went to 7 different sites along the marsh and I learned a few new bird calls, including red-eyed vireo and red-winged blackbird. We even saw a female moose, and a buck deer.

red-eyed vireo red-winged blackbird

On Thursday and Friday we canoed out into the marsh (instead of carrying all the equipment!!) and finished up the work the USM team needed, and the work we needed to accomplish. We ended up surveying and GPS'ing 34 Phragmites australis patches and 15 benchmarks, and on numerous occasions we were thigh deep in mud!

Both Thursday and Friday I commuted to Newcastle with Abby, and Friday evening when we finished work, she took us out for icecream at an amazing icecream stand in North Yarmouth. It was at a farm, and they had a stall with a goat and bantam chickens!

(http://www.tootsicecream.net/home)

(http://www.roadfooddigest.com/post/2008/05/Ice-Cream-Stop-10---Toots!2c-North-Yarmouth2c-ME.aspx)

This week I processed the data we retrieved from the Trimble GeoXT and worked on some hydrology assignments in GIS. I also georeferenced amazing orthophotographs recently taken of the marsh. The resolution was so great I could clearly see objects as small as side-rear view mirrors on cars!!

Alot has happened since my last post!

Thursday last week I traveled to Wiscasset and met up with two field biologists there, and we all went out (including the other intern) to streams around Wiscasset and Edgecomb, in areas of intersection for the proposed Wiscasset Bypass. Our task: characterize the stream--what type of stream it was, if a stream at all, the living organisms in and around it, whether there was potential for contamination from the bypass, etc.

All this involved hiking out into the middle of the woods, with the aide of the Trimble GeoXT--> http://www.uhh.hawaii.edu/~sdalhelp/equipment/trimblegeoxt.html

which I was allowed to use!

I learned several new things including insect species like the the Caddis Fly http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/cimg245.html

and the May Fly

http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/aimg3.html

and plant species like Spartina altinaflora

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=SPAL

http://plants.usda.gov/java/charProfile?symbol=SPAL

and Spartina patens

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=SPPA

On Friday I traveled to Newcastle, where my boss, the other intern (Katie) and I canoed up Sherman Marsh and placed Data loggers for water level and temperature information

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&ll=44.015225,-69.592552&spn=0.028394,0.058022&t=k&z=14&msid=102721720068564146891.00044eb3f0893b1ec9cac

I ended up thigh deep in mud, but had a blast. The weather was perfect, and we saw plenty of wildlife, including a horse-shoe crab (http://www.ocean.udel.edu/horseshoecrab/) that did not want to be examined!!

I also learned how to survey elevation using a tripod, level, and metric meter pole, and how to count decimal feet (http://daveosborne.com/dave/articles/decimalfeet.php)

**photos curtosy of Google Image Search**

Today I was in the office.

Tomorrow I am headed up to Holden to go to a meeting for the Environmental Impact Statement (http://ohioline.osu.edu/cd-fact/0188.html) work on the proposed 395-Rt 9 Pass

http://www.i395-rt9-study.com/.

The first day

Yesterday was the first day on the job. Upon arrival at the main office in Augusta, I found I had my own cubicle, complete with computer and paper recycling bin! Everyone in the unit is more than friendly. I mostly filled out paper work, met other DOT interns, went on building tours, and met administrative individuals yesterday. Today involves planning for the trip to Sherman Marsh tomorrow

(located in Newcastle http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=44.011398,-69.595985&daddr=&mra=mi&mrsp=0&sz=14&sll=44.005904,-69.595728&sspn=0.028398,0.058022&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=14 )

The dam under Rt 1 blew out in the 2005 rain storms, and now Sherman Lake is Sherman Marsh. DOT is working to re-establish a healthy marsh for mitigation purposes

(compensatory mitigation www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/pdf/CMitigation.pdf )

Oh, and on a side note to anyone traveling in southern Maine via 295 in the next few weeks:
beginning June 16th, I-295 Southbound between Gardiner and Topsham will be closed until August 30th. Seek alternate route.

Internship 2008

I plan on using this blog to chronicle my experiences this summer working for the Maine Department of Transportation in their Environmental Office. This internship holds particular importance in my life as I try and find my place in the realm of science. With barely a year till graduation, will working for MaineDOT offer some perspective on where my career should go?

http://www.umaine.edu/mcsc/MeSGIP.htm

http://www.maine.gov/mdot/environmental-office-homepage/hydrology.php-office-homepage/hydrology.php

image from www.state.me.us/mdot/