The research at Paint Rock is important to the future of North American forests. But just as important to the future are our young researchers – interns who work to build our scientific infrastructure at Paint Rock.
All who come to this forest are first amazed by the enormity of the forest dynamics census…there will be some 100,000 trees scattered over 150 acres, each carefully measured, identified, mapped, tagged, to be followed for 50 years. But then it dawns: Someone did this. Who does this?
It’s our research interns. More than 30 have worked on the census over the past four years, first with a USDA grant through Alabama A&M, and now under a program developed by the Research Center in coordination with the Student Conservation Association.
They’re an incredible group, from diverse backgrounds in Alabama and the world. This year, interns from communities in Alabama – Gurley, Jacksonville, Prattville – worked alongside interns from North Carolina, Ohio, Colorado and South America, led by our Field Science Coordinator, Juliana Sandoval. Living together, they shared family recipes from Colombia, Paraguay, Korea, Brazil, India and Appalachia. They spoke in 5 languages as they learned to identify moths, beetles, snakes and trees.
The work they do here is as monumental as it looks, requiring more patience, persistence and concentration than most of us could muster. But it’s not enough that they do their job: Our goal is train a new generation of scientists and thinkers, who can see through the forest as well as they see through a microscope, who reflect diversity even as they reflect on diversity. We encourage these interns to move forward in careers in science, natural history, conservation and nature-based art and communications.
This really is the future of North America and the planet. In the coming year, we hope to build on the program already established. If we can pull together the funding, interns will have a chance to help design and work on their own research programs – in ornithology, in hydrology, in tree genetics, in archaeology – even as they continue the infrastructure work of the census. The Student Conservation Association is so excited by our plans, they’ve selected our program for a grant of almost $10,000 per student, accounting for about 20% of our costs.
It’s a great start. But these students need more, because Alabama, this country and the planet need these students.