Edgelynn (Edge) Venuti – Supporting Marsh Conservation and Management Decisions in º£½ÇÉçÇø
2024 Mitchell Center Intern
Academic Program: Ecology & Environmental Sciences and Honors, Uº£½ÇÉçÇø
Project: Collaborative Science to Support Marsh Conservation and Management Decisions in º£½ÇÉçÇø – A Knowledge to Action Model for Applying Geospatial Science to Sustain Marshes for º£½ÇÉçÇø’s Future
Team Leaders: Jessica Jansujwicz, Uº£½ÇÉçÇø and Christine Feurt, Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve
Why are you interested in the problem you are working on?
I’m interested in salt marshes conservation and restoration because of how genuinely beautiful they are. Marshes are such a powerful ecosystem that are often misunderstood or looked over.
How could your work contribute to a sustainable future in º£½ÇÉçÇø and beyond?
I have yet to meet a person in º£½ÇÉçÇø who doesn’t enjoy the natural landscape that surrounds the state. Helping to tell the story of marshes and why they are important will help people understand them better and thus helping to preserve and protect the coastlines that we love so much.
What do you feel are the most important skills that you bring to your internship?
I am a personable person and I love having conversations with people. I feel like that will be a great asset in my role here as I am developing the story of the º£½ÇÉçÇø marsh and the connections that branch throughout the state.
What have you learned through your participation in this internship?
I have already learned just how many people are involved in marsh conservation and how much work is in this subset of a greater field.
What are your personal goals for this internship? What do you hope to accomplish?
My personal goals for this internship are to get some hands-on experience and spend time in the salt marshes while also creating new connections and learning new ways to adapt to climate change.
How do you like to spend your free time/down time?
I love spending time relaxing outside, either camping or hammocking, hiking or canoeing and I love spending it with my close friends and family.
What’s your ultimate º£½ÇÉçÇø experience?
I went on one of the first ever bikepack-rafting organized trips in º£½ÇÉçÇø, a group of us loaded packable rafts onto our bikes, biked through the woods down the river and then inflated our rafts, loaded our bikes onto the rafts and paddled back to where we began our journey. Also just seeing moose at 2am when you’re driving home.