09 Nov Back in the Garden

Hi! Even though I am a GIS resource assistant, I have a background in horticulture as well. My mentor knew this, so they connected me with the North Carolina Botanical Garden in Raleigh for a visit. I was hosted by Emma York Marzolf, the conservation grower for her program that started in 2019. In this program, they had collected native seeds with the previous botanist at the Croatan Ranger District, and they are also planning to work with the other National Forests in North Carolina in the future! I enjoyed learning about the process of collection to production in their program. It was easier to understand how long it would take to grow native seeds from the very beginning until the forests are able to utilize them for projects.

I appreciate the flexibility the resource assistant program, my mentor, and team lead have allowed me. I hope to shadow the forester, botanist, and the wildlife biologist intern while I’m here. Everyone is supportive in connecting me to different program areas to learn about each specialist and what they do. It’s been encouraging for me to see that the people in leadership are willing to listen, understand my interests, and how they can connect me to those areas.