WVU Student Spends Enlightening Summer With NRCS Earth Team
Brendan Black is an Atlantic Highlands, NJ resident and student at West Virginia University, majoring in Wildlife and Fisheries Management. He spent much of his 2015 summer break as an Earth Team volunteer.
Brendan Black is an Atlantic Highlands, NJ resident and student at West Virginia University, majoring in Wildlife and Fisheries Management. He spent much of his 2015 summer break as an Earth Team volunteer. He volunteered 182 hours from June-August 2015, assisting on multiple site visits over the summer throughout northern New Jersey and gaining valuable hands-on experience for his future career choices.
Brendan worked alongside NRCS Biologist Evan Madlinger, making site visits and assisting with both the initial planning and evaluation of mostly private and even some public lands for wildlife habitat purposes. He helped to evaluate private land for practices such as wetland restoration, grassland habitat, early successional forest habitat, stream habitat and invasive species management. Brendan also helped determine NRCS Farm Bill program applicability on the landscape to assist landowners with securing financial assistance to help them meet their goals under both the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and Wetland Reserve Enhancement program.
Brendan was very supportive overall and willing to lend a hand with many various tasks. He participated in overseeing the planting phase of several projects, including an extensive 1.5 mile long stream restoration project on the Musconetcong River, as well as conducted field checks of seeding and mowing practices. His help was also much appreciated on several special projects, including a joint training for FSA and NRCS employees, a field tour and NJ Tree Farm Day presentation. Evan really enjoyed mentoring Brendan and appreciated his help all summer.
April 2016
