My name is Megan Verfaillie and I’m the summer intern for the NH EPSCoR Project on Clean Water and Citizen Science. My role through the Stewardship Network: New England (now Nature Groupie) is to involve citizen scientists in real research being done at the University of New Hampshire. This summer I’ll be organizing a few events in the Great Bay area that will involve citizen scientists, so be sure to keep an eye out! I’ll also be visiting other citizen science events and learning more about how these events are planned and what motivates volunteers. In addition, I will be working on several projects with the NH Sea Grant.

I have the opportunity to work with:

• University of New Hampshire
• The Stewardship Network: New England (now Nature Groupie)
• NH Sea Grant
• UNH Cooperative Extension

I’m from Nashua, NH and while it’s a densely populated city, it’s not too far from beautiful forests and seacoast. I grew up taking family hiking trips through the forests of New Hampshire and Massachusetts and since a very young age I have loved taking photographs of nature. New Hampshire’s forests and lakes have always been important to me and I’m excited to be working on a project that allows me to work with others that share my passion. This love of nature inspired me to pursue an Environmental Engineering major at the University of New Hampshire where I have just completed my first year. When I graduate, I hope to work on renewable energy and clean water to help stop or even reverse the damage being done to the environment every day.

I’m very excited to be starting this internship with the Stewardship Network: New England/Nature Groupie, UNH Cooperative Extension, and NH EPSCoR. Citizen science has the potential to do amazing things and I hope to learn not just from my own experiences but also those of the volunteers I will have the privilege of working with. I can’t imagine a better way to spend my summer!