Greetings from Nature Groupie! This is Gus Muscato and Mindy Prieur introducing ourselves as the Nature Groupie Summer Interns for 2019. Throughout the summer as we learn from our partners we would love to share our journey with you in the form good stewardship practices, tips, and advice. Check back regularly to see what tips we have to share with you! 

My Name is August Muscato and I have just finished my junior year as an Environmental Conservation and Sustainability student here at the University of New Hampshire. I can’t overstate my excitement to be able to put into action what I’ve been learning in my classes as a summer intern for Nature Groupie, where we will be working with both public and private partners to fulfill a variety of environmental projects in the Seacoast region of New Hampshire. We will have the opportunity to work with the Town of Durham Land Stewardship Committee, the Shoals Marine Lab, New Hampshire Fish and Game, and many more!

I was born and raised in the small town of East Bridgewater, Massachusetts, a town small enough that it didn’t even have its own grocery store! I realized my passion for the outdoors as a small child, growing up alongside my dog and exploring the outdoors with her. Friends and I would make tree forts, catch frogs and salamanders, and go on hikes in our spare time. As I got older, my love for the outdoors remained the same until this last year when I went on two road trips, one to Yellowstone National Park and the other to Big Bend National Park. These trips outside of New England sparked a new passion and started me towards a goal of eventually working for the National Park Service.

I can’t wait to get started this summer and engage with the communities and individuals in New Hampshire that are here to make a difference. I look forward to working with Nature Groupie’s partners and incorporating the skills I’ve learned in the classroom to the field, as well as acquiring new skills and knowledge that will continue to help mold me onto the right path for my future career.

My name is Mindy Prieur and I am a proud Wildlife and Conservation Biology student at the University of New Hampshire.  I am driven by a passion for conservation and an interest in community outreach, so it is an exciting opportunity to be a summer intern for an organization that shares those values, UNH Extension’s Nature Groupie.  Aligned with my interests in field work and conservation, I am looking forward to spending the summer working outdoors with agencies such as New Hampshire Fish and Game and the Town of Durham.  

I am originally from suburban San Jose, California where wildlife is a rare sight.  I relied on my experiences retreating to the Sierras to ignite my love of nature.  As a San Francisco Zoo youth volunteer, I learned a great deal about international conservation issues and how these affect wildlife.  I was determined to spend my life focused on conserving threatened wildlife species.  Before heading to college, I spent some time working as a paraprofessional with students with autism.  Recalling my desire to dedicate my life to conserving wildlife, I moved to New Hampshire and began attending Great Bay Community College, before transferring to the University of New Hampshire.  At UNH, I have been lucky enough to participate in research on the endangered American Burying Beetle, under the supervision of Dr. Carrie Hall and Dr. Dan Howard.  Incorporating this into a class research project, my group had the honor to be the first people to record and listen to the sounds of the American Burying Beetle in a natural setting.  

I am looking forward to the dynamic experiences offered by the summer Nature Groupie internship, include eel monitoring and banding seagulls on the Isle of Shoals.  I also plan on spending my summer expanding my repertoire of juggling skills, and reading as much as I can.