Over the summer, Save the Dunes’ staff has had the privilege to work with two outstanding students as part of the Great Lakes Innovative Stewardship Through Education Network (GLISTEN). GLISTEN is a collaborative effort made up of local colleges, universities, and environmental community partners like Save the Dunes. The Network’s goal is to engage students in direct-action efforts to preserve and restore the environmental health of the region’s natural areas. Additionally, these students do science-based research with community partners to enhance knowledge and skills. Our 2017 summer interns are Garrett Wayne Veihl III and Timothy Clemons.

A big part of what Garrett and Tim have been tackling is invasive plant species eradication on Save the Dunes managed lands. Our  properties exhibit several types of habitats, including prairie, fen, oak savanna, foredune, dune and swale, riparian forest and hardwood forest. Garett and Tim have also been participating in monitoring plant species in these habitats through the Northwest Indiana Restoration Monitoring Inventory (NIRMI) program. The information collected helps organizations like Save the Dunes better understand the land and assesses the need for future restoration efforts.

We’re very proud of our interns’ accomplishments and we invite you to learn more about their work and the work of other GLISTEN interns at the Dune Acres Clubhouse on August 3, 5:30pm – 8:00pm. There, GLISTEN liaisons will present the work, skills, and research they have done over the summer with partners such as Save the Dunes, Shirley Heinze, and more. The program is free and open to the public.

Whether you see Garrett and Tim on the trail or in the classroom, be sure to give them a big “thank you” for all of their work stewarding land among the Indiana dunes!

Getting to Know the Interns:

Name: Timothy Clemons

Where are you from? Michigan City, IN

Where do you go to school? Purdue University Northwest, Biology Major graduating in Spring 2018

What do you do at Save the Dunes? Destroy invasive plants and learn about the cool ones

What’s you favorite thing about working with Save the Dunes/GLISTEN program?Exploring all of the Save the Dunes conservation areas

What’s the weirdest/coolest thing you’ve learned while on the job?
Swedish Botanists love giving plants bizarre names in latin

What are your plans for the future? Do conservation work all around the world

Name: Garrett Wayne Veihl III

Where are you from? Greenville, MI

Where do you go to school? Purdue University Northwest, Biology Major 

What do you do at Save the Dunes? I do field work at many of our locations [Save the Dunes’ conservation areas] and research at Trail Creek Fen

What’s you favorite thing about working with Save the Dunes/GLISTEN program? Learning about all the plants I have been working with and how to identify them 

What’s the weirdest/coolest thing you’ve learned while on the job?
Orchid means … in latin (we’ll let you look it up if you really want to know)

What are your plans for the future? After graduation I plan on working in conservation out west for a couple years