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Invasive Plant Control Internship- Year 2!

Progress well underway in West Newbury in second year initiative to map and manage invasive plant populations on Town land.         
Posted on: July 18, 2023 - 11:49am

Invasive Plant Internship – Year Two!

The Town would like to officially introduce this summer’s invasive plant interns, Emily and Stacey!

Emily and Stacey, Conservation interns, pose in the bushes with shears. They are both smiling and wearing green Town T-shirts and yellow hard hats.

Emily, of Lynn, MA, is a rising senior at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in NY where she majors in environmental science with a minor in sustainability. Emily brings skills in field methods, environmental data analysis, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) along with her strong work ethic to the Town in her internship role. After graduation, Emily plans to attend graduate school to earn her Master degree.

Stacey, of Sterling, MA, is a second career wildlife biologist who completed her Master of Science in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology at Clemson University in May 2021. Stacey is seeking hands on field experience from the internship and hopes to further develop her habitat management skillset as she pursues her career goal of conservation-focused research and management of threatened and endangered species.

Emily and Stacey have been working as interns for the town since June and are using a GIS based application called EDDMapS to map and collect data on a dozen of West Newbury’s most prevalent invasive plant species including, but not limited to, honeysuckle, privet, buckthorn, and Asiatic bittersweet on town owned properties. The town plans to use this data to inform future invasive plant management decisions.

Emily and Stacey are also working on removal of invasive plants using small hand saws, loppers, and hand pulling to manage invasive plants along field edges and trails, Most recently they are continuing last year’s efforts managing invasive plants along the field edges at Cherry Hill. Check out the picture of the native cherry tree they recently freed from invasive Asiatic bittersweet!

At the end of their internship in August, Emily and Stacey will present the mapping and treatment data they’ve collected to the town and offer their insights on invasive plant management.

The work of the interns is in close coordination with, and substantial support from, an extended network of local residents led by Carol Decker, Nancy Pau, Rick Parker, and Patricia Reeser.

Our Conservation Agent Michelle Greene has taken primary responsibility for coordinating and overseeing the internship which is now in its second year. The internship was funded by voters at the Fall 2022 Special Town Meeting.