InterNews
                            Newsletter for Keeping Interns in Compliance with Contract Demands
                          Editor and Co-Op Advisor, Nancy B. Hultquist, Ellensburg, WA 98926-7420

It's been a very busy summer for all of us.  This year we had a diverse group, with each student taking from one to ten credits of Co-Op Education experience (Geog. 490, I S 290, Enst 490, or REM 590).  This year's team included the following, listed alphabetically.  Once a few years ago, we had an intern in Salt Lake City, UT.  This year we had two folks out of the State of Washington!  One was way back in my home state of Georgia.

This web newsletter is evolving as I gain more material from the summer interns.
 

Grades were due August 21,  2000 so some of you may have received an Incomplete.  You are supposedly safe with Financial Aid as long as you complete your journal reports and file a Final Evaluation Report of your summer internship experience with me in time for me to turn in a change of grade no later than Sept. 8, 2000.   Better get your final project report in and your daily journal reports so I can change the grade, or there is no guarantee financial aid will honor
your request.  You must have completed 6 hours of work during the summer, if you were enrolled..

WHAT DO I DO FOR THIS FINAL REQUIRED REPORT?
You can read your nice little booklet Career Development Services provided for you, which suggests you follow the back of your contract form.  Address each of the points in the Learning Objectives.  Evaluate which were completed, how successfully, and comment on any not done and why.  Do the same with your specific job duties, listed under Learning Activities.  It is likely you have done much more than you amticipated at the outset.  Write an interesting evaluation of your job experience.  It normally is only a few pages.  Please type and email it to me.  I have included several for your interest in what your colleagues did this summer.

                       INTERNS FOR THIS YEAR 2000

Jonathan R. Adams ,U.S.  Forest Service Leavenworth Ranger District,  Leavenworth, WA
Jonathan's supervisor is our own REM grad, Brian White.  Jonathan will work 12 weeks on this project as a backcountry wilderness ranger.  Jonathan's field duties included several four to five-day back country patrol/work trips (solo or team), data collection and maintenance, trail work, significant public interaction, and general maintenance of primitive back country  facilities and infrastructure.  Office duties included trail reports, ranger contact reports, report of unusual occurrences, equipment maintenance and inspection, interdepartmental communication and coordination of projects, and training and participation in other District functions.
 

Tyler F. Bowen, Mayes, Sudderth, & Etheredge,  Marietta, GA
Tyler found this internship and set it up to obtain an understanding and to gain experience through hands-on training of the specific tasks necessary to operate in the Survey Department of Mayes, Sudderth, & Etheredge.  His learning activities included the following:  Operating computer software such as Treadle, C&G, and GIS to assist in the process of digitally mapping various projects; traveling to various courthouses to locate and pull deeds for the assistance of surveying projects; using GPS equipment produced by the Trimble Company to survey various projects; using a theodilite instrument to assist in surveying projects, and learning to work with others as a team member on a field survey crew.

He started his summer experience working with Alex Zeiger, GIS Specialist.  Tyler noted during his experience the turnover effects in high tech employment and ended his experience working for others.
 

Rosalie M. Ferri,  U.S. Dept. of Energy/Pacific NW National Laboratory,   Richland, WA
Rose Ferri was involved in a unique experience coming from Yakima Valley Community College and being able
to take advantage of an award of a summer internship at the Batelle Campus because of work she had performed in a geology class at YVCC.  Steve Hackenberger suggested that Rose sign up for Environmental Study Coop Credits this summer through CWU.  Nancy Hultquist went to the poster session for Rose and others there this summer and took a few pictures shown below.

Abstract (of her summer project):  SOIL PARTICLE SIZE ANALYSIS USING THE DRY SIEVE METHOD.  Rosalie M. Ferri (Yakima Valley Community College, Yakima Washington 98902).  Dr. Steve Reidel (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99355).
    At the United States Department of Energy Hanford Site the storage and disposal of radioactive waste is a significant issue that can impact the environment. The USDOE is trying to prevent radioactive waste stored at the site from reaching the outside environment.  Careful consideration is given not only to the type of containers and waste form, but also the location of waste storage.  In selecting a location for waste storage, an important factor is movement of waste to groundwater through soils.  Particle size analysis of soils is done to determine their hydrological properties, which is used to address how fast waste will move through the soil.  If water is flowing through the soil at a rapid rate waste leakage could have a significant impact on groundwater. The process of dry sieving the soil through a series of different size sieves provides the hydrologic properties of the soil at different depths.  Calculating the percentage gravel vs. sand vs. silt in the soil will enable a computer model of a projected waste site to predict the hydrologic performance
    CCI:     Applied Geology and Geochemistry   (CCI is the Community College Internship program).
    My Goals:   I have just graduated from Yakima Valley Community College with an Associates of Science Degree and an Associates of Arts Degree.  I will be attending Central Washington University where my major will be in Physical Anthropology.  My minor will be in Environmental Studies.  I will complete a Masters Degree in Environmental Studies.

  
Rose Ferri with Poster, Battelle Campus          Rose explaining poster to her mentor, Steve Reidel &
                                                                           Royace Akins,  Director of the CCI program.

  
Core samples she catalogued and studied this summer from the stratigraphy of various basalts.

Map of previous cores used for comparison with this first time cataloguing and classification (within purple crescent), and right stratigraphy taken from colleagues working on the Clastic Dike project during this summer.  I  found this profile one of the best I've seen, and photographed it from another poster.. to connect to a few posters, a page I have not well documented,
from the CCI efforts at Richland, WA this summer--click on this link:  CCI LINK.
 

Elizabeth K. Goss,  USDA Forest Service,  Wenatchee, WA
Most of Lise's work is happening after most of the rest of the other interns.  She is working with William (Bill) Gaines, Wildlife Biologist.  She has been given a list of birds for which they need habitat definitions.  She is compiling a database with the common name, scientific name, core habitat and areas located, and any references cited (or sited) for the particular bird.   Some of her original learning objectives included familiarizing herself with the job of wildlife biologist in the forest service; understanding the ecology of wildlife species in the Wenatchee area; conducting and synthesizing literature about  wildlife ecology and managementt; and obtaining data entry skills.
 

Kelly Haugen, Klamath County Planning Department, Klamath Falls, OR
Kelly's Assessment of her internship:  This internship consists of the building of a GIS database for the County Assessor maps.  My duties include scanning the old maps then using ArcInfo to register, rectify and trace each map.  This is a fairly large county on the Oregon/California border and although the area is mainly BLM land there are quite a few densely populated areas.  Because the tracing is of individual parcels it takes a lot of patience and time in order to do each map, with the simplest maps having only one or two and the more expansive ones having over fifty.  The maps are in order of Township and Range going down to ¼ s and then ¼ s again, depending on the density of parcels in the area.  The plus about this place is that the people are very friendly and helpful making it a very good experience.
                                        
                                           Kelly Haugen at her desk in Klamath Falls, OR

Kelly worked for Phil Dimick, Planning Director.  She gained on-th-job experience with Arc/Info V.8, worked with country projects, and was exposed to GIS in an office environment.  She was primarily involved with entering parcel data for Klamath County.

          THE KITTITAS COUNTY CONSERVATION DISTRICT housed 4 interns this summer !!

Abbi L.  Sorensen,   Kittitas County Conservation District, Ellensburg, WA
Abbi started her summer experience first, and she will likely work the longest of the bunch of interns, with the possible exception of Cameron Kukes who now expects to continue through the fall.  Abbi's supervisor is Anna Lael.  Abbi has been crop mapping and filling in some of the missing irrigation methods and adding them to the Kittitas County GIS data base.  She also has been helping Anna with water quality monitoring, measuring for fish screens, and many other little tasks around the office.  Abbi was nominated by her supervisor for the Student of the Quarter.

ABBI'S FINAL INTERNSHIP REPORT:
This summer I have been working for Anna Lael at the Kittitas County Conservation District in Ellensburg, WA.   My learning objectives at the beginning of the summer were to:

• learn about soil surveys and produce soils maps
• gain experience with ArcView GIS
• do field mapping

I have not produced any soil maps or learned much about soil survey; however,  I have gained experience with ArcView GIS.  I have entered data into the GIS at the Conservation District through the crop mapping I have done and the irrigation methods I have gathered.  I have also helped in producing maps of the Kittitas County for mapping the crops and irrigation methods.  Along with learning about the KCCD GIS system and water quality sampling, I also got the opportunity to learn and use the Global Positioning System (GPS).  I was able to GPS different fields, center pivots and other points during my experience.

During my internship I have assisted Anna Lael with the fieldwork she conducts.  This fieldwork involves water quality monitoring where twice a month we go to seven different waterways and take water samples.  We sample the water for the pH level, the amount of fecal coliform in the water, and the turbidity of the water.  When taking water samples for the turbidity, we fill two containers.  One of the containers goes to a laboratory in Boise, Idaho, and the other container we use to test the turbidity in the office.  I also have assisted Anna and the fish screen engineer in measuring diversions for the development of fish screens.  I also read the moisture level in two of the local fields in the Kittitas County.  The major piece of fieldwork I have been involved in is mapping the crops in the valley.   I began in the Badger Pocket and have recently been crop mapping from Ellensburg east and from I-90 north.

The Conservation District has a PAM Cost share program available to local farmers that qualify for the program.  Under this program, the grower is required to use the product PAM to help stop soil erosion.  While a farmer is using his irrigation, the Conservation District is supposed to take a water sample and measure the turbidity in the water.  After Anna showed me the proper technique, I was given the responsibility to go out to the fields and retrieve the water samples.

I feel that this experience has benefited me by increasing my knowledge of what the Conservation District does to help the agricultural community.   I also learned many valuable techniques and learned how to use different technical equipment.  Being involved with agriculture all of my life has helped me to understand how valuable the Conservation District is to our community. The Conservation District is here to help the farmer.

I acquired valuable knowledge by applying my GIS skills in a real world environment.  I also gained experience working in a job that is associated with agriculture that is related to the Geography program.  This experience has helped me realize what is required in a career job.   I am grateful for the opportunity the Kittitas County Conservation District personnel gave me this summer.
 

Michael S. Wandler,  Kittitas County Conservaton District,  Ellensburg, WA
Michael spent part of his summer learning the hydro extension in Spatial Analyst.  He worked with 10m and 30m
DEMs, deriving watersheds through the hydro extension, and assisted his supervisor, Nicole McCoy,  with
ArcView Project management and Spatial Analyst exercises in development of an advanced training manual she is working on.  He has spent some time learning ArcInfo 8.02 and writing instructions on how to run the program to do basic functions (somewhat of a tutorial for the beginner).
He's written lots of detailed notes on various procedures for Nicole all summer, but has taken off to Hawaii for two weeks.  When he returns, I will post his final report.  Meanwhile, here are some highlights from his journal entries on the tasks he undertook (just a minor amount of the full journal, which was complete with detailed procedures for a number of useful techniques of data base building, analysis, and  GIS skills.

• Spatial Tools download
• ModelBuilder tutorials
• Workspace construction
• Successfully worked with projections utility
• Layout templates (resizing)
• Editing project files
• Experimented with Port Project
• Worked on documentation.
• Worked with farm plan maps
• Downloaded Automatic Backup script from the web
• Created instruction list for downloading 10-meter DEMs
• Download DEMs

Thomas J. Keiran, Kittitas County Conservation District, Ellensburg, WA
This was TJ's second quarter as an intern at the Kittitas County Conservation District with Nicole McCoy, the GIS Technician.  This summer has been a time of transition at the KCCD as the entire network was upgraded for
ArcInfo 8.  I have helped by creating an IT systems profile and am now working on converting data from shapefiles to "layers" for the new program.  Currently, I am going through the tutorials that accompanied the software and trying to think of ways to incorporate the power of ArcInfo into the KCCD's projects.  I enjoy going to the field and collecting data, sometimes with the Trimble GPS, then going through the process of converting the data to shapefiles and incorporating it into our projects.  I have been using Spatial Analyst and since Mike Wandler joined the team, we have done some interesting projects using the Spatial Tools 3.3 Hydro Analysis extension.  The best thing about interning at the KCCD is that I can help landowners to manage their natural resources.
 

Jonathan D.  Hudson, Kittitas County Conservation District, Ellensburg, WA
Jon Hudson assisted Anna Lael with office chores, field work, and in doing research for potential funding sources for some of the KCCD needs.  Below are selected tasks Jon accomplished and wrote in his journal.

• began preliminary work researching available grants and other sources of funding on the Internet.  I was informed that KCCD operates solely on funds from supporting organizations, and that upcoming projects will require more funds than are currently available in the budget.  Guiding topics for this research include:  (1)  On-farm irrigation system improvements (tail water ponds, sprinkler irrigation, water quality), in-stream improvements, riparian habitat, and fish screens  (2)  Water quality monitoring  (3)  Water lab (4)  Mobile lab—track set up with field equipment to do on-farm technical assistance and water / soil sampling
• did research for available grant funds by becoming familiar with ALL possible funding sources, programs, position titles and terms and their corresponding acronyms
• constructed a “web tree” to track my research, to log potential sources for future reference, and for general organizational purposes
• started creating a contact list for agencies, departments, organizations and contact people within these said entities that may serve as a resource as my research progresses
• met and conferred with Jill Gallie, KCCD Administrative Assistant, about planning for the construction of an informational and attractive brochure for the upcoming annual Plant Sale
• reviewed one of two sample QAPP (Quality Assurance Project Plan) documents provided by Anna in preparation for my assistance with the KCCD document—“Kettle Tri-Watershed Project (KTWP)"
• Surveying Field Work—I went with Allen, Anna and Paul (District Engineer) to perform initial surveying work of a water diversion site by Manastash Ridge.  In addition to learning the basic functions of the equipment and techniques for successful surveying, I gained a general knowledge of the purpose of fish screening and the meticulous chore of engineering a fish screen for a particular site.  This chore requires that several factors be taken into consideration, such as velocity of flow, turbidity, water displacement, shape of creek and surrounding features, and size of fish.  I was enlightened as to the emerging politics surrounding water diversions and fish screening.

On the other side of the room were Nicole McCoy's interns she supervised:

Here, Michael Wandler directs T.J. Keiran in an ArcView Spatial Analyst hydrologic watershed project,
with GIS Analyst, Nicole McCoy and Soils Scientist, Allen Aronica looking on.
 

Dustrude, Christy A., Kittitas County Conservation District, Ellensburg, WA
With supervisor John Konovsky, Christy is to set up and maintain a GIS database, learn to digitize maps into the GIS, and create and print maps.  The database is for Washington Conservation Districts' Unincorporated / Incorporated Areas.  She will be researching via archives, maps, and conversations with districts, and she will update the database according to new information obtained through this research.  Another goal is to obtain maps from districts not already digitized and digitize as necessary.

Scott J. Johnson, Washington State Parks & Recreation Commission, Lake Easton State Park, WA
Scott Johnson has been involved in the operation of a State Park concentrating on maintenance weekend tours, special events and budgeting.  He's done a lot of hard work on various maintenance and ground keeping projects, besides helping give interpretative tours to individuals and groups.  He's learned about the career opportunities in the State Parks Department, becoming thoroughly familiar with park policies and procedures by enforcing them all summer.  And, his humor in journal writing has kept me laughing.
 

Cameron J. Kukes, Washington State Dept. of Transportation, Yakima, WA
Cameron Kukes has been working as an intern for the DOT in the Environmental Office in Union Gap, WA.  He has been helping with the work of the Environmental Coordinators and Assistants and learning the office processes, policies, and procedures.  As well, he has spent time getting familiar with the different job aspects such as; compliance, conditions, transportation, design, maintenance, and construction.  In addition, Cam has been working diligently on various GIS projects.  He remarks:  "Throughout this internship I feel that I have gained an important real world aspect (as opposed to a controlled classroom environment).  I am very excited that I have actually been able to put those hard school hours to a tangible use and see the return."

A site map Cameron Kukes designed to assess one of the summer projects (using ArcView w/ extensions).  Part of the problem with displaying it here legibly is this was set up for a much larger plotter size.

Cameron's Internship FINAL REPORT

Throughout my internship at the Department of Transportation (DOT), I have found myself challenged and enriched.  I was challenged to learn at the fastest rate possible.  It has now become apparent the reasons for taking the necessary classroom training to accomplish this internship/job.  Without the classes I have taken, the learning curve would be greatly slowed.

In my internship I was able to function, participate, and contribute in a professional work environment.  It was pleasant to be able to work with people who shared the same sorts of backgrounds and experiences.  I found the people I worked with easy to be around and very helpful with teaching me the numerous new tasks I encountered on a daily basis.  I was able to study many different aspects of the Environmental Office. This included its necessary role in the way things function as one unit at the DOT.  I was able to learn about the environmental factors, compliance, and conditions, in a transportation design and construction application.

Through the duration of the internship I was also able to use and enhance my knowledge of GIS and ArcView.   This came with great pleasure, as I was able to do real-life problem solving, making the rewards radiant.

Overall, I feel that my internship experience at the DOT far exceeded my expectations.  Through the trust and good faith of the Environmental Office, I was able to gain knowledge and self-confidence that is not possible in a classroom environment.  I would eagerly encourage anyone looking for a good learning and eye-opening experience to follow the same path.
 

Diane E. McGuerty, Washington State Parks-Eastern Region HQ, Wenatchee, WA
Diane has been working for Washington State Parks this summer in the position of a Senior Park Aide.  This means she is "in a position to leave notes for everyone else on what to do."  She has found it a very interesting experience dealing not only with the public but also interacting with other employees in a new light.  The reason for that is that she has "previously worked for State Parks since 1996 in other positions without much authority (at least on paper)."  She has enjoyed this summer learning about all the forms that must be filled out for "the acquisition of not much."      She says that "trying  to explain in the clearest of terms the acceptable methods of cleaning toilets (as in not with the same sponge you are using on the sink)", is a real challenge. She has a few choice thoughts about the mysterious RNW (or, Reservations Northwest) that works diligently to confuse campers and employees alike with charging various fees for this that and everything.  Diane has actually found it to be a  pretty good summer so far, and is hoping it continues smoothly for the rest of her experience.

Diane E. McGuerty's Internship FINAL REPORT
Washington State Parks and Recreation

Introduction
This summer I decided to do another internship with State Parks.  I have previously worked for Parks, both as an employee and as an intern in the past years, so I thought I would return ahead at the get go.  I had failed to take into account the fact that I would start this summer in a completely new position with no guidance as to how to proceed.  In years past I have worked as a Park Aide, cleaning restrooms, digging irrigation and working as a customer service agent registering in-coming campers.  In this new position I would not only do the following but also had to train others to do the same and start to assign work to the newcomers.  I have never acted as any kind of lead or supervisor and before and found it to be challenging, but I missed all of the grunt work.  That is to say I did go out in the field and dig holes but I also learned that I would have to spend a considerable amount of time in the office doing paperwork.   While I did complete the majority of my objectives for the summer, they certainly changed and began a life of their own once I started working.
Discussion
My learning objectives:
1. Learn and implement alternative computer programs compatible with ArcView GIS.
I wanted to learn some programs such as Autocad and Coreldraw.  These programs seem to be used in conjunction with ArcView in many areas.  I had tried to convince State Parks of the viability of these programs as some of the info they were trying to access were done on these programs.  I managed to find a copy of Autocad LT 3.1 and placed it on my computer but have found trying to learn this program without any assistance to very time consuming and almost useless.  I will continue trying to learn the program on my own and have heard that a copy has been loaded in Lind.  I finally convinced Parks to purchase a copy of Coreldraw but unfortunately it is on order at this time.  I intend to continue to work with Parks this fall to convert some existing Coreldraw maps that I have done into bitmaps.
2. AirPhoto and Research Analysis of Urbanization of Riverside State Park.
I am currently working with the airphotos and have found that when I can scan the photos and then rectify them to an existing CD I have of the area, a much more accurate survey can be done.  I intend to turn in a preliminary map by the 15th and will continue on with this project into the fall.
3. Learn how to Develop Initial Assessment of Property for Future Park Use.  This project fell by the wayside the first week or two.  There was no funding or personnel to assist me with the assessment.
*4. Develop Supervisory/Management Skills as to: Personnel, Finances, Parks Policy
*5. Work with various personnel to see how different areas of expertise are integrated into Park Policy
*6. Other learning experiences as they develop
        *   Indicate areas in which I spent the majority of my time.  New jobs I took on are listed monthly:
JUNE:

• Train personnel on RNW/CRS Park Office software system.
• Orientation of new park aides
• First Aid/CPR training
• Redo Forms-cleaning schedules, task lists, emergency info lists
• Groundswork

• Discuss staff problems
• Discuss new computer programs (Autocad, Coreldraw)
• Reconcile monies
• PA training on herbicide application
• Look into PA termination
• Became Database Administrator on CRS system
• Documentation of Evidence
• Transmittals

• CO-ordinate staff to work on projects
• Inventory
• Central Stores Ordering
• Start new employee
• Fred Prior Seminar-Managing Multiple Projects and Multiple Deadlines
• Re-vamp security of Assets
• Locate hard to find parts
• Help set up Ranger 5 interviews

• Help supervise Washington Conservation Corps workers at the annual workshop/academy at Sunlakes StatePark
• Attend wildlife survival training through Washington Outdoor Women

Kyle J. Schuttie, Department of Natural Resources, Ellensburg, WA
Kyle worked with Eric Mollander, Forest Technician 1 as a Fire Fighter for the DNR at the DNR Work Center. His
interest was to find out the DNR's fire management procedure and to report on a couple of week's detailed work activities related to fire management and he reported as well on DNR's fire management policy.

Revised by NBH - 9-8-00     comments to nancyh@cwu.edu