I loved 1) how much I learned about prairie plants and the ecology research processes 2) learning from professionals during weekly intern seminars 3) how varied my schedule was on any given day 4) the side research project opportunity (I studied bumblebee diversity in one of their experiments!) and 5) the family bond the other interns and I developed over the summer!
What I wish was different
I wish there was more transparency with us interns about volunteering for sub-projects. For instance, I volunteered to do percent cover for some of the experiments, but the other girl I was with didn't realize that her volunteering for that would mean she'd be doing it for most of the rest of the summer. Essentially, that changes the day-to-day parts of the internship and could not be what you wanted your summer experience to be, depending on what sub-project you're assigned to.
Advice
If you're thinking and about living at Cedar Creek for the summer, I think you should try it out. It's such a unique experience and could potentially save you lots of time and gas money. I commuted from the U of M campus, and it took 40min to get there and 1 hour to get home every day. There were many days I didn't want to make the trip home after work. Plus, it's a cool bonding experience for you and other interns. Finally, just know that some days you'll feel exhausted and wishing you'd gotten paid much more; some other days, you'll think to yourself, "I'm getting paid for this?".
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Plant Ecology Intern
June - August 2022 • East Bethel, MN
What I liked
The lovely community of people on site that you will interact with daily, and the guidance of mentors and superiors to help you succeed. The staff really care about their interns and throw a beginning and end of summer symposium.
What I wish was different
More interaction between field teams. You get to know your team very well, but don’t often interact with other teams.
Advice
Be prepared for a lot of outdoor field work. Long days in the sun, so wear sunscreen or protective clothes and bring lots of water!
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Field intern
June - August 2018 • East Bethel, MN
What I liked
I loved the sense of community developed among the interns, as well as the opportunity to learn 70+ native prairie species and conduct an independent project.
What I wish was different
I wish I could have learned more about ecology by getting exposure to different forms of data collection and analysis rather than primarily weeding and sorting every day.
Advice
This will be a lot of manual labor, but a great experience and I would definitely do it again.
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Intern
June - August 2017 • East Bethel, MN
What I liked
Part of the internship includes designing, carrying out, and presenting your own independent research project! It was a great firsthand experience at carrying out a scientific study in a learning environment. My mentor taught me so much and I felt very accomplished and confident with my proposal and report writing skills as well as data analysis by the end of the summer.
What I wish was different
The internship is sectioned off into two seasons, one where you spend all day out in the field weeding, and one where you spend all day inside sorting biomass. It gets pretty repetitive after a few days of the same task, but that's just the way the experiment is designed.
Advice
Do the independent project! It's not nearly as scary or as much extra work as you would think, and it's the most valuable way to learn scientific writing and analytical skills I've ever experienced. And take all the overtime you can get.
