Hello, my name is Olivia Hunt, and the end of August marked the conclusion of my time with Saratoga PLAN. I first started working with PLAN in mid-October of 2023 as an Education and Conservation Intern funded through the catalyst grant provided by The Land Trust Alliance.
Throughout my internship, I learned so much about what a land trust does and was able to experience different aspects of conservation work. I communicated with landowners to complete annual boundary monitoring on many different properties around Saratoga County. This involves going out to a property and walking the boundary to ensure there are no encroachments from neighboring landowners and that the land is being conserved in the way it was intended to be conserved. I also got the chance to get out into the field with the Monday Stewards, a group of PLAN stewardship volunteers who meet every Monday morning to do hands-on trail work and surveying. The main focus of my internship was surveying for Hemlock Woolly Adelgid on several of PLAN’s properties and creating a comprehensive report on my findings. Throughout that process, I learned more about scientific research, data collection, data management, map making, and scientific reporting. Additionally, through a partnership between PLAN and Wilton Wildlife Preserve and Park, I created educational materials for a winter walk series at the Bog Meadow Brook Nature Trail in Saratoga Springs.
After finishing my internship in March, I returned to PLAN as an Ecological Assessment Technician funded by a grant from the Open Space Institute. In my new role, I was tasked with collecting ecological data from Snake Hill and Curtis Preserve to help inform the creation and updating of PLAN’s land management plans. Throughout that process, I learned about ecological communities, field surveying, and wetland delineations from trained ecologists and biologists. I also got to continue working on my map-making and data-reporting skills while writing ecological assessments. Additionally, I made connections within the community at a public invasive species walk I led, the Open House on the Future of Snake Hill, and on several guided hikes of Snake Hill. Overall, I have enjoyed my time here with PLAN and it has helped confirm for me that I want to continue to work in the field of environmental conservation and education. PLAN does a lot of good within Saratoga County and I am excited to see how they grow in the future!
I would like to thank the Open Space Institute for funding this work through the Barnabas McHenry Award Fund. In honor of Barney McHenry’s contributions and accomplishments, the Open Space Institute has established and administers an award to celebrate his leadership and foster future leaders in the Hudson River Valley. The annual award will be used to provide financial support to promising young leaders and exemplary projects that make significant contributions to environmental conservation, environmental justice, historic preservation, tourism, and the arts in the Hudson River Valley.
Olivia Hunt