The internship program is an essential component of Norcross’s Education Division because it connects our educational work with meaningful pathways into conservation careers. Our goal is not only to introduce young people to forests, streams, wetlands, wildlife, and ecological restoration, but also to help them recognize that these places represent possible futures for them—as scientists, environmental educators, land managers, restoration practitioners, designers, communicators, and conservation leaders.
This is particularly important for students from underserved communities, who may have had limited access to outdoor learning, professional networks, or information about careers in conservation and environmental science. Through our school and community programs, we can begin building relationships with students at an early age, welcome them repeatedly to Norcross, and help them develop the knowledge, confidence, skills, and sense of belonging needed to imagine themselves working in these fields. The internship program then becomes the next step in that progression: an opportunity for young people who first encountered Norcross as students to return as active members of our professional team.
Research Projects led by our interns 2026:
Bird Surveys Overview
This project assessed bird species presence and community composition in fire-adapted habitats across two management areas at Norcross. These two sites are in different stages of ecological restoration, with Chapin being treated with prescribed fire in 2025 and the ADN Cemetery undergoing logging in winter 2027, followed by prescribed fire treatment by 2028. This work is preliminary in nature, and marks the beginning of an ongoing, long-term monitoring project that seeks to document current bird diversity across both sites, providing post-treatment data at Chapin and establishing baseline conditions at the ADN Cemetery through manual point count field surveys and acoustic monitoring. This project aims to better understand how vegetation management and prescribed fire influence bird species presence, particularly for species associated with early successional habitats, shrublands, open woodlands, and fire-maintained ecosystems. The results of this study will help to inform future restoration and habitat management decisions, strengthen long-term biodiversity monitoring at NWF, and support education and public outreach focused on fire-adapted landscapes and bird conservation.
Insect Survey Overview
This project is gathering important invertebrate data to better understand how insect communities respond to fire-adapted habitat restoration at Norcross. During the current field season, surveys have focused on the Chapin site, which was treated with prescribed fire one year ago. Interns have established a monitoring approach using multiple sampling techniques, including aerial netting, bee bowls, and vegetation-based observations.
The project aims to document current invertebrate community conditions, assess short-term responses to prescribed fire and canopy opening, and establish a long-term monitoring framework to better understand how fire-based restoration influences biodiversity in northeastern fire-adapted ecosystems. Results from this work will help inform restoration planning, habitat management, conservation education, and future ecological research at Norcross.