2026 Conservation Internship Mid-Year Update Joslyn Cianfrance
The first couple of months of the Denver Mountain Parks Foundation Conservation Internship have been an incredible experience. I have learned so much in this short time and have developed a deeper passion for and understanding of conservation work. This internship has also helped me to narrow down my interests in career paths. Before starting, I was very unsure of what I wanted to do with my newly attained degree in environmental science because everything was interesting to me and I didn’t have a specific field I wanted to go into. However, I have started to realize that I would love to pursue a career in conservation and potentially pursue higher education as well.
The thing I have probably spent the most time doing so far in this internship is species composition of the experimental vegetation plots at Daniels Park. There are three different treatments we are looking at: Rejuvra applied in August 2023, Rejuvra applied in October 2020, and reseeding the prairie dog colony. It has been fascinating to see the variety in plant communities across Daniels Park and how different environmental characteristics determine what plant species thrive in certain areas. It has also been very interesting to see how the different treatments applied affect the areas of study. It has been extremely eye-opening to see the amount of species diversity within a single square meter of grassland because before I started this internship, I would have looked at it and just seen grass. The biggest skill I have learned so far through my experience doing species composition is plant identification. Before beginning this internship, I had no knowledge or experience of plant identification. However, over the past several weeks I have become quite confident in my ability to identify dozens of grass and forb species at Daniels Park. I have even been able to identify some of these species in my own time in locations outside of the park. Before this internship I was not really interested in or aware of plant identification, but I have developed a new interest in it, and in plants in general. Going forward in this internship and beyond, I would love to learn more about plant identification and become more adept in my skills.
Another major aspect of this internship so far has been working with the bison herd at Daniels Park. One of the main things we are doing with the bison is recall training in case they end up getting out of their new pasture. This has been an incredibly rewarding experience for multiple reasons. First, getting to see and interact with (not touching, but throwing treats for) bison at such a close distance is very special and not something that most people get to experience. Also, it has been amazing to see the progress the herd has made just over the course of a few weeks. Each time I help with training, there seem to be increasingly more bison that come at the sound cue, and the bison seem to be getting more responsive. I am very much looking forward to seeing how the herd progresses with training throughout the rest of the season and to continue being involved with their training process. It was also incredibly special to be a part of the gate opening for the bison’s new pasture in Highlands Ranch Backcountry Wilderness Area and to re-introduce bison to land they haven’t been on in 150 years.
The medicine wheel garden at Daniels Park has also been a central part of the internship. I have spent a few days in the garden either planting new plants or weeding the garden in preparation for its grand opening. The most valuable thing I have learned through my experience working in the medicine wheel garden is all the Indigenous knowledge and experience involved with it. Listening to Lewis Tall Bull explain the significance of the garden and the meaning of each section is fascinating, and it has been very valuable to hear from the perspective of a native person.
Another major aspect of this internship is the work I do with the Rocky Mountain conservation team. Every Monday, Ashley (the other intern) and I drive up to Mt. Blue Sky to apply mountain lion urine around the perimeter of the Summit Lake parking lot and to check all the camera traps both at Summit Lake Park and at the mountain summit. It is very fulfilling for me to spend my day working in the Rocky Mountains and being surrounded by the beautiful scenery. Another thing I love about this part of the internship is getting to talk to people about the work we are doing. People visiting the mountain will regularly stop us and ask what we are doing, and I love getting to explain to them what we are doing and to educate them aboutconservation work. I am very much looking forward to the rest of the internship and all of the knowledge I will learn and experiences I will gain.