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In the swamp, she finds beauty worth saving
livia barksdale ’19 found herself knee-deep in mud and
muck last summer. To some college students, that might not be an
ideal way to spend school break, but for Barksdale, it was all part of her master plan. Last summer, as part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s career
development program, the environmental studies major interned at the 9,000-acre Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge in south-
western Indiana. The refuge’s grasslands and wetlands provide cover for more than 250 species of birds, including bald eagles and endangered barn owls and least terns. Only about 8,000 of the migratory least terns — at 8 to 9 inches long, the smallest terns in North America — remain in the wild. “I learned about all of the operations it takes to run a wildlife
refuge,” Barksdale says, “and I loved it.” She spent most of her days in what many would dismiss as a swamp but what nature lovers might consider the consummate haven for bird-watching. Barksdale’s typical day? Arriving at 7:30 a.m. and then heading out to clear and mow trails, cut fallen trees, clear invasive plants, assess newly acquired land, or adjust the wetlands’ water levels to encourage the growth of plants for hosting migratory ducks and shore birds. She even introduced fledging barn owls to the wild and, after dark, counted bats as part of a national survey. “I love learning about every aspect of the environment,” she says. “I’ve developed a passion for forest and wetland ecosystems.” This was far from the Maryland native’s first conservation experience. She’s interned for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s St. Croix Wetland Management District in Wisconsin, and has volunteered for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Last spring, she studied abroad at the CIEE Global Sustainability and Environment Program in Berlin. In her coursework, Barksdale has “walked the walk” of environmental conservation — quite literally. She took to the woods of Petersham, Mass., in Biology Professor John Baker’s Problems of Practice course, Small-Scale Land Conservation in Massachusetts. Barksdale learned how to monitor preserved land and prepare state-mandated annual conservation restriction reports. In these reports, she and her classmates detailed changes to protected parcels that arose from a number of factors, including human encroachment. “I enjoyed going out in the field and then reading and learning about conservation on a local scale,” Barksdale says. “I’ve experienced conservation at the federal scale, so it was nice getting a wellrounded picture and seeing how different agencies and communities monitor important land.” A two-sport athlete who plays field hockey and softball for Clark, Barksdale will get her exercise in the wild once she graduates. She’s applying to graduate programs in natural resource conservation and also for AmeriCorps and field-based internships. She finds satisfaction in her chosen path, even when it leads into a swamp. “It’s a great feeling to know that the lands I’m working hard to protect will be there for future generations to learn about and appreciate.”
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- Meredith Woodward King
