Salt Lake Field Office Intern Is Hooked On Fisheries

The best internships provide opportunities for interns to learn and grow while meaningfully contributing to their office. This summer, BLM Utah's fisheries program and the Salt Lake Field Office were lucky to have high school intern Cristina Chirvasa join the office as a Hutton Scholar from the American Fisheries Society. 

As part of the Hutton Junior Fisheries Biology program, Cristina supported aquatic assessment inventorying and monitoring programs, completed riparian restoration projects, and participated in a week-long fish sampling trip with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. "Cristina asked thoughtful questions and enthusiastically learned about and helped monitor spring systems, fish, wetland habitats, and stream habitats," said BLM Salt Lake Field Office Ecologist and Fisheries Biologist Cassie Mellon. "I really enjoyed mentoring Cristina."
Cristina's experience with the BLM gave her an opportunity to learn about fish and wildlife conservation and habitat management, while also developing professional skills. She also brought great ideas, enthusiasm, and energy to her eight week BLM internship.

While we hope that Cristina will choose to share her skills with the BLM in the future, whatever she does, we know her future is bright. The American Fisheries Society Hutton Scholar Program is a paid summer mentoring program to educate and inspire high school students in fisheries science and management. The program pairs high school interns with professional mentors and is sponsored by the American Fisheries Society. Find out more about the program at https://hutton.fisheries.org/. 

Story by Justin Jimenez, BLM Utah Fisheries and Riparian Program Lead, and Rachel Wootton, Public Affairs Specialist. Photos by BLM and courtesy of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.