An Intern Reflection by Erin Wiberg
I was once convinced that nothing could beat the rolling prairies and mountainous landscapes of Alberta, and I never imagined myself leaving home. However, my plans changed (as plans always do) this spring when Leah and Markku Kostamo, the founders of A Rocha Canada, came to speak at my university. I don’t know whether I fell under the spell of Leah’s charm, Markku’s passion, or fell in love with the overall vision of A Rocha (or perhaps it was all three), but I applied for a conservation internship the next day.
This summer, I’ve had the opportunity to lead the Barn Swallow nest surveys and water quality monitoring in the Little Campbell River watershed. The transition from in-class to hands-on came with a steep learning curve, but it has proven to be invaluable education (and life) experience.
My summer at A Rocha has taught me the value of being present in every landscape and the importance of investing in place (even if that place is only a temporary landing spot). For me, “place” looks and sounds new almost every day: some days it’s wading in the middle of a pond searching for tadpoles, walks in the forest straining to pick up the unique song of a Spotted Towhee vs. a Dark-eyed Junco, on the beach listening to the sounds of the ocean, or watching for birds in the pasture fields. Other times, it’s the sloshing of my red rubber boots in the river, walks under the starry sky, or monitoring for nests in rural communities. And, now and again, it is simply sitting on a stump in the middle of the forest, reveling in its mysteries.
My internship has given me the opportunity to invest in so many places, whether it has been through active conservation work or merely letting myself marvel at handiwork of the Creator. Each place offers something new to learn and experience; each one is a new teacher. And no matter which landscape I find myself in, I leave wishing I could share it with everyone because it was “the best place yet.”
Now my summer at A Rocha is coming to an end and I’ll be heading back to Calgary to start my third year of university in the fall. And yet, as I prepare to journey back to those Alberta prairies that I was so hesitant to leave, I can’t help but think about how much I’m going to miss all the little “places” here (especially that stump in the middle of the forest).
“All the wild world is beautiful, and it matters but little where we go, to highlands or lowlands, woods or plains, on the sea or land or down among the crystals of waves or high in a balloon in the sky; through all the climates, hot or cold, storms and calms, everywhere and always we are in God’s eternal beauty and love. So universally true is this, the spot where we chance to be always seems the best.” – John Muir
