Internships are available for ages 18 and up to anyone who has taken at least one Northwest Connections field course. Interns help with everything from research projects to chopping wood and caretaking the Barn!

NwC's 2010 Interns

Colleen Ferris grew up in Annapolis, Maryland and is currently a senior at the University of Montana studying Ecology and Organismal Biology. Colleen participated in Landscape and Livelihood in 2009, and as part of her independent study project she researched grizzly bear management techniques. Colleen is excited to work with, and learn from respected professionals in wildlife and natural resource management this summer. Prior to arriving at Northwest Connections this July, Colleen will be studying field and alpine ecology with the Flathead Lake Biological Field Station in Polson, MT. After her summer internship is over in August, Colleen will be returning to the University of Montana to complete her degree. She will be joining the Peace Corps in Central or South America as a Natural Resources volunteer in February 2011.

Ali Pons participated in Landscape and Livelihood in 2006, and she graduated from the University of Montana with a degree in Wildlife Biology in 2009. Ali is a native Montanan and over the years she has worked on several research projects ranging from toads and small mammals in Montana, to loons in Alaska. Last summer she was a crew leader for an elk study at the Ya Ha Tinda Ranch located just east of Banff National Park in Canada, where she wrangled wild elk herds off of wintering grounds on horseback. She is looking forward to gaining new experiences and helping with ongoing projects at NwC this summer.

Brooke Stallings will be a senior at Furman University this fall, where she is majoring in Biology with a concentration in Environmental Studies. Originally from Richmond, Virginia, Brooke is a Landscape and Livelihood alum from 2009, and is excited to be back in the Swan Valley for the summer. She recently spent three weeks in Costa Rica with the Furman Biology Department studying tropical ecology, and is looking forward to pursuing her passion for botany, ecology, and natural resource conservation.

NwC's 2009 Interns

Tim Shier was Northwest Connections' Summer 2009 Intern.  He attended the inaugural L&L semester in 2001. Tim grew up in Bloomington Indiana and received his undergraduate degree in Natural Resources and Environmental Science from Purdue University.  He served as a volunteer with the Peace Corps in Honduras from 2004 to 2006, teaching English in the local school and working with coffee growers in a small mountain village.  Tim shared his GIS knowledge with our staff this past summer, focusing his work on compiling a GIS database, assisting staff with GIS analysis of various projects, and trained staff on the new mapping software, Arc GIS.  He also helped out with various field projects such as the grizzly bear DNA project, as well as several community events Tim is completing his mater's degree in Environmental Science. 


Cori Stanek returned to NwC as our Intern for the Landscape & Livelihood 2009. Cori is graduate of Northland Environmental Liberal Arts College in Ashland, Wisconsin, where she completed her degree in Environmental Studies/Community Organizing. Cori is from Minnesota and was a student with Landscape & Livelihood in the fall of 2007 and an NwC intern in the summer of 2008. A true Minnesota girl at heart, she enjoys the world through a paddle, a saddle, a backpack, a paintbrush, and a pen.

Zach Wallace returned to Northwest Connections as an Assistant Instructor for Fall 2009. Zach is a field biologist, naturalist and musician. Originally from Michigan, he graduated from Bard College in 2005, with a double-degree in Environmental Science and Music. Attending the Landscape and Livelihood field semester in 2003 was a defining moment in his education. Since college he has traveled the country playing music and working as a biologist on birds, turtles and forest ecology. He recently earned his Wilderness EMT-B certification. He returns to the Valley this winter to assist with a Canada lynx study. To learn more about this study visit:

Ghost Cat by SCOTT MCMILLION, photographs by TED WOOD, The Nature Conservancy Magazine, Winter 2009.

Researchers collar rare Canada lynx
Audio Slide Show
Photographs by TED WOOD, The Nature Conservancy Magazine, Winter 2009
(2 minutes and 46 seconds)

Searching for Canada lynx kittens
Audio Slide Show
Photographs by TED WOOD, The Nature Conservancy Magazine, Winter 2009
(2 minutes and 54 seconds)