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The CCBER team went out of their way to ensure that, above all,
this program would educate and engage students curious about the field of restoration ecology. |
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It was interesting to not only get to work with this material (some of it dating back to the 1920s!) but to also have the satisfaction of knowing that everyone around the world will soon be able to access this information through the web. |
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Sarah Vitone |
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I am a third year Environmental Studies student here at UCSB. I started interning with CCBER beginning fall 2007 after I learned about the Cheadle Center through one of my classes. My first experience with CCBER was working as a Restoration Intern during the fall. This was a wonderful experience because it took me out of the classroom and into real restoration projects for the first time. I was able to learn more about site planning, species identification, and plant material sourcing than any other opportunity I have had here at UCSB. It wasn’t all the backbreaking, weed-pulling labor I thought restoration projects were. The CCBER team went out of their way to ensure that, above all, this program would educate and engage students curious about the field of restoration ecology.
This program has something for everyone. I recommend this internship even if you’re just curious about getting to know the plants and animals that inhabit the Santa Barbara area. The exciting breadth of topics and friendly CCBER staff make this an opportunity not to be missed. During the fall quarter I also started interning with CCBER Librarian, Laurie Hannah. Together we worked on several special collections including the works of former UCSB professors Katherine Esau and C.H. Muller. I learned a lot of valuable information about collection preservation and storage. It was interesting to not only get to work with this material (some of it dating back to the 1920s!) but to also have the satisfaction of knowing that everyone around the world will soon be able to access this information through the web. There’s still a lot of work to be done on this project so I urge anyone interested in getting involved to contact Laurie.
This quarter CCBER offered me a paid position working on scanning and describing a number of collection photos. These photos will be uploaded to an internet database where people all around the world can access them. I get to build off the skills I learned about archive preservation and apply my knowledge in a fun and practical way. In order to gather and process photo information, I use a number of tools including Microsoft Excel, Photoshop, different scanning programs, and botany databases. Laurie likened the work to that of a detective. I have to use every tool available to me so that I can crack the secrets that lie behind these photos. Interning with CCBER has been a great experience that I will never forget. I am very thankful that CCBER offers these types of opportunities to undergrads looking to apply their knowledge in a fun and useful way!
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| Student assistant Sarah Vitone scanning plant anatomy images from the Katherine Esau Collection. |
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