<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Intern Blog Header(1).jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 217px;" /></p>
<p>
	There is always something happening at Au Sable that keeps life interesting and training week during the internship never disappoints.&nbsp;&nbsp; We had a birthday, thunderstorms, MiCorps stream monitoring training, encounters with bats (the mammal, not the equipment), and wasps.&nbsp; Training week is a merging of people and place.&nbsp; We learn about each other and our surroundings.&nbsp; Information and expectations are doled out like Halloween candy.&nbsp; And when it is all over the real work begins.&nbsp; Thankfully, that is the fun part.</p>
<p>
	Now it is time to meet the staff that has been part of it all.</p>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Casey Headshot.jpg" style="width: 187px; height: 250px; float: left;" />Casey Shoaff is no stranger to Au Sable or northern Michigan for that matter.&nbsp; Casey grew up in Traverse City and has been a valuable member of Au Sable&rsquo;s research team studying the Boardman River dam removal project for the previous two summers. &nbsp;This past summer, Casey filled in on short notice to help lead a day program for a Traverse City youth camp attending Au Sable.&nbsp; Ensuring the day was especially memorable for his students, Casey showed them how to eat a grasshopper&hellip; Casey&rsquo;s lighthearted, hardworking nature is always appreciated and we are excited to have him on our teaching staff this fall.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Sara Headshot.jpg" style="width: 250px; height: 187px; float: right;" /></p>
<p>
	Sara Wendt is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point.&nbsp; Sara&rsquo;s love of the outdoors began at a young age.&nbsp; During her youth she cherished Milwaukee&rsquo;s green spaces and later earned a degree in Wildlife Management and Research.&nbsp; Since graduating Sara has followed her passion all over the United States gaining experience in the wildlife field. During her last appointment as a predator prey technician in the Upper Peninsula, Sara used radio-telemetry to track deer, bobcat, black bear, coyote, and wolf.&nbsp; Already Sara is excited to help update and rework some of our wildlife lessons, and so are we!</p>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Neil Headshot.jpg" style="width: 180px; height: 250px; float: left;" />Since May of this year, Au Sable has had the privilege of enlisting the many skills of Neil Gilbert or &ldquo;Young Neil&rdquo; as some call him.&nbsp; Neil is a recent graduate of Calvin College and worked this past summer as a cook on our kitchen staff.&nbsp; Between the end of summer session II and the start of the internship he observed a short stint on maintenance and for the next six weeks we are fortunate to have him on staff as a member of our teaching team.&nbsp; Neil is a passionate birder and startled me with his talent earlier this week as he performed a complex birdcall that resulted in something resembling Noah calling in the animals to the ark.&nbsp; It was really magnificent.&nbsp; That&rsquo;s Neil.</p>
<p>
	As always I invite you to check back weekly to hear what our fine staff has been up to and how they are doing.</p>
