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	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}IMG_0041(1).jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 227px; float: right; " />We are smack dab in the middle of one of the coldest, snowiest winter&rsquo;s I have experienced in Michigan since first arriving here 8 years ago and all the daily shoveling, squeaky snow underfoot, frozen nostrils (on the inside), cracking/creaking trees, and very little sun has been completely wonderful!&nbsp; Long time residents are even giving the nod of approval saying, this is what winter used to be like.&nbsp; Of course a productive winter calls for an increased work load for staff as we work to keep our trails groomed, drive clear, and roofs shoveled.&nbsp; All that on top of preparing to lead and teach school groups.&nbsp; Luckily we have been blessed with a super group of courageous winter interns, or winterns, to help us get the job done.</p>
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	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}IMG_0104(1).jpg" style="width: 250px; height: 187px; float: left; " />Lauren Westerman joins our teaching staff having finished her masters in Environmental Science from Taylor University.&nbsp; She is amazed by the complexities of the natural world and feels called to share that amazement with others.&nbsp; One week into the internship, I have watched Lauren take full advantage of the opportunities our Michigan winter affords like skiing, snowshoeing, sledding, and reaching the 5<sup>th</sup> rung climbing the ladder to nowhere.</p>
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	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}IMG_0063(1).jpg" style="width: 250px; height: 187px; float: right; " />This internship will be the second for Wilhelmina Witt, a recent graduate of Tabor University.&nbsp; Wil participated in our Fall 2012 internship as an undergrad, and wanted to experience teaching at Au Sable during the winter months.&nbsp; Wilhelmina is a classical naturalist in the sense that she is perpetually curious about the world and seeks to resolve her curiosities through direct study and investigation.&nbsp; She is also famously spoken of as being the only intern to ask me to stop the car so that she could taxidermy a dead critter along the roadside.</p>
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	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}IMG_0127.jpg" style="width: 150px; height: 200px; float: left;" />Lindsey Smith&rsquo;s appetite for adventure brought her all the way up from Tennessee and Lee University where she graduated with a degree in Biology. Lindsey&rsquo;s past experiences have taken her all over the world.&nbsp; She has spent summers wading through streams in in Tennessee searching for hellbenders (giant salamanders, think Godzilla in size, only amphibians), a semester in Australia, and now her adventures have brought her north to experience a host of new experiences that accompany winter in Michigan.</p>
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	We have a great instructor staff primed to deliver wonder and delight in the natural world to all of our students this winter. Check back in over the coming weeks to hear about how the internship is going straight from our winterns.</p>
