I’m finishing up my internship in the next couple of days and leaving the Island on Saturday. I can’t believe how fast this summer has gone and how busy I was between the internship and two jobs. I’ve really enjoyed my time on the Island and engaging the public with education about the environment, sustainability, and butterflies.

Over the summer I have learned a lot about butterflies and moths. I’m still intrigued that Monarchs migrate to the south and it takes one generation to get there but it takes three generations to get back up to Canada. I also find it interesting how the last generation lives up to 9 months while the other generations live 3-4 weeks. I love telling people about how the kinds of moths we have don’t eat anything because they don’t have digestive systems or mouth parts. Most people don’t know this fact so I know that I am teaching them something new.

I have enjoyed talking to people about environmental politics and sustainability since they are my main interest areas. I’ve had many conversations with people who have opinions similar to mine and I get excited to talk to them about what I’m thinking. One of these conversations was with Irene Mostek. Irene owns the house and she is very interested in sustainability and nature. Irene and a couple of other people who I’ve talked to tell me that they are glad that I chose the field I did and that there needs to be people like me in businesses and government. This just makes me more sure of my choice of being in the environmental field.