Amy Phelan

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, Massachusetts

My most vivid memory from this summer was when I entered a room full of environmental consultants and watched their reaction. A low murmur was heard and I caught one person saying, “here come the regulators.” When I first arrived at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers I didn’t quite understood what it meant to work in the regulatory department. I knew it was related to something about the environment but my actual role in the internship still seemed very vague to me. However by the end of the summer I learned what it meant to be a regulator; they taught me so many skills that could not be fully understood in a classroom.
Each day I commuted up to the New England division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) in Concord, Massachusetts. The people I worked with explained to me that ACOE are trying to achieve environmental sustainability, to seek balance between human development activities and natural systems, to build a greater understanding of the environment to help protect and enhance it, and to understand the human impact on the environment. During the summer I leaned and fully grasped the environmental principles of the ACOE.
During the summer I provided assistance to the environmental resource section (ERS) in the regulatory department. I worked side by side with brilliant wetland scientists. Because of the Clean Water Act in 1972, the Corps has the authority over dredging and filling in the “waters of the United States” including some wetlands. This has given the Corps the role to decide what areas are qualified for protection as wetlands. My role this summer was to watch and learn how the people I worked with decided whether to grant, deny, or set conditions on wetland permits. For example, if a person has built property on a wetland they have to get a permit. Depending on the size, impact, and location there could be special conditions set forth such as rebuilding another wetland in a new location. This is called compensatory mitigation. Ideally avoidance of wetlands would be the best solution, if that cannot occur there should be minimization on wetlands and if that cannot occur compensatory mitigation will be set up. I learned the threshold that determined what kind of action should take place at each level. During the summer I got to travel all of New England (in a nifty government vehicle), going to different wetland locations. We reviewed monitoring reports of mitigation sites to see if they were successful and determined the level of functionality of the wetland. At the wetland location we identified many of the wetland or non-wetland trees, shrub, vines, observed the hydrology, and finally collected a soil sample. Part of the time during my internship I was in the office analyzing the data to see if any new improvements were needed at that site. The Corps has been doing long term analysis on wetland mitigation and though this internship I saw a small glimpse of what they do.
During this internship I learned several things from the Corps. First, I learned how to collect, analyze, integrate, and report social and ecological data in order to critically understand and evaluate environmental problems. Secondly I learned specific ecological field study methods such as micro- and macrohabitat analysis, biotic sampling and analysis, fauna and flora identification, biodiversity monitoring, population analysis and climate analysis. The third thing I learned during this experience was how to transfer information acquired during the fieldwork to the office. I gathered the data but also I learned how to analyze it back at the office. This internship provided me an excellent opportunity to meet many knowledgeable people in the environmental field. I made many good connections with the people, which will hopefully last into the future.
This internship had a great impact on me. I learned so much. I came out of there having a strong understanding of wetlands, Clean Water Act section 404b, how permits are given to people and how they are regulated. I had the opportunity of a lifetime. I had the opportunity to work with people who are extremely knowledgeable and were completely willing to share their knowledge with me. I worked closely with four wetland scientists and they just showed me so much. But I also got to meet and work with other people in the department. One person took me out to a future dredging project just outside of New Bedford and showed me something very new and exciting to me. My internship was extremely hands on. They wanted me to analyze a situation and make decisions. I now have some great contacts back at the ACOE. They accepted me into their family and it made the internship so enjoyable.
With the concepts and independence that I leaned this summer I know I am ready to tackle my senior integrative project. For the next two semesters I will be working with Professor Small and Glenn Dreyer on my senior thesis on prescribed burns of pitch pine/ scrub oak communities in the Connecticut region. I will examine the southern New England pitch pine community. I will review the impacts of geology, agriculture and human development on pitch pines. The pitch pine/ scrub oak community has become very rare in this region due to the lack of fires that helped the reproduction of pitch pines. Different places such as Hopeville Pond Natural Area Reserve have done some land management activities such as prescribed burns to maintain the community. During the summer I worked with Professor Small collecting data from this reserve. She has been working on this project for the past three years. Now I will go back and analyze the regrowth of this community and how it has changed. The skills I learned this summer will be applied to a different environmental community. My internship rejuvenated my love for the environment and I know I am ready to take the next step to complete the certificate program.