Wildlife Hospital Internship at the Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge
Clara Byrne '28, from Medford Lakes, NJ, is a biomedical science: medical and veterinary sciences major at UNH. Thanks to COLSA’s SOAR Fund, she was able to accept a summer internship with the Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge, which helped her gain valuable skills in animal care.
The SOAR Fund supports undergraduate students by providing stipends that can be used to supplement unpaid internships or pay for transportation to interviews and career events. The SOAR Fund accepts applications year-round. While all COLSA students are invited to apply, applicants with financial need are strongly encouraged.
The SOAR Fund supports undergraduate students by providing stipends that can be used to supplement unpaid internships or pay for transportation to interviews and career events. The SOAR Fund accepts applications year-round. While all COLSA students are invited to apply, applicants with financial need are strongly encouraged.
Tell us about your internship.
I interned at the wildlife hospital at Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge. Cedar Run is a non-profit wildlife refuge, nature education center, and wildlife hospital located on 171 acres of protected New Jersey pinelands. I worked as a Wildlife Hospital Intern.
What did the day-to-day at your internship look like?
Clara Byrne: At a wildlife hospital that sees over 7,000 animals a year, there's something different every day! Most of the animals we take in are either orphaned or injured, so we care for them until they are able to be released and thrive on their own in the wild. On any given day, I could be feeding and taking care of baby raccoons, ducklings, opossums, fledgling and nestling birds, skunks, groundhogs, or raptors! I also learned important skills when it came to assessing intakes when animals first came in to our hospital.
What were your favorite parts of your internship? Any memorable moments?
Clara: I loved so many aspects of this internship- getting to care for animals every day, acquiring new skills such as vaccinating or giving medication, and the camaraderie that was formed between myself and my fellow interns. The most memorable moment, however, was getting to release animals that we had cared for back into the wild! On one trip in early July, we released a bunch of raccoons into the forest outside of the refuge. It was so rewarding getting to see them run free — scampering up pine trees, eating wild blueberries, and exploring their new home. It was hard to believe that these were once the tiny, scared creatures that we were bottle-feeding not so long ago!
What was the most valuable thing you learned?
Clara: That every creature, no matter what, deserves a chance. I knew and believed this before, but I saw it put into action here. Each animals that came in to the wildlife hospital was cared for to the highest extent by the team here at Cedar Run.
What are your future goals? Do you think the internship brought you closer to them?
Clara: I'm interested in the field of veterinary medicine! I think that this internship was very valuable, in that it provided me with daily hands-on animal experience, with species that I otherwise would never have interacted with or learned so much about.
Any advice for students looking for an internship?
Clara: Start looking early! If you have a goal of landing a summer internship, it's something that you should start taking steps toward in the winter months. Many of the internships I applied, wrote letters for, and interviewed for were all before the spring. The spring months can get especially busy with finals, so securing a summer internship early was ideal.
Tell us something you love about UNH.
Clara: I love the variety of opportunities that are available to students here!
Did you receive any awards or grants that made this internship possible?
Clara: Yes! I was granted COLSA's SOAR fund. This internship wouldn't have been possible without the generosity of the grant I received. I would recommend applying for this grant to any COLSA students looking into hands-on learning experiences and internships!
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