Princeton NJ Non-Profit Announcements

Summer Internship Opportunities with the Abbott Marshlands

Hamilton and Bordentown, NJ: The Friends for the Abbott Marshlands (FFAM) will sponsor interns again for the 2025 Jack Graham Summer Internship Program. Applications are being accepted through April 4, 2025. Students must be a minimum of 18 years old (by June 24), with a background in environmental stewardship or environmental studies. These summer internships are in honor of Jack Graham, a long-time educator, tireless advocate and friend. FFAM is in the third year of this program, continuing with Jack’s legacy in the Abbott Marshlands.

If being outside doing trail work, trimming overgrowth, clearing invasive plants, learning about ecology, history and other important aspects of the Abbott Marshlands sounds like a great way to spend your summer, go to the link https://abbottmarshlands.org/intern-opportunity/ read more about it, and apply online!

Home base will be the Tulpehaking Nature Center at 157 Westcott Ave., Hamilton, New Jersey. Interns are required to provide their own transportation to Abbott Marshlands parks and trails. The interns will learn the importance of protecting the marsh, to identify some of its diverse plant life, and the ecology of the unique, 3,000-acre freshwater tidal marsh. Work will be outside in all weather conditions, with hands-on opportunities to collect and write a report with gathered scientific data covering plant or animal life.

One intern summed up her 2024 experience, saying, “Wetlands purify water and air, sequestering carbon, and protect communities from flooding, drought, and extreme heat, all of which are going to increase with climate change. Since we cannot protect what we don’t understand, this starts with data collection and science communication. Protecting and defending wetlands is important…”

Interns will assist in trail work led by FFAM -- Deb Brockway, Stewardship Chair, along with Pat Coleman, President, and Cathy Frank, Executive Director. Working in all the locations of the Abbott Marshlands, they will remove invasive plants such as Japanese Knotweed and Mile-a-Minute vines’ overgrowth and will do trail improvements. They will help identify and learned about wildlife like crawfish, snapping turtles, dragonflies and butterflies on Wednesday Wonder Walks at Roebling Park, and will do an Intro to Water Monitoring and Testing lesson. They will learn the ecology and history of the site. Each of the interns will culminate their 6-week work experience with Abbott Marshlands independent research project presentations, followed by a reception in July at the Tulpehaking Nature Center. The public will be invited to attend. Last year it was a full house.

One of the interns from 2024, Yurai Guiterrez-Morales, is finishing up her senior year at Princeton High School. There, she concentrated on science and nature studies and research. As one of the youngest interns last year, she learned from her peers as well as the FFAM volunteers/staff and nature center employees. Her research project was on mobbing bird behavior in the marsh, an antipredator adaptation of behavior in which smaller prey species cooperatively attack or harass a predator bird to remove their threat of harm. When Yurai started the Abbott Marshlands internship last June, she felt shy to speak up. By the end of the 6-week program, she gave an incredible presentation and answered questions with a big smile! Yurai said recently, “Right now I am in Mexico with a project for National Geographic and Disney+. Last week I had the good news that I am a Finalist for the Regeneron Science Talent Search.” Also, “I am attaching a photo, where I am in Mexico, with my shirt from the Abbott Marshlands. That opportunity [internship] gave me a lot of help to build my confidence." She accepted entrance to a prestigious local university here in the fall. Read more about Yurai's award-winning research project: https://patch.com/new-jersey/princeton/3-princeton-students-awarded-national-science-competition