Ohio Northern University Environmental & Field Biology

Ohio Northern University Environmental & Field Biology The Environmental and Field Biology major at ONU is a unique, hands-on major that allows students to pursue careers in ecology and environmental science.

Week 2:Greetings it’s Lilly! This week consisted of major removal of invasive species. We utilized herbicide to target i...
05/31/2026

Week 2:
Greetings it’s Lilly! This week consisted of major removal of invasive species. We utilized herbicide to target invasive plants found throughout multiple parks in Geauga County. These species included Common Teasel, Canada Thistle, Bull Thistle, Multiflora Rose and others. Managing invasive species is essential for maintaining healthy ecosystems as they compete with native plants for nutrients, space and sunlight. Towards the end of the week I was able to attend a ribbon cutting ceremony highlighting the new cold water stream that was restored at Veteran’s Legacy Woods Park. This stream is home to many macroinvertebrates and salamanders with the hopes of one day introducing Brook Trout to the habitat!


Week 1:What’s up, my name is Riley. I am working at the Hancock Park District this summer as a Natural Resource Intern. ...
05/31/2026

Week 1:

What’s up, my name is Riley. I am working at the Hancock Park District this summer as a Natural Resource Intern. The primary thing I will be working on is invasive species removal from the parks. In doing this I will be able to learn the best management practices in order to preserve the environment.

This week the main focus was Dame’s Rocket. We pulled 7-8 dump truck loads of Dame’s Rocket from one of the parks. Dame’s Rocket has a biennial life cycle, where its first year growth is a rosette and then the second year growth it shoots up and flowers out. The flowers are a white or purple color. Dame’s Rocket has a massive seed output, with a single plant being able to produce up to 20,000 seeds which is one of the reasons it’s such a big problem. These large population booms allow it to outcompete native plants, reducing the biodiversity of the park.

Additionally, we sprayed herbicide on some other invasive plants at various parks, including Teasel (while it’s in its rosette stage before it takes off in its second year growth) and Canada Thistle.


Week 1:Hello everyone! My name is Jacey, and I am one of 11 summer interns at The Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, South Dak...
05/30/2026

Week 1:
Hello everyone! My name is Jacey, and I am one of 11 summer interns at The Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, South Dakota. If you aren't familiar with the place, The Mammoth Site is an in-situ bonebed and museum around a Pleistocene sinkhole in the Black Hills. The Site currently has uncovered 61 mammoths and are continuing to do further research and excavation. My first official work week was spent in the Bonebed doing excavation work! In the west end of the Bonebed, we are currently working to level out the walkway area so that we can move around easier, especially when we are performing maintenance on our fossils, like for glyptal removal or for regular check-ins. We weren't expecting to find anything because we were so close to the rock wall and above the bone layer where the mammoths were uncovered, but I found a small, completely articulated fossilized fish (look at the top of the large rock chunk) and fossilized plant material, both of which are a rare find and both are on their way to Collections! Despite being covered in dust all week, I've had a great time excavating! I'm rotating out to different stations for the next couple of weeks, but stay tuned for some glyptal removal when I get back into the Bonebed!


Hello everyone! My name is Emily, and I am the Blue Heron Reserve Intern this summer at the Sandusky County Park Distric...
05/29/2026

Hello everyone! My name is Emily, and I am the Blue Heron Reserve Intern this summer at the Sandusky County Park District. This was my first full week working at the Wilson Nature Center, and boy, was it a truly madcap adventure. I got to tackle some cool tools and machinery, such as Zeus the brush hog, weedwhacker, kubota, a big awesome Ford truck, and some hand tools, like some saws and loppers. On my third day of work, I was thrown into presenting a program to a group of first graders - what truly joyous fun. I also saw lots of cool creatures and have made over 60 iNaturalist observations over this week (and a half)! While walking around the Blue Heron Reserve, Deb and I ran into a kitten, which we heroically saved! She is 4 weeks old, weighs less than a pound, and already found a home for her!! As for the rest of my summer, I am very much looking forward to more zany and oddball educational opportunities. See you next week!


Week 1:This summer I’m going to be working with Resource International Inc. as their Environmental Intern. This week I w...
05/29/2026

Week 1:
This summer I’m going to be working with Resource International Inc. as their Environmental Intern. This week I was introduced to EPA regulations on a plethora of environmentally hazardous materials. This first week I got the opportunity to tour a wastewater treatment plant in northeast Ohio and help to identify potentially hazardous building materials for renovations.


Week 2:Hi, Cora again! I began field work this week for my REU. My field work consisted of setting up mist nets at a far...
05/28/2026

Week 2:
Hi, Cora again! I began field work this week for my REU. My field work consisted of setting up mist nets at a farm to catch birds*. We also set up a processing station for the birds, which is where we collected all our data. This consisted of identifying the species, age, and s*x of the bird to the best of our abilities. They were weighed, physical measurements were taken, and they were examined for any obvious signs of disease or ticks. We then swabbed the birds for both viruses and bacteria, and drew their blood for further testing, a blood smear, and to test their glucose level. I will be working with the bacteria samples collected, and specifically, I will be testing for the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella in these birds. I also began lab work this week, which mainly consisted of learning the lab techniques and how to make the culturing media for the bacteria. I also got to practice plating media, which was a lot of fun!
*All birds captured and handled under federal research permits



Hey, it’s Taylor! This summer I am very excited to be an REU student intern for Michigan State University’s Plant Genomi...
05/28/2026

Hey, it’s Taylor! This summer I am very excited to be an REU student intern for Michigan State University’s Plant Genomics program. For the next ten weeks, I will mainly be working on a project where I will learn about plant DNA extraction and work to automate a robot (second photo) to perform the protocols for several extraction kits. Hopefully, before the end of the summer I can begin running through some redbud and milkweed samples! These first two weeks, I have mostly been doing professional, ethical, and lab trainings and getting to know the beautiful MSU campus and my REU program group. For my project, I have been learning the Python coding language and getting to know the CTAB DNA extraction protocol!






Week 1:Hello, it’s Lilly!! This summer I am working as a Seasonal Land Steward for Geauga Park District. This first week...
05/26/2026

Week 1:
Hello, it’s Lilly!! This summer I am working as a Seasonal Land Steward for Geauga Park District. This first week brought me much excitement as I removed the invasive species, Dame’s Rocket and Garlic Mustard. I was also able to participate in surveying prospective land the park may purchase. This included keeping logs of species we found throughout the area, like the red salamander!! I wrapped up the week collecting stream temperature data for a few cold-water streams which are inhabited by the Brook Trout species.


SFS 2026 SPOKANE! What a way to end the semester! Great presentations, the Garbage Goat, beautiful falls, and a dead tre...
05/23/2026

SFS 2026 SPOKANE! What a way to end the semester! Great presentations, the Garbage Goat, beautiful falls, and a dead tree zoo (aka the Ginkgo Petrified Forest)!

Week 1:Hi, this is Cora! This summer, I will be participating in an REU at Michigan State University’s Kellogg Biologica...
05/21/2026

Week 1:
Hi, this is Cora! This summer, I will be participating in an REU at Michigan State University’s Kellogg Biological Station! During my 10 weeks at KBS, I will study disease ecology and transmission potential with respect to birds in agricultural landscapes. I moved in on Sunday, and this first week has been orientation week, which has consisted of lab safety training, site safety, and tours of the biological station. Another important project this week has been designing my research question, which involved reading up on the literature pertaining to the transmission potential of certain zoonotic pathogens, such as E. coli and Salmonella. Most importantly, though, I have spent a lot of time exploring the biological station, which is absolutely gorgeous!


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