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Community Corner

Westchester Land Trust Hires Two Summer Interns

The Westchester Land Trust (WLT) is pleased to announce the selection of Michael Kaminski and Kristen Gamboa who will apply their unique skills to a dynamic roster of conservation projects as interns in the fields of Landscape Architecture and Plant Ecology.

 

Twenty-five years of conservation success has solidified WLT’s reputation as an organization working to achieve holistic outcomes within a diverse region spanning Westchester and southeastern Putnam Counties.  WLT is committed to maintaining a leadership role in advancing comprehensive regional conservation.  The summer internship projects were created by WLT’s land preservation and stewardship staff to not only support our work, but chart our future.

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Beginning in early June, Michael Kaminski will create a land use plan for WLT’s Sugar Hill Farm headquarters that targets the impacts of invasive plants and storm water runoff by incorporating the patterns of natural areas to yield a vibrant landscape with depth and relevancy.  Mr. Kaminski will also design expanded parking for the Westchester Wilderness Walk/Zofnass Family Preserve (Pound Ridge, NY), the Frederick P. Rose Preserve (Lewisboro, NY), and the Rock Shelter Preserve (Lewisboro, NY)—measures that will undoubtedly enhance the visitor experience at these heavily-frequented preserves. 

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This internship was made possible through the generous financial support of Rusticus Garden Club.  Additionally, local Landscape Architect and WLT Advisory Board member, Glenn Ticehurst (Benedek & Ticehurst, PC) will provide professional guidance and technical support through the duration summer.    

 

Mr. Kaminski hails from Yorktown Heights and is a graduate of Binghamton University where he received both his BS and MA degrees in Biology.  He also holds a Masters in Landscape Architecture from the University of Michigan’s esteemed School of Natural Resources and Environment. 

 

During the summer of 2014, Kristen Gamboa will execute a series of targeted plant surveys at select WLT preserves.  These efforts will further inform land management decisions by producing information on the presence/absence of species of conservation concern and identify specific threats to these species and their habitats.  Ms. Gamboa will also inventory plants found within two new deer exclosures—an area of forest floor, surrounded by fencing, that keeps deer out—at the Westchester Wilderness Walk/Zofnass Family Preserve.  Browsing by white-tailed deer has continually been the main factor inhibiting successful plant regeneration and exclosures serve as dramatic practical illustrations of their effect.

 

Plant identification techniques and strategies senior expertise in difficult-to-identify plant groups will be available through Dr. Scott Mori, Nathaniel Lord Britton Curator of Botany with the New York Botanical Garden.  Intern will use small hand tools to remove woody and herbaceous invasive plants (burning bush, Japanese barberry, stilt grass, etc.) from key management areas on WLT preserves. 

 

Ms. Gamboa is currently studying Ecology at Sterling College in Poultney, Vermont and looks forward to learning about the biophysical region of Westchester, NY through the identification of native plant species and their unique habitats.
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