SLU PIC Assistant Park Naturalist

I interned through the Friends of Higley Flow as the assistant park naturalist located at the Nature Center within Higley Flow State Park. I prioritize outreach throughout the park by making flyers each week, posted within the campsites, uploaded to the Higley Flow State Park Instagram, and posted on the Friends of Higley Flow State Park Facebook group. These flyers consist of activities that campers and anyone from the community can participate in with me. I lead nature walks along the beautiful trails, bird watching, friendship bracelet making workshops, tie-dying, ink tile painting, warm cinnamon rolls with yummy beverages, and so much more. The goal I have for myself is to make meaningful connections with campers and people in our community of all ages while also providing opportunities to experience nature in a beautiful way. Anyone who walks into the Nature Center is immediately welcomed and cared for, which is why we call it the Nurture Center instead.

Alongside being the Assistant Park Naturalist, I am working on making a walking trail in the park for the visually impaired. This trail is being made to create an open and safe space in nature that is accessible to anyone. Often people who are visually impaired rarely get to connect and be in touch with the outside world. What I have done so far is create a short loop by flagging trees, raked the trail, cut branches, and leveled out the trail. There is still a lot of work to be done like creating signs in braille, making a touch station for sensory stimulation, making benches, putting rope along the trail, incorporating a speaker that will amplify the sounds of nature, adding windchimes to orient yourself with the wind and sound, moss touching station, and planting fragrant native plants. Although there is still a lot of work to do, this job has been extremely rewarding!