Intern summarizes lake-monitoring work, early detections and outreach

Hannah, the Land Use & Resource Management office’s water-quality specialist intern, presented a recorded slide show summarizing her 2026 grant-funded work. She said, “Today, I’m gonna be going over my 2026 grant accomplishments from the summer working as the water quality specialist intern,” and listed trainings she took (Clean Boats, Clean Waters; aquatic plant identification; aquatic invasive verifier; dock service provider) and field monitoring at six lakes and two creeks, including Turtle Creek and Nippersink Creek.

Mandy, the county conservationist, credited the intern with expanding outreach and strengthening relationships with lake groups: “the biggest benefit from having her on board this summer was just the outreach, lots of connections.” The presentation noted two Clean Boats, Clean Waters trainings (29 volunteers trained), Snapshot Day discoveries of zebra mussel and Eurasian watermilfoil populations, collaborations with the Geneva Lake Environmental Agency and a private-well sampling project, and outreach products (three monthly newsletters, a kids’ special edition, 11 social posts, and informational bookmarks distributed to libraries).