Community Spotlight: Summer 2022 Interns

Behind every successful event or conservation program, there is an awesome PWC intern - or four! This month, we're celebrating the unsung heroes of Summer 2022: Josza, Eli, Tyler, and Alex, our summer interns!

Conservation interns play an important role at PWC, providing essential daily care for our Ambassador Animals, tracking box turtles in the field with radio telemetry to collect data for our research, and assisting with educational programs led by our conservation staff. This summer, we also welcomed our first administrative intern in recent years! Each of our interns designs and completes an independent capstone project on a topic of their choice during their internship.

Learn more about our interns and their projects:

Jozsa Incorvaia (conservation intern, top left) attends NC State and is currently pursuing a degree in animal science. She worked as a CIT from 2016 until officially becoming a counselor in 2021. Jozsa is thrilled to continue her work at PWC as a wildlife conservation intern. Her capstone project is cleaning up broken glass in Leigh Farm Park and giving our PWC kiosk a much-needed makeover.

Eli Benbenek (conservation intern, top right) plans on graduating from NC State this year with a major in zoology and minors in applied ecology and wildlife science. He like music, reading, and spending time with his new kitties Phoebe and Gus. His capstone project is studying differences in behavior between eastern box turtles in captivity and in the wild.

Tyler Musante (conservation intern, bottom left) is a rising senior at Elon University, majoring in environmental and ecological sciences. Some of his favorite tasks at Piedmont include tracking box turtles, raptor care, and helping present Piedmont’s animals through its educational programs. His capstone project is exploring new ways to provide enrichment for our resident raptor Ambassadors.

Alexandra Moehring (administrative intern, bottom right) is a graduate student at UNC Chapel Hill working on a Masters in Public Administration. When she's not working as a waitress, she enjoys working in her tomato garden, napping, and visiting with Pepper the opossum! Alex's capstone project is developing an updated operations manual for PWC.

Huge thanks to all our interns for their energy, creativity, and hard work this summer. We are so grateful for everything you've brought to PWC!

Interested in doing an internship at Piedmont Wildlife Center? Applications are open now through August 15th for our Fall 2022 wildlife conservation internships! Learn more and apply here.

NEW! Personalized Birthday Videos

Oh no, our Ambassador Animals are running late! Find out what exciting party they're going to - and learn how YOU can get a personalized birthday video from your favorite PWC critter.

Starting this week, it's easier than ever to help provide food, care, and enrichment for our Ambassador Animals. Adopt-An-Ambassador sponsorships are now available in our online Nature Store! You can even add a birthday video from your Ambassador for an extra $15.

Sponsorship options start at $25 for 3 months and $100 for one year. In honor of former Executive Director Gail Abrams, all proceeds from birthday video add-ons will support the Gail E. Abrams Wildlife Ambassador Fund.

NEW animal experiences: Paws on the Porch & Turtle Treks

Ever wanted to meet an opossum face-to-snout, or try your hand at tracking box turtles with radio telemetry? We've got you covered with TWO new animal experiences: Paws on the Porch and Turtle Treks!

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Paws on the Porch

Come hang out on the porch and meet at least two of your favorite Ambassador Animals! This up-close and unique experience will give you and three friends the private animal encounter you’ve been looking for. Ask all of your animal related questions and prepare to be inspired to conserve wildlife! (30 minutes, $100)

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Turtle Trek

Explore PWC and Leigh Farm Park like never before! Venture off trail and into the woods on your own Turtle Trek to assist in PWC’s own box turtle research project. Use radio telemetry to find a hidden box turtle in the woods and then meet a box turtle who calls PWC home. Limited to 5 active participants (i.e. those who will be actively using radio telemetry) and 10 total individuals. (45 minutes, $100, April-October only)

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Ready to get WILD? Book your wildlife encounter with us today!

We received $5,000 for Title 1 school programs!

Attention Title 1 school teachers: Your adventure starts here!

We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve received a $5,000 grant from Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund! This generous grant will allow us to offer FREE wildlife programs to twelve Title 1 classrooms in Wake, Durham, Orange, and Chatham counties during the 2022-23 school year.

The Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund supports conservation and education initiatives that conserve wildlife and habitat, connect new audiences to the outdoors, and protect our outdoor heritage. We are all about nature connection here at PWC, so we are thrilled to have their support as we bring educational, fun, and inspiring wildlife encounters to NC students who may otherwise lack opportunities to access nature.

Are you a teacher at a public Title 1 elementary school? Applications are NOW OPEN for our free Title 1 programs! Qualifying schools will be selected on a first come, first serve basis. Programs will happen in October, November, January, or February of the 2022-23 school year. Learn more and apply today!

P.S. Want to help us offer low- or no-cost programs to even more Title 1 classrooms this year? Support this project on GlobalGiving! GlobalGiving is currently offering a match on new monthly donations up to $200:

4 Ways to Help Pollinators this National Pollinator Week

June 20-26 is National Pollinator Week! Pollinators are animals that help plants reproduce by carrying pollen from one flower to another. These hard-working critters play an important role both in nature and in farming, and are the reason we’re able to enjoy many of our favorite fruits!

Unfortunately, many pollinator species are under threat from pollution, habitat destruction, and climate change. This week, we invite you to think outside the hive and take steps to protect these important animals. Here are 4 of our favorite ways to support pollinators:

#1: Grow native plants

There’s a good reason this is our top tip: Planting native plants is the best way to promote healthy communities of pollinators! Native plants provide food and shelter for all sorts of beneficial wildlife, including pollinators. As a bonus, they often require less water, fertilizer, and maintenance than non-native plants. Some of our favorite NC natives are:

• Milkweeds, including butterfly weed

• Purple coneflower (aka Echinacea)

• Goldenrod

• Elderberry

• Redbud tree

• Black-eyed Susan

For best results, learn which plants are best suited to your area, grow a variety of plants that bloom at different times during the year, and plant flowering plants close together in clumps. Supporting pollinators also means providing food for caterpillars, so remember to plant some leafy host plants, too!

To find native plants, skip the big-box stores and visit a local garden center or nursery. You can even look into hiring a gardener or consultant who specializes in landscaping with native plants.

Don’t have space for your own garden? Consider joining a community garden, or volunteering with a local park or botanical garden!

#2: Avoid using pesticides

Most people don’t spray insecticides on their garden with the intention of hurting butterflies and bees, but sadly, these chemicals can have unintended consequences for beneficial insects – as well as for other wildlife and humans.

If at all possible, avoid using pesticides and practice prevention strategies instead. Choose naturally insect- or disease-resistant native species for your garden, and learn to identify which “pests” are actually helpful or harmless insects. (Remember: all butterflies are caterpillars first!) If you do see signs of an infestation, remove the affected part of the plant and dispose of it by burying it away from your garden.

If you do have to use insecticide, use it only as directed. Limit your use to when you have a serious pest problem. Don’t apply pesticides to or near plants that are actively blooming, and try to avoid spraying during the warmest part of the day when bees and other pollinators are most active. Early morning or dusk are safest!

You can also explore “green” alternatives to conventional pesticides. Keep in mind, though, that even “bee-friendly” insecticides can cause harm to our buzzy friends.

#3: Learn about native pollinator species

There’s more to pollinators than honey bees! Did you know bees and butterflies aren’t the only animals that pollinate flowers? Here in NC, flies, wasps, beetles, moths, and hummingbirds also play an important role in pollinating both wild plants and crops. The North Carolina Wildlife Federation’s Butterfly Highway project has great information on attracting and identifying NC pollinators.

National Pollinator Week is a great opportunity to learn more about the pollinators in your area. Look for events happening near you! If you live in Durham, consider attending Keep Durham Beautiful’s first annual Bee Day at the Durham Farmers Market this Saturday, June 25th from 9 AM to 12 PM.

Or go the old-fashioned route and check out a guidebook to insects and other animals in your area! Not sure where to start? Browse PWC’s list of recommended field guides on Bookshop.org.

#4: Create pollinator habitat

Whether you have a sprawling farmstead or a tiny patio garden, you can make a home for pollinators! Logs, dead trees, and stick piles make great nesting sites for bees, butterflies, and moths. A shallow tray or birdbath filled with water and pebbles offers busy bees a refreshing water source. Don’t worry about keeping your garden perfectly manicured. Pollinators like a little mess!

Hate raking leaves in the fall? Good news: Letting dead leaves remain in your yard also provides food and shelter for pollinators during the colder months!

Many garden stores sell “bee hotels,” nesting boxes with hollow tubes where mason bees, leafcutter bees, and other cavity-dwelling bees can make their homes. “Bee” careful with these, as many are poorly designed and can unintentionally encourage the spread of disease and parasites. Look for a model with removable tubes (preferably not bamboo) that are not glued in place, are open on only one end, and don’t have any splinters or cracks. (Better yet, make your own!) Remember to clean or replace the tubes each spring to keep your hard-working guests healthy.

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Special thanks to our Spring 2022 APPLES Intern, Torin O’Brien, for beautifying our on-site gardens this spring! Learn more about National Pollinator Week at pollinator.org.