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.

Registration for Fall 2022 Homeschool now open

It may be the first day of August, but we’re already excited for fall: Registration for Fall 2022 Homeschool in the Wild is now open!

Piedmont Wildlife Center’s homeschool program is a wonderfully unique experience. Composed of a diverse group of community-oriented families, Homeschool in the Wild provides an opportunity for your child to engage with others and grow on their own terms. We encourage self-expression and foster healthy communication between our campers, staff, and parents/guardians.

We follow a model for teaching and learning based on nature mentoring and the art of questioning. It is designed to engage the body and senses, inspire the mind, awaken curiosity, develop confidence, create community, and build nature connection.

Our homeschool program features:

• Unique outdoor learning experiences

• A small group setting

• Applied projects

• Experienced mentors

• Stories, games, and adventures in life science and wilderness skills

• Community building, leadership opportunities, and inspired learning

All of our homeschool programs will be following our COVID-19 protocol. This Fall 2022 season, masks are recommended but not required. This is subject to change, dependent on local COVID levels and cases.

Learn more about our Homeschool in the Wild program, then follow the link below to register. Hurry - spots are limited and typically fill up quickly!

You helped us raise $4,014 this July Bonus Day!

Here at Piedmont Wildlife Center, we begin every meeting by reflecting on what we're grateful for. Today, we all have one thing on our mind: YOU!

On July 20th, July Bonus Day, 20 people who answered the call to support conservation, environmental education, and nature connection. We'd hoped to raise $3,000 this July Bonus Day - but because of your generosity, we received a whopping $4,014!

Here's how these funds will help further our mission:

• $2,720 will expand our on-site box turtle research and Turtle Trekkers citizen science project by purchasing new radio telemetry receivers, printing bookmarks and other educational materials, and defraying the cost of sending our staff to the next Box Turtle Connection conference

• $390 will purchase a year's worth of heat lamp bulbs for all our reptiles, cover routine veterinary exams for 3 Ambassador Animals, feed Apollo the barred owl for 2 months, and buy 2 containers of superworms for our resident box turtles

• $280 will cover an average summer camp scholarship of $235 for 1 camper and restock 2 first aid kits

• $260 will cover a $230 afterschool scholarship to help 1 student attend our program this fall and purchase 1 case of IvyX poison ivy wipes

• $260 will provide a free wildlife program to 1 classroom at a Title 1 school and feed our box turtles for 1 month

• $104 in donations to our general operating fund will give us the flexibility to respond to unexpected situations as our programs continue to grow!

We could not have done this without you. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your support of Piedmont Wildlife Center!

July Bonus Day may be over, but you can still support us on GlobalGiving. Check out our projects below to see all the ways you can connect people with nature in the Triangle and beyond:

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.

On July 20th, your gift goes even farther

July Bonus Day is next Wednesday, July 20th - and we're gearing up to celebrate our most generous donors! With their donations of $100 or more, these Protectors of the Piedmont allow us to:

• offer low -or no-cost nature programs at Title 1 schools

• ensure our Ambassador Animals receive the best possible care

• provide scholarships to campers and afterschool students in need

• keep our on-site box turtle research running

And more! As we prepare for the next #20YearsOfPWC, we know we can't do it without them - and you.

This July Bonus Day, our partner GlobalGiving is offering a special opportunity to get donations of $100 and up matched. The bigger the donation, the higher the match! Starting at 9 AM EST on Wednesday, July 20th, GlobalGiving will match:

• 30% on donations from $100-$499

• 40% on donations from $500-$749

• 50% on donations from $750-$1,000

In order to be eligible for matching, donations must be made online through GlobalGiving on the morning of July 20th while funds last. (We recommend donating early, before 10 AM EST!)

Can we count you in? Follow the link below to see all the PWC projects you can support on GlobalGiving... and mark your calendars for July Bonus Day next Wednesday, July 20th!