Postcards from the Field: Jesse Braun

Shell Conservation Intern Jessie Braun

Hello,

My name is Jessie Braun and I am one of two Shell Conservation Interns working in Manitoba for the Nature Conservancy of Canada. I am about to start my third year this fall, working towards a degree in Environmental Studies at the University of Manitoba, with a focus in conservation and policy. I was born in Winnipeg and have lived here my entire life, but traveling is a huge interest of mine and I’ve had the good fortune to live in Australia for a year and Spain for six weeks, as well as travel to Mexico, Paraguay and Hong Kong.

The focus of our internship this summer is on completing baseline inventories for NCC-secured properties in the Riding Mountain Aspen Parkland and Manitoba Tall Grass Prairie Preserve. Less than half of 1% of Tall Grass Prairie remains intact in Canada; this is an ecosystem that once extended south all the way to Texas. My fellow intern and I have had the opportunity to see a variety of endangered prairie wildflowers, including Small White Lady’s Slippers and the Western Prairie Fringed Orchid, and we’ve already come across a bear, deer, sandhill cranes, monarch butterflies, hawks, a fox, and – of course – mosquitoes!!! You got to love the prairies! The sunsets have been phenomenal and the thunderstorms breathtaking.

Riding Mountain National Park

My plans for the future are to finish my degree and begin working in the field of conservation in coastal third-world countries. Being a Shell Intern will be extremely beneficial, as it already has taught me techniques and skills that can only be acquired in the work force.

Cheers,
Jessie Braun

More 2006 Manitoba postcards>>