We are excited to welcome this year's Farmscape Ecology Program summer interns and learners--Rebecca, Sydney, Willow, and Bethany--who are briefly introduced below. While we are always grateful for the coming together of resources and community that supports our internship program, this year we are especially grateful to the generous donors and housing offers that allowed us to respond to the flood of strong applications we received by hiring a fourth intern at a time when opportunities for those wanting to build a career in the sciences are harder to find. Please join us for a potluck picnic in the Creekhouse Garden on Thursday, June 12, 6-8pm, to meet these enthusiastic young ecologists, catch up with Farmscape activities, and stroll through the native plant garden.
Meet the Interns!
Rebecca Wessel, originally from Takoma Park, MD, graduated in 2024 with a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Yale University. Since then, she has been teaching cooking and nutrition education classes for elementary and middle school students in Philadelphia, PA. For her summer with FEP, she is looking forward to learning more about the ecological and cultural histories of Columbia County forests and working on fungi identification skills! Rebecca is also excited about swimming, hiking, and exploring in the Hudson Valley this summer as well as cooking and eating lots of farm-fresh veggies!
Sidney Turczyk is a senior studying Wildlife Ecology and Management at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, with minors in Biology, GIS and Spatial Analysis, and Soil Science. He has lived in Wisconsin for his entire life, so he is really excited to explore New York and learn all about Columbia County. He is interested in pursuing a Master's degree in Entomology, so he is looking forward to getting lots of experience with sampling and identifying insects with FEP this summer, as well as getting involved in public outreach. He is passionate about insects and conservation, and super excited about getting involved with the Farmscape Ecology Program!
Bethany Holland is from Silver Spring, Maryland. She graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Environmental Science in 2023, and has continued to live in Ithaca, NY. She enjoys running, playing piano and violin, and is looking forward to exploring Columbia County and the Hudson Valley! She is particularly interested in social wasps and periodical cicadas, and super excited to learn new insect identification and surveying techniques this summer.
Willow Humphrey graduated from UC Berkeley in 2025 with a self designed degree in Ecology, Interactions, and Taxonomy of Insects. She’s excited to spend the summer with FEP to learn more about insect identification, especially identification of parasitoid wasps. She’s also looking forward to living on the farm, and making friends with both people and animals.
