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3 teenagers outside with each person wearing a green apron and holding a bird in their hand

September 5, 2021

Hands-On Training for a Career in Conservation

“ ‘With respect to the internship program, we consider this training for a potential career in conservation.’ ” KLT Executive Director Connie Manes

Over the summer, Kent Land Trust (KLT) gave their interns the opportunity to engage in real world conservation work, contributing to KLT’s mission of land and habitat protection. The students assisted in monitoring and banding 29 different species of birds—including 376 purple martins—to guide habitat management projects. For 17-year-old Brennan Wilkens, a student at Marvelwood School in Kent, this internship went beyond data collection, giving him an opportunity to experience the impact of his continued work with KLT. Said Brennan, ” ‘…[W]hile we were banding, we caught an adult that I banded as a baby two years prior…It was like one of my babies came back to me.’ “