The winter has slowed things down a bit. There aren't any site visits, so I've been in the office more. It finally snowed in Philadelphia, we didn't get a lot but, enough for it to feel like a winter wonderland for a weekend. I was told that winter here is short, and spring is long, I'm excited to see Philly in bloom! Right before the office emptied out for the holidays, we have a big cookie swap. I made browned Butter Chai Cookies; the swap was a great opportunity to socialize with people from other departments and meet folks who usually don't come in.

Mid-January, one of my friends from the office left because she was a seasonal worker, and her term was finished. The office had a chili party to celebrate her work and accomplishments. She was so sweet to me when I was brand new, so seeing her go was sad, but she has great opportunities ahead of her, so I'm also excited to see what work she ends up doing.

I am in the final stages of my Green Infrastructure project for White Clay Creek. My project lead, Shane, organized a site visit in December. Her, another WCCWA member, Lucy, and I did a walk around in the area and took pictures of the different properties that we are interested in reaching out to. The point of the walk around was to see where the gutters are, to figure out where a most of the roof runoff during rain events end up on their property, which will then inform us where to place rain gardens. We also took pictures of the properties, which I will use as visuals in my report. I've been looking at these properties through calculations and digitally from a mapping application, so it was really refreshing to see them in person. The day we went was the day after the area got a lot of rain, so we saw erosion from flooding and some areas still have really big puddles.

From now until the end of my fellowship I will be working on writing the report for this project where I include diagrams that recommend which bioretention system to implement and where, and with estimated costs. I gave the W&S committee a project update when my supervisor, Sarah, and I went to the in-personal quarterly committee meeting on January 23rd. After the meeting a lot of people came up to me and told me they are really excited to read my report. That type of energy and encouragement always boots my energy.

I finally finished writing my federal resume! I feel like this was a huge accomplishment, after all of those webinars and trainings I have a first draft. The PWSR team has been so helpful with looking and editing it using their experience with applying to federal jobs. Since I am near the end of my fellowship, I have been looking around for other opportunities within the NPS. I am so happy I got to experience the work of Partnership Wild & Scenic Rivers and I've met so many people who are so supportive of my professional journey and it's so encouraging to hear everybody's life path and comforting that everyone is on their own timeline.

The Tributary expansion project on the Lower Delaware has spread the word on Wild and Scenic designation in the area. There are two groups who have shown interest in designation for their rivers. As well as one tributary to the Delaware who has the potential to get its own designation separate from the expansion project I am supporting. Due to the extensive efforts in a small radius, we convened for a virtual "River Summit". All four groups presented on where they are in the study process, and we came together to share advice and information. Since I am new to the Mid-Atlantic region it was helpful to learn about new rivers that I don't work with, but could in the future!

These past few months I've been going to a lot of webinars through the River Management Society. The webinar series that I went to was about river jobs in all sectors of the work force; private, non-profit, federal, and sate. I enjoyed hearing about the presenter's professional journeys, especially in the environmental field; there are so many paths to take in this area of work. I've also been attending some federal resume writing workshops. The skills they teach in this are very helpful. I've been to two writing workshops it made writing my federal resume so much easier, so the workshops have been very mentally helpful.

One project that I've made a priority recently has been the redesign of the NPS Lower Delaware website. The images on the website were so, so old and a lot of the links didn't work correctly. So I went through the entire website to correct the links and I took images from the Visual Resource Inventory process, that I mentioned in my last blog entry, to use on the website. It looks much better! Check it out; Lower Delaware National Wild and Scenic River (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

I've also been shadowing my RTCA colleagues on a community garden project. They have been assisting a group with creating, designing and building up this space near a train station in the city and turning it into a place to sit in nature/community garden. It is a public space and it’s a pretty good size for a city park. My role has been helping with the creation of some outreach and communication materials. As a Partnership Rivers fellow I wouldn't normally get a chance to experience an RTCA project, so it has been a really cool experience to shadow them.

This fall, NPS hired Visual Information Specialist Darrin Ferguson. I consulted with him and his expertise in design has energized the Lower Delaware team in our development of a logo. His guidance is a much-welcomed asset to this current logo project and future creative designs.

Another exciting development for my fellowship this fall was meeting our community partners in person. White Clay Creek had a committee meeting recently that was in person and I was able to attend. Due to the fact that my fellowship is hybrid, and most meetings are video conferences, it made all the difference to meet everyone face to face. Our discussion about projects helped me to appreciate the importance of in-person collaboration.

This month, I also attended the Great Egg Harbor Council Meeting. The River Manager Paul Kenney invited Hannah Volk (river conservation fellow) and I to join their monthly meeting. I appreciated this invitation because it was eye-opening to see how another river council functions and what projects they prioritize. During the meeting I could compare their projects to the ones I am working on with White Clay Creek and the Lower Delaware. I observed that all river councils have similar end goals with outreach materials, environmental conservation, and community engagement. But seeing everyone's unique methods with how to go about these tasks always differ. I think everyone can learn from going to each other's council meetings.

I am almost halfway through my fellowship. I've learned so much about Partnership Wild and Scenic Rivers through meeting new people and hearing about what they do in the program. I feel really accomplished in the work I've done so far and I'm excited to continue my projects until the end of my fellowship. In August, the other PWSR fellows and I, along with my site supervisor went to a Visitor Use Management Conference in Acadia National Park. I had never been to Acadia, so it was a really amazing opportunity to see the park and meet other people who are passionate about similar work. I was told that the best moments at conferences happen in between the presentations when people are mingling, and I really got to experience those learning moments in Maine.

For three days in the beginning of September, I joined a few committee members on Lower Delaware council, along with Sarah Bursky (River Manager, NPS), and Mark Meyer (VRI Specialist, NPS), to go out on the river and do a viewshed analysis on multiple areas along the Delaware. It was a really amazing last "in the field" experience before winter. The process was long, but it will eventually give us numerical data to protect the Delaware's natural beauty.

The PWSR fellow in Concord, NH (Hannah Volk) and I are in charge of writing and releasing the Water Column, which is an internal newsletter where we write up recent success stories, it is sent around internally to other NPS partners. The newsletter is one of my favorite projects, Hannah and I are able to take a step back and look at the program's accomplishments. We send it out every few months so it’s not a constant project which is nice, more of like a program wide check-in.

My last update is that I attended and presented at the 11th Annual Delaware River Watershed Forum in Wilmington, DE.  I presented alongside my site supervisor, Sarah Bursky, two LODE community members Robert McEwan, Cindy Kunnas. Our title was: Growing Human and Ecological Resilience in The Basin by Expanding Wild and Scenic River Designation. We talked about the effort happening on the Lower Delaware to designate 20+ tributaries of the Delaware River and how it designation benefits the community.

Since it is still my first year living in Philadelphia, I am very excited to see what the winters are like! Coming from New England I feel like it won't be that bad…

Olivia Wilson majored in Environmental Studies at Mount Holyoke College and holds a fellowship with the Partnership Wild and Scenic Rivers program in Philadelphia, PA. Olivia has focused on restoration ecology throughout her undergraduate degree, and was a research assistant at the restoration ecology lab on campus to collect and analyze soil samples from cranberry bogs along the coast of Massachusetts. She has also interned at an organic farm in Washington State where she harvested fresh vegetables for CSA members and hosted community engagement events including farm-to-table dinners and brunches.

I've been working part time since late February with Partnership Wild and Scenic Rivers Program. As I balance completing my undergraduate degree with this fellowship, I have met a lot of new people who have opened my eyes to how every kind of discipline can contribute in significant ways to making designated rivers in the US more accessible and beautiful. I've met specialists and experts who are connecting the river and its communities on different vital projects. I've found it really rewarding to work in community with members along the Lower Delaware River and the White Clay Watershed; It is so heartwarming to see how community members are so invested in their area waterways. These interactions are an active way for me to apply what I’ve learned in college as an ES major to the real world. Many of my courses have focused on the doom of Climate Change and less on solution-based action to reverse it. Working with PWSR has broadened my view of what’s possible and what people on the ground are doing to make the earth healthier and cleaner day by day.

One of the projects that I've been learning about and soon will help to actualize, is making another stretch of the Delaware River a designated protected area under PWSR. I find this really exciting because when a waterway is designated, the water is protected under federal law, thus making it safe for recreational use and restoring its wildlife habitat. Another project that will soon be underway is a stormwater/green infrastructure project in Avondale, PA. some of the community members live in a food apartheid area and also face flooding due to poor stormwater infrastructure. Our plan is to create a community garden that provides a source of food, while also providing a space for water to soak into the earth instead of collecting and flooding over impervious surfaces.

I am working remotely, but was able to travel to the Philadelphia, PA office and the Springfield, MA office to meet some of my coworkers in person. In June, I will transition to full time and in July I move to Philadelphia. I am so excited to soon be able to work in person and experience that new environment. NPS also offers multiple pathways for people in different departments to meet and network. I've had the pleasure of joining a Solidarity Group which is a space where people can come together and discuss current events. I'm grateful for this resource group because it's helpful to get to know other people who are doing different yet connected work.