Student intern documents wildlife while living on rural WSU farm

One recent summer evening, Joseph Link sat down to dinner outside his camper and noticed four bald eagles, two adults and two juveniles, perched on a nearby fence. A quick photo verified the raptors' presence at Washington State University's Vetter Demonstration Farm and Forest, just north of Spokane, Washington.

The documentation only happened because Link, a senior forest ecology and management major, was living at the farm.

"It's funny, at my orientation I asked about wildlife on the property," said Link, who grew up in Palouse, Washington. "Andy [Perleberg, Link's internship supervisor] told me he didn't know of much. It was fun showing them the bald eagle photos."

As part of his summer internship with WSU Extension, Link lived at Vetter during the week in a camper his grandfather loaned him, then drove home for weekends at his parents' house.

He helped with several research projects at the Stevens County farm, which was recently donated to WSU. Link, who is also minoring in geospatial analysis, is only the fourth student intern to work at the farm.

"Living on-site grounds Joe in understanding the land and has helped him develop a sense of ownership of the farm," said Perleberg, a WSU professor and regional Extension specialist and Extension forestry team leader. "He asked about bringing in the camper and living there and I thought it was great. He probably didn't expect to become the face of the farm. But he has, as a result of living there."

Vetter Farm is WSU's first university-owned forest, which provides Perleberg and other forestry scientists a place to do research and demonstrate best practices to other forest landowners from around the state.

"We've never had the opportunity to do long-term research projects, since we've always had to borrow forests from other places," Perleberg said. "We've had great relationships with other institutions and forest owners, but there's a freedom and opportunity in having our own land."

In 2020, Connie Vetter gifted the 158-acre property to WSU with the vision of providing a space for applied research and demonstration for the betterment of northeast Washington's family forest, farm, and ranch owners.

WSU manages the forest part of the property, while the Stevens County Conservation District manages the farming side, with a focus on sustainable farming techniques and practices, Perleberg said.

Interns play an important role at the farm, helping with research projects and field days that spread information to area growers. Such hands-on experience sticks out on resumes.

Perleberg stressed that the idea to live on the farm came from Link and isn't a requirement for the internship. But the forester appreciates the benefits to the farm and said Link is learned more by spending so much time there.

"He's been responsible for the on-site development work for a couple of field days, where the public has come in to learn how to better care for their land," Perleberg said. "He's built several bird boxes for wildlife to nest in, and of course documented the bald eagles on the property. He's been a fantastic person to work with at the farm."

Link, who hopes to attend graduate school or apply for the National Park Service after he graduates in May 2025, enjoyed being able to walk the property and experience research and other projects up close.

"I'm really interested in understory vegetation; there's a lot of cool little plants that you won't notice if you're only looking up," he said. "I'd love to have a research career that allows me to spend time in forests and help preserve them."