Past Interns
We have had some exceptional interns over the years! Here’s a glimpse of some of our past interns, with a little about them and the cool stuff that they were able to accomplish as a DLiA intern. Interested in joining these fine folks? Check out our summer internship program.
2026
Your name could be here! Find out how!
2025
Justin Bartolon
BIOLOGY
PROJECT: Justin listened through hours of birdsongs recorded by our two BirdNET-Pi bioacoustic detectors (live feed: DLiA office, Purchase) to assess how good these devices are at identifying our bird species. He also surveyed for, recorded, and identified bats using an ultrasonic detector. He recorded 11 bat species in and around the Smokies during his tenure with us.
Zachary Dankowicz
BIOLOGY
PROJECT: Zach cleaned, curated, and annotated our checklist of flies (Diptera) of the Smokies. He is turning the checklist into a manuscript that we will submit to a peer reviewed journal soon. We plan to use Zach’s project as a model that could be repeated to publish checklists of other park taxa in the future.
Renee Galimba
BIOLOGY
PROJECT: Renee photographed and wrangled data for 380 insects specimens and submitted them to the Canadian Centre for DNA Barcoding (CCDB) to be barcoded. This was a project that we started with Karim and Pablo in 2024 and is finally complete! We now have a trove of new barcode data, including a number of never previously barcoded beetles from the GSMNP Natural History Collection and many unidentified flies and wasps from the ATBI Backlog.
Halie Saferstein
PHOTOGRAPHY/VIDEOGRAPHY
PROJECT: Halie photographed our activities over the summer and is using them to craft photo essays about our work, including one about fireflies and firefly conservation and another about the importance of the park’s Natural History Collection. She produced a cool video for our Nature Neighbors program with NRCS and led her fellow interns in a takeover of our Instagram over the summer.
2024
Karim Aguilar Ortega
BIOLOGY
PROJECT: Worked with Pablo to select, organize, and photograph insects for DNA barcoding through the Canadian Centre for DNA Barcoding. Karim was the master photographer of this duo, flying through taking microscopic photos of tiny wasps, flies, and beetles like a pro!
Pablo Araya
BIOLOGY
PROJECT: Worked with Karim to prepare insects for DNA barcoding through the Canadian Centre for DNA Barcoding. Pablo was the organizational wizard of the project, keeping up with insects from the GSMNP Natural History Collection as well as image files from Karim, and specimen data for these insects.
Jacy Tucker
PHOTOGRAPHY/VIDEOGRAPHY
PROJECT: As the photography intern, Jacy beautifully captured moments throughout the summer, from our fireflies at Norton Creek event to her first backpacking trip. She also produced two amazing videos linked below, including one about sochan that featured fellow intern Julianna.
Julianna Welch
BIOLOGY
PROJECT: Julianna conducted a vascular plant survey of a recently-restored meadow next to the DLiA office in the Smokies (dubbed the Twin Creeks Meadow), with help from her fellow interns. She documented 83 plant taxa in 43 families, including 10 introduced species. She also observed deer, turkey, rabbits, a copperhead, bear scat, and a variety of insects. This baseline study will help us to document the changes that occur in this restored habitat over time.
2023
2022
2021
Florencia Loncán
MEDIA/PUBLIC RELATIONS
Florencia was DLiA’s first-ever Media and Public Relations intern! She’s a student in the Environment and Science Communication program at UNC-Chapel Hill working on a bachelor’s in Environmental Studies and a Master’s in Media and Communication. She is very passionate about the role effective science communication can play in the environmental movement and is excited to continue to work in this field in the future.
“I can say hands down that interning for DLiA has been a life-changing experience. They make it a point to tailor the internship toward your interests, so this summer I got to create PR deliverables while also going on some amazing outdoor experiences in the National Park. I have met some of the most amazing people through this experience, and I can’t wait for the next time I get a chance to visit the Smokies again!”
Image credit: Xavier Reyes
Xavier Reyes
BIOLOGY
Xavier was interested in biology but also dabbled in photography and scientific illustration.
2020
Leah Crowley
BIOLOGY
Leah is a planner and master multi-tasker. She worked on a variety of things while at DLiA; she’s a true jill-of-all-trades!
“I increased our social media outreach by creating and sharing Trivia Tuesday stories and by continuing DLiA’s #WildWednesday posts on our Instagram and Facebook. I also worked to film, edit, and produce DLiA’s first ever Virtual BioBlitz with TVA. This summer, our more significant social media presence better connected us, as well as our educational and fundraising events, to our followers and supporters from all over.”
Garrett Harrison
BIOLOGY
Garrett doesn’t take “no” for an answer and knew how to get the job done. He was particularly interested in millipede diversity in the Smokies. He created an iNaturalist Guide to millipedes of GSMNP.
“I was lucky enough to travel all over GSMNP and learn about its amazing biodiversity. I was able to find and document the park’s first ever member of the family Euryuridae, the species Euryurus leachii.”
Alex Siggers
BIOLOGY
Alex may be silly, but he was serious about mushrooms! He was so interested in them that he’s looking into studying them in graduate school.
“The summer internship at DLiA was truly the greatest experience of my life, and I can say with confidence that this type of internship cannot be found elsewhere. Whether the day consisted of exploring the Smokies, adapting community outreach events, or working with the ATBI, it was evident that each individual activity genuinely supported the organization and supplemented my future goals.”
2019
Gus Elmore
BIOLOGY
Gus is a hoot and a pleasure to be around! He really got into identifying plants and wildflowers in the park! He and Brittney discovered a species of bee balm in the Park (see below).
- Meet the species video series
- iNaturalist observations
Brittney Georgic
BIOLOGY
Brittney is incredibly motivated and focuses intensely on everything she undertakes! She set the record for intern iNaturalist observations (500+) and she specialized in learning and identifying all the wildflowers and other plants she could over the summer. She and Gus discovered a new kind of bee balm never before documented in the Smokies!
- Meet the species video series
- iNaturalist observations
Ben Gilliam
PHOTOGRAPHY/VIDEOGRAPHY
Ben came into the internship wanting to photograph charismatic macrofauna (elk, bear, the big things), and we’d like to think he left with more of a taste for the tiny things that run the world! He took some awesome photos and created this great promotional video for DLiA.
- Meet the species video series
- Why should we care about biodiversity? video
2018
Elgin Akin
PHOTOGRAPHY/VIDEOGRAPHY
Rudi Boekschoten
BIOLOGY
2017
Scott Eberting
PHOTOGRAPHY/VIDEOGRAPHY
Scott created this amazing mini-documentary series as an intern:
Leon Funchess
BIOLOGY + PHOTOGRAPHY/VIDEOGRAPHY
Ella Maddi
BIOLOGY