0299-GCG-FoothillsConservancy ESG24-FINALb (1) - Flipbook - Page 33
2024 Impact Report
Stewardship Interns
Intern Bios
Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina’s mission to
permanently protect land and water throughout our
region represents a clear commitment to a healthy
and sustainable future for our environment, and few
people serve as better representatives for that future
than the young professionals we bring on board each
summer to intern with our land stewardship team.
This year’s interns, Jake Kota, Jacob Searcy, and
Noah Johnson, spent their time assisting stewardship
director Ryan Sparks and land and stewardship
manager Katelyn Nelsen by monitoring dozens of
FCNC’s more than 100 conservation easements and
Jake Kota (Summer Intern) is a freshman at
Appalachian State University.
preserves. In addition to monitoring, they pitched in
by writing reports that documented their monitoring
site visits and assisting with 昀椀eldwork, as well as
carrying out the various day-to-day tasks that keep
the gears of stewardship and conservation turning
smoothly. These tasks included clearing roads and
trails, treating invasive plant species, maintaining
public access points, and many more.
If you, or someone you know, is a current college
student or recent college graduate with a background
or interest in conservation, please send an email
to our stewardship director, Ryan Sparks (rsparks@
foothillsconservancy.org), to express your interest in
Jacob Searcy (Summer Intern) is a senior at Western
Carolina University.
our 2025 Stewardship Internship Program.
Noah Johnson (Fall Intern) has a degree in Medical
Anthropology from UNC Chapel Hill and ongoing
studies in Business Administration and Emergency
Disaster Management at Western Carolina University.
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