Community Reforestation Internship. by Amelia Zawacki
May 14, 2026
Open gallery
During my time as a CoRe intern I helped to start a several-year long, grant funded project to restore a section of the Commons forest. This was a short-course internship that began March 2026 and went into May 2026 and even in that short time I learned so much about invasive species removal and land restoration practices. We grew native plants from seed, first cold stratifying them, then moving them into the incubator to germinate, eventually placing them under grow lights and finally up potting them and moving our seedlings outside. We constructed a cold frame for the plant nursery to house our young plants during the cold nights of early spring. We mapped out characteristics of the proposed forest restoration site using Survery123 and made plans for a future trail and community space. Another big part of this internship involved invasive species removal. By cutting back tree suffocating vines early in the season, we hoped to help out some of the established trees on site. I was tasked with setting up trail cameras to capture restoration progress, specifically to track a private contractor’s goat herd. These goats will eat back most of the greenery on site and clear out the invasive plants, making room for future planting of the native trees and plants we’ve been growing in the plant nursery. In addition to this hands-on work, as an intern I collaborated with our team on outreach events to inform the Purchase College student body of the restoration project and promote information about invasive v. native plants. This took the form of banner design feedback, game design for a tabling event and planning for Earth Day and Arbor Day activities. Throughout this internship I gained valuable skills in native plant growing techniques, site surveying, community outreach and carrying out fieldwork.