Field Internship Experience Story- Dallas Willoughby

GEM Environmental's First High School Field Intern

With the help from Ameri-Corps, through Arizona Serve, we were finally able to add a high school student to our field internship program. We were very excited to be able to present this opportunity. Here is Dallas's story about the experience he was able to have:

Over the recent summer I was given the opportunity to go into the field with the team from G.E.M Environmental. It was a fantastic experience. It was also a great opportunity to learn about the work of geologists and how important they are to our modern lifestyle. I got to be around great people and learn new things everyday. 

 The first thing I did with G.E.M was  to help build the mobile office that we would call home for the duration of our internship. We took a toy hauler, salvaged the parts from the previous mobile office, and built a new one. After weeks of work we had a finished home base for the field that consisted of four folding beds, a bathroom, a shower, a kitchen, and an area to relax, eat, and cool off after a hard days work.
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We left in June for our first trip to the mountains where we stayed for a week and mapped out over 40 abandoned features. During this time we were trained on identifying features such as pits, shafts, and mine adits. We also learned how to use the handheld G.P.S devices to map and describe the features in front of us. There were some amazing views and some good laughs but the work wasn't nearly over.

​We came home for the 4th of July.  After a week, the break was over and we were heading back out into the field. For our second trip, we went to a desert region that was much drier than the mountains we previously studied . The days were long and the sun was hot but we always had a cold drink and a good meal waiting for us when we turned in for the day. We were in this area for about two weeks and everyday was a great experience, with new things coming our way all the time. It seemed like every day there was something new and it was always fun or super interesting. 

 After working for two weeks and mapping over 300 features, we returned home, all definitely in better physical condition than when we left. Although we were tired and very happy to be home, there was a little piece of me that still wanted to be out there working and having a great time with the rest of the G.E.M team. 

Overall, this summer was amazing. I was very lucky to have such an experience. I was able to make new friends, see new places, and learn so many new things. I would like to thank everybody at G.E.M Environmental for the wonderful experience, great times and the knowledge I was able to gain.