Article

Conservation Diaries: Wesley Reverdy, International Volunteer

Conservation Diaries: Wesley Reverdy, International Volunteer

Listen to this episode of Conservation Diaries as Wesley Reverdy shares his experience as an international volunteer with the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Desert networks.

Date created:

04/18/2023

Audio Transcript

[intro music]
Celeste: Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Conservation Diaries, a National Park Service podcast. I am your host, Celeste Morales. In these episodes, we are featuring youth from around the world volunteering in national parks through the National Park Service’s International Volunteers In Parks Program.
Sometimes called "IVIP” for short, this program brings many talented people from different cultural, educational, and professional backgrounds to gain experience to work in conservation-related fields in National Park Service parks and programs. Our agency also has the opportunity to learn from their knowledge and perspective. While this podcast series focuses on youth, the International Volunteers In Parks Program is open to all ages.
Our guest today is Wesley Reverdy, from France. While volunteering with the National Park Service during the spring and summer of 2022, Wesley completed his Master’s Degree in Environmental Science. Wesley had the opportunity to work in several park projects throughout Saguaro National Park. During his volunteer service, Wesley monitored the natural resources and carried out important research studies that help the parks understand the health of the ecosystems in the Sonoran Desert Inventory and Monitoring Network based in Arizona and the Chihuahuan Desert Inventory and Monitoring Network in New Mexico.
Wesley has many hobbies, but his passion is spending time in nature and watching wildlife. He often goes to the mountains near where he lives in France. In his country, students must do a final internship experience to complete their degrees. Wesley’s dream was to do his in a US national park. He did not know how to go about arranging that, so decided to stumble on the International Volunteers-in-Park website and filled out an application.
Wesley: I was like, yeah, I really want to do that final internship in the USA with the National Park Service, because the National Park Service is a big thing in Europe when it comes to nature conservation especially.
Celeste: Wesley helped the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Desert networks on several wildlife monitoring projects during his five-month term. He worked with a team of National Park Service scientists in various field studies, mostly focused on park mammals and birds. The results of the projects will help National Park scientists to determine which species are located in certain areas of the parks, and how that may be changing over time. Wesley also worked in two other projects related to stream and spring water monitoring. Additionally, he helped measure stream water quality and collect environmental DNA, or eDNA, shed by organisms living in or using the springs.
Wesley: Yeah, I mean, yeah, thanks to that master's degree, I had a lot of courses about coding, for example, coding was really, really important for that second part of the main project about processing the data. So for example, that course from my master's degree was really, really important. Really, really helpful. And I was able to bring my knowledge about that with me in the US and also a lot of more theoretical in information knowledge, I would say. Especially about ecosystems, all the different species and that kind of stuff. That, that's some things that we learn a lot in France, theoretical things.
Celeste: Wesley’s biggest project was with the Chihuahuan Desert Network. He led a research study which established a new protocol for the acoustic monitoring of bird and bat populations. This work involved deploying camera traps in the field and collecting data from them. Due to the rapid effects of climate change and the ever-changing world of science, capturing the research studies is vital to the future of the US desert ecosystem. By using a system of recorders in the field, the team could download the information and listen to it many times, increasing the number of bird and bat species that can be identified, collecting vocalizations remotely was much more efficient than in person observation. The project was the first deployment of acoustic devices in the network’s parks. The new method will have a huge impact on future acoustic evaluation of avian and bat populations.
Wesley: So basically, instead of sending people on the field to hear the bird vocalization, you can just put a monitor, an acoustic monitor on the field during maybe one month, and then you can retrieve it after one month, and it will do a way better job in terms of capturing acoustically, all the vocalizations. And then you can just hear afterwards, everything on the computer and you have way more time to say, yeah, I can recognize this species, or no, it's more these species. It's not one-shots, and if you didn't hear it correctly, then it's not possible anymore to hear it. Here with that matter, you can hear it multiple times.
But we did some tests around the research learning center in Tucson where I was based, and the tests were completed. So we had all the different species and where the recorders codes the vocalizations exactly. And that was really interesting because people that were working at that place since 10 years, they heard on the recordings, they heard some species that they had never heard before at that place. So it's clear that it's really interesting to have that kind of recorder that is recording all day long or during a period of the day. That is really significant.
Celeste: The acoustic monitoring project is revealing some sobering things to National Park Service scientists.
Wesley: If you look at all the statistics, numbers, and everything, it's clear that there is a big issue with birds related to global warming, but not only with birds, it's also dealing with habitats that is fragmented. I don't know if it's the right word, English fragmented. Yeah. So yeah, it deals a lot with that too, and loss of habitat too. And it's kind of same thing for bats. So yeah, I mean, if you look at all the statistics and the number, the last four birds for bird species is really consequence, especially for North America and for bats. I think it's the same thing everywhere. I know that we have a lot of issues too in Europe. So yeah, it's not only a problem with global warming, but I guess that's global warming is accentuating a little bit the thing.
Celeste: Wesley, like so many international volunteers, brought such an interesting perspective on management of the National Park Service’s natural resources. Attitudes toward wildlife, especially predators are very different in France and other countries in Europe. Including volunteers and interns with diverse cultural backgrounds in National Park Service projects makes national parks more dynamic as they bring different approaches to the work. These individuals can connect parks to a broader range of communities especially when they develop new stewardship values that they bring home.
Wesley: There are some similarities, but I guess that the biggest difference is I would say our behavior towards wildlife, and especially great predators. I guess that's the whole world, have a lot of work to do about great predators. But in France, I mean in Europe, and especially in France, we have some problems with them. I don't know why, but it's something very cultural, I would say. People don't love wolves, for example, don't love bears and that kind of stuff. I mean, not everyone, but that's kind of a cultural thing. So a lot of our program to bring back these species are not really efficient, not as efficient as some other programs around the world or in the US.
Celeste: Climate change is rapidly affecting our planet and the national parks. Providing young people with opportunities to work with NPS scientists to gain experience managing park natural and cultural resources is so important. Young people will be future park leaders and will need to develop climate change adaptation strategies that will be key to protecting species in the national parks. Wesley spoke about this during our conversation.
Wesley: First of all, I would say that's important. Now, globally, that's young people. I mean, young people have to be really interested now in nature or conservation and that kind of stuff, because with global warming and that kind of problem, it will be a problem for our generation, for everyone. So globally, it's really important that young people are interested in that kind of question. And as I said, that kind of experience with the National Park Service is really helpful because you are learning so many things that we are going to learn in maybe 10 years or something like that. So that kind of exchange is really, really interesting because people that are doing that kind of exchange me will be able to bring this really cool stuff with them more quickly, and so we'll be able to monitor wildlife, for example, way better and more quickly.
Celeste: Wesley has returned to France and is finishing up his degree. He is eager to achieve his dream of working in a national park there. The field experience will help guide the next chapter in this career journey.
The National Park Service’s International Volunteers in Parks Program has coordinated over two thousand programs for international students and young park professionals during the last twenty-five years. These individuals have made a difference in protecting natural and cultural resources in their countries.
And remember, there are many opportunities for youth and young adults 15-30 years old and veterans 35 and younger to work with the National Park Service. To learn more about these jobs, internships, and volunteering opportunities, you can go to nps.gov slash youth programs.
Thanks for listening and happy trails!
[music fades]

Wesley crouching down with his equipment in a desert — Wesley in the field.
NPS Photo

Wesley Reverdy traveled from his small village surrounded by the Vosges Mountain Range in northwest France to the US to volunteer with the National Park Service during the summer of 2022. Wesley has a passion for nature and spends a lot of time hiking and watching wildlife near his village. For years, he had dreamed of working in a US national park, so he set his sights on interning with the National Park Service to finish his master’s degree in natural resources management

“I was like, yeah, I really want to do that final internship in the USA with the National Park Service, because the National Park Service is a big thing in Europe when it comes to nature conservation especially.” - Wesley Reverdy

Wesley found his way to the National Park Service’s International Volunteers-In-Parks Program’s website and becoming an “IVIP” seemed like a way that he could achieve his goal.

After discovering the IVIP program online, he found he wouldn’t work in just one national park, but several. He was placed with the Sonoran Desert Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) Network, one of 32 I&M networks that work in parks across the US. The Sonoran Desert Network is based in Saguaro National Park in Arizona and serves 11 parks in the Sonoran Desert and Apache Highlands. He also completed a project with the Chihuahuan Desert Inventory and Monitoring Network, based in New Mexico.

I&M network scientists inventory and monitor key natural resources in network parks to determine the current state of wildlife, plant species, water, air, and climate and monitor long-term trends. The Networks share the results with park natural resource managers, which helps them to evaluate the best actions to take for conservation.

Wesley looking at desert plants — NPS Photo

Wesley arrived at Saguaro National Park excited to begin his five-month adventure. He had never been to a desert, and it held many surprises for him.

“So the first time that I saw the deserts, because I remember I arrived at night, and the following morning, I opened the windows, and then I saw for the first time, and it was really, really unexpected for me because in my mind, within a desert you only have sand, sand dunes, that kind of stuff.” - Wesley Reverdy

Wesley soon learned that, far from an empty wasteland, the Sonoran Desert was teeming with life—filled with a myriad of vegetation, wildlife, and geological wonders. Its many habitats vary from hot, arid areas to isolated islands of coniferous forests at higher elevations. Pygmy owls nestle in saguaro cactuses that can be as tall as fifty feet, while bighorn sheep climb up the desert’s steep, rugged cliffs.

After three years of classroom work, Wesley was more than ready to immerse himself into fieldwork and apply what he learned to the network’s projects.

“And I was able to bring my knowledge about that with me in the US and also, a lot of more theoretical in information knowledge, I would say. Especially about ecosystems, all the different species and that kind of stuff that that's some things that we learn a lot in France, theoretical things.” - Wesley Reverdy

Wesley worked with the Sonoran Desert Network crew on several wildlife monitoring projects, mostly focusing on park mammals and birds. He helped to deploy and retrieve camera traps at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and Chiricahua National Monument in Arizona. He also helped the team with data processing by identifying species on a subset of photos taken during the deployment at Chiricahua National Monument. The results of these projects will help the network to determine the areas in the parks where the species are located, and how that may be changing.

Wesley taking a measurement of a tree — NPS Photo

Wesley was also involved in springs and streams monitoring fieldwork, mainly taking water quality and discharge measurements. At springs, he also helped collect environmental DNA, or eDNA, shed by organisms living in them.

During Wesley’s internship, he spent extended time in the backcountry of the Sonoran Desert backcountry while working on the mammal project. He camped with some of his teammates in the mountains surrounding Tucson for a week, sleeping in a hammock or a tent. It was the most time he had ever spent in the wilderness. He had wondered if he was cut out for that, and if it would be the type of work that he would like to do. It turned out to be his favorite part of his volunteer program.

“So yeah, that was really interesting for me just to see if during the long period it was still something that I would like to do, and it's the case. So yeah, that was really nice for me.” - Wesley Reverdy

Wesley’s biggest project was with the Chihuahuan Desert Network. He led a research study which established a new protocol for the acoustic monitoring of bird and bat populations. It involved deploying camera traps in the field and collecting data from them. Due to the rapid effects of climate change and the ever-changing world of science, capturing this research is vital to the future of US desert ecosystems. By using a system of recorders in the field, the team could download the information and listen to it many times, increasing the number of bird and bat species that can be identified.

Wesley crouched down under a rock overhang with his equipment — NPS Photo

“And that was really interesting because people that were working at that place since ten years, they heard on the recordings, they heard some species that they had never heard before at that place.” - Wesley Reverdy

Collecting vocalizations remotely was much more efficient than in-person observation. The project was the first deployment of acoustic devices in the network’s parks. The new method will have a huge impact on future acoustic evaluations of avian and bat populations. This could prove essential to developing management actions for climate change adaptation in the parks. Climate change is speeding up changes in ecosystems and being able to evaluate the data more quickly will help National Park Service natural resource managers to determine how to best protect these species.

Wesley’s volunteer program gave him insights into the role of scientists and natural resource managers in the national parks and gave him clarity about the next steps towards his future career.

“So my plan is to find a job in a private company for the mountain and maybe work there during two or three years to gain more knowledge, more experience. And then I will try to make one of my other biggest dream come true, because I will try to pass a national exam in France to try to get a position within the French National Park Service. So I'm sure that this experience with the US National Park Service will be a great bonus for me. So yeah, that's my plan for the future.” - Wesley Reverdy

Providing opportunities for international volunteers like Wesley allows them to test out their skills, gain new perspectives, and imagine new possibilities. For many, the self-discoveries and experiences they have working in the US national parks inspire them to pursue careers in conservation. As the National Park Service mission includes extending the benefits of national parks to the world, working with international volunteers is a great way to share it.

Celeste Morales on a rooftop with the Washington Monument in the backround — Celeste Morales at the National Park Service's headquarters in Washington, DC
NPS Photo

Meet the Host

Celeste Morales, a Chicana with a Hispanic heritage stemming from Jalisco, Mexico, is serving as the National Leader for the Community Volunteer Ambassador Program. For the 2022 cohort of this program, she works directly with the National Park Service Washington Support Office and provides peer support to over fifty Community Volunteer Ambassadors at national park sites across the US. In her role, Celeste also serves as a liaison for the Volunteers-In-Parks Program which works to inspire the next generation of stewards through volunteer services. Celeste aspires to continue working in the field of parks and recreation to strengthen opportunities for diverse communities to show their support and commitment to permanently protecting our natural, cultural, and recreational resources.

LInda Bennett standing next a representative from a Kenyan national park — Linda Bennett with a representative from a national park in Kenya
NPS Photo

Meet the International Volunteers in Parks Coordinator

Linda Bennett is an International Cooperation Specialist with the National Park Service's Office of International Affairs. She serves as the International Volunteer in Parks (IVIP) Coordinator, as well as the main contact for the National Park Service's international cooperation efforts with countries in Europe. Her 30-year career with the National Park Service has included being an interpretive ranger and volunteer coordinator at National Mall and Memorial Parks, assignments in Canyonlands National Park and Natural Bridges National Monument, and graduating the Mid-Level Intake program. She finds working with international volunteers rewarding with the knowledge that their experiences working in the US national parks will have a lasting impact upon their careers and lives.

Conservation Diaries: Wesley Reverdy, International Volunteer