Amanda Marino

I am a perpetual learner most interested in science, animals, and the environment. I am currently enrolled in a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program at Oklahoma State University. I have completed three years of rigorous course work and am now completing my clinical, and last, year of veterinary school. As part of the curriculum, I get to spend several weeks away from Oklahoma State University in my clinical year, learning about and practicing veterinary medicine in different capacities. I will be completing two, six-week externships: the first at the Wildlife Center of Virginia and the second at the Wildlife Conservation Society's Bronx Zoo in the upcoming year. These competitive externships will assist in my pursuit of my future career goal: to work as a veterinarian in conservation medicine.

The mission of my Wild Gift project - Loons and People – was to develop wildlife conservation guidelines that will protect and enhance common loon habitat on Adirondack Lakes in New York State. I collaborated with Biodiversity Research Institute's Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation and New York’s Adirondack Park Agency to write “Loons and People: Guidelines for ‘Nesting’ Together on Adirondack Lakes”, which is available in formal treatise, brochure, and PDF form. These guidelines serve as a valuable educational and management resource to help protect common loons and enhance their breeding habitat in northern New York and throughout their summer range. By increasing awareness and knowledge of common loon behavior and breeding habitat, the guidelines provide an informed basis for sustainable development and human stewardship of lakeshores, while strengthening the coalition of individuals and organizations dedicated to the conservation of this symbol of the wilderness. There continues to be interest in these guidelines throughout the Adirondack Park, as well as in neighboring states such as Vermont and New Hampshire. My hope is that these guidelines continue to be utilized and distributed throughout all of the common loons' breeding range.