Meet our Summer Interns!
Rebecca Elliff
My name is Rebecca Elliff, and I interned with the horticulture staff here at Green Spring this past summer. I am a student at Virginia Tech majoring in Water Resources, Policy, and Management. I’m passionate about the environment and want to work in a field where I can use my skills to help with improving water quality and optimizing water usage. This internship allowed me to learn more about the water needs of plants and environment-focused opportunities across a variety of industries.
Here at Green Spring, I worked with Parker Jennings, Kara Biehl, and Shogofa Tookhi, as well as the other interns and gardeners. I learned about plant care and garden maintenance from the team, as well as skills such as basic plant propagation. One aspect of this internship that I particularly enjoyed was working on Jennifer Dasmalchi’s Magnolia Bog restoration project. Her passion for invasive species education and removal is inspiring, and she shared her wealth of knowledge with the interns by teaching us identification techniques for many different plants. I enjoyed the variety that working at Green Spring offered; it was something new every day and filled with learning opportunities. The knowledge that I’ve acquired this past summer will be very helpful as I work towards entering the environmental field, and I am so grateful for this experience.
Noah Broude
My name is Noah Broude, and I was Green Spring’s 2024 Historic Resources Intern. I am working toward a master’s degree in Museum Studies at George Washington University. I’ve interned at larger institutions in the past, so my internship at Green Spring Gardens (GSG) allowed me to see firsthand how smaller museums operate.
When I interviewed for the position with GSG historian Debbie Waugh, she told me that the staff at the Historic House wear many hats. During my time at GSG, I searched through the Fairfax County Public Library’s microfiche records for an 1800s newspaper advertisement, answered phones, staffed the front desk, answered visitors’ questions, and helped set up for our lectures and tea programs.
I also worked on specific projects. The first was re-transcribing a series of recorded interviews with Green Spring’s last private owners, Michael and Belinda Straight. I heard quite a few interesting stories from the couple, my favorite of which was when the Straights’ pet goat ate a friend’s car upholstery. I also researched storage solutions for some of the FCPA Museum Collections objects that are kept at Green Spring Gardens. However, the project I’m most proud of was a continuing education presentation I gave to Green Spring’s Extension Master Gardener docents. I outlined Green Spring’s land use history since the 1700s and the importance of the Cultural Landscape Report that GSG commissioned in 2009. All in all, this internship has taught me a great deal, both about Green Spring’s history and historic house museums in general, and I’d like to thank the Fairfax County Park Authority and GSG staff for making it possible.
Katy Schurtz
My name is Katy Schurtz, and I was the Native Plant Intern at Green Spring Gardens this summer. I am entering my second year at Virginia Tech, where I am majoring in Environmental Conservation and Society. I am very grateful to have been able to work closely with and learn from Brenda Skarphol, who taught me that plants thrive under the conditions of sun, water, and persistence. We often moved struggling plants to more promising areas, filtered out rocks from soil before planting, put down sprinklers, and pruned branches with hand pruners and saws. I have gained a couple of new enemies from weeding that seem to follow me everywhere, including porcelain berry, akebia, ground ivy, English ivy, nutsedge, river oats, mulberry weed, and stiltgrass.
Virginia Native Plant Society (VNPS) members shared their knowledge about and passion for native plants with me. I enjoyed wandering around their pristine beds and potted plants, as I could examine each native plant and make a mental note to look for them in my neighborhood and around Green Spring. My favorite things about native plants include that they are less water-intensive than most non-natives, they attract local pollinators, and they provided Brenda and me with oasis-like shade on hot days. The only complaint that I would file with native plants would be in the poison ivy department, which I luckily avoided due to Brenda’s selfless bravery when she removed it from our work areas.
In addition to the vast hands-on work the interns were able to do, Adam Bucher also coordinated several opportunities for us to travel off-site to experience the diversity of the horticulture industry firsthand. Next semester, I plan on taking a tree identification course, which I am now much more prepared for due to Brenda, Kara, and Jennifer’s fantastic plant identification and teaching skills. Thank you to the VNPS, the entire Green Spring staff, and FROGS for making this summer such an enjoyable, hands-on learning experience.
Julianne Feuchter
My name is Julianne Feuchter. I just graduated from UVA majoring in Sustainability and Political Philosophy & Law; I will be starting at UCLA Law in the fall with a concentration in environmental law. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as the Urban Agriculture Intern this summer. My role has been to support the FCPA Garden Plot Rental Program in any way possible, which means that each day looks a bit different! I have helped significantly with garden plot compliance inspections, invasive species removal volunteer days, folding garden seat giveaways, and plot maintenance. However, when I was in the office, I was typically working on a research paper about gardening under high-voltage power lines to determine the viability of this practice for FCPA. Throughout the summer I have learned a lot about project management and working with people from a variety of backgrounds. I have also been able to witness people who are truly passionate about the work they do, which is such an important reminder to me as my career is taking off!
Evelyn Magee
Hello! My name is Evelyn Magee, and I was the Youth and Family Education Intern for 2024. I am a second-year student at Roanoke College studying Environmental Studies and Spanish, and Green Spring Gardens has really helped me branch out into the field of environmental education.
I was first drawn to Green Spring Gardens because of my own experience with it. I grew up in the area and came to Green Spring on fieldtrips with my classes and visited often with my family. I really loved the lotus ponds. This year, I was helping to lead the field trips and summer camps. It gave me a totally new perspective, and I was able to practice so many important skills, such as lesson-planning, time-management, and, of course, teaching.
Green Spring is committed to learning opportunities, and not just for kids. There were several opportunities for interns to visit other gardens to learn and take inspiration from. I was able to visit Mount Vernon with several other interns to see the gardens and learn about the grounds. We traveled all around Mount Vernon and, because we had extra time, our guide took us fishing! I caught my first catfish there! The fish caught me off-guard, but I had so much fun, and I am glad I was able to learn so much from this internship.
Bella Hammond
Hello! My name is Bella Hammond, and this summer I worked as the Farmers Food Access Intern. This was my second year in this role, so I was excited to come back to build on my work from the previous summer. Last year, I piloted a two-week Food Donation Program at the Burke and Lorton Markets. Customers had the opportunity to buy extra produce from our Market vendors and donate it right at the Market. The produce then went to a food pantry local to each Market. The program saw great success, so this summer I ran the same program but expanded it to the entire month of July at the Annandale, Herndon, and Lorton Markets. The food donations supported Annandale Christian Community for Action (ACCA), LINK, and Lorton Community Action Center (LCAC), respectively. Across the three Markets in July, we collected 225 pounds of food, with over 70 customers participating in the program. The Herndon Market saw the highest amount of donations, collecting 145 pounds of food. The best part is that for the remainder of the 2024 season, I was able to establish a monthly Food Donation Program at all 10 Farmers Markets. In addition to the Food Donation Program, I focused on outreach to local food pantries to educate families about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) at the Farmers Markets. I partnered with Britepaths intern Bella Nathanson to complete community outreach in the Annandale/Wakefield area. In total, we reached 920 individuals and 12 food pantries. We also saw 17 new SNAP customers in June at the Annandale and Wakefield Markets collectively. Along with my work on food access, I was the Market Manager at the Wakefield Farmers Market from May 22nd to August 14th. I handled vendor and customer needs and developed a sense of community with both the vendors and customers. At Wakefield and all our markets, I helped run our Compost Bin Giveaway in June, Plastic Free July, and National Farmers Market Week in August. Many thanks to Caroline Hockenberry and Liza Moore for their mentorship throughout my internship, and to FROGS for making this opportunity possible. I am glad that I had the chance to come back this summer and work with such a wonderful group of people again!
Photo Credits:
Photo of Evelyn Magee, taken by Rebecca Elliff
Photo of Bella Hammond, taken by Caroline Hockenberry (Bella is on the right with donation volunteers)
Photo of Julianne Feuchter, taken by Patricia Dietly
Photo of Noah Broude, taken by Debbie Waugh
Photo of Astrid Vanbaba, taken by Kara Biehl
Selfie Photos of Katy Schurtz, and Rebecca Elliff
