Written by 2021 UF/IFAS NCBS Summer Intern, Chloe Aborgast

This summer I had the opportunity to work with the University of Florida’s D.E.E.R Lab. The UF DEER Lab is a research lab that focuses on game species and habitat management. My role as an intern was to work with their science communications team to create and develop content for social media. I learned what running a social media account for a professional organization entailed. I discovered many different strategies that worked to expand our network and continued to execute those tools. I also was able to have creative freedom with some of the projects that we worked on in the lab. This to me was the most rewarding part of the internship as social media was not really my realm of expertise and this allowed me to see what I can do.

I had the opportunity to visit Tall Timbers Research Station for a couple days to follow a group of students in Dr. Lashley’s class. This was the first time I used a DSLR camera so I was a little nervous. I learned that photography is an amazing avenue to give your own perspective on the things going on around you as well as wildlife content. My passion for photography sparked from that experience and I have been working on it ever since. This experience has influenced me to start my own social media account @wildlifewithchloe to share wildlife photos that I shoot!

I want to thank Dr. Lashley, Charlotte Nowak, and the whole UF DEER Lab team for being so welcoming and supportive. I truly couldn’t have asked for a better team to guide me through my first full-time internship. I also want to thank the Nature Coast Biological Station for having this amazing internship program and giving me the opportunity to explore my interests within the field of wildlife conservation.

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