Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper intern inspired by excitement of younger generation toward nature

​A lifelong resident of Florida, Sarah Joy admits that central Pennsylvania’s mountains and general environment was one of several draws that lured her to studying ecology at Susquehanna University.

“Florida is so flat, you could stand on a stepstool and see the whole state,” Joy said. “Florida was a nice place to grow up, but I was never a fan of the tropical environment. I’m much more into the boreal forests and anything mountains.”

One of three interns for the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association for the summer of 2024, Joy quickly learned to appreciate the unique differences in ecosystems between Florida and Pennsylvania.

“It has been really interesting to analyze, especially differences in the wetlands. Florida is basically a swamp. I checked out the Everglades while there but never really appreciated them,” she said. “Wetlands here are very different with different animals and it is interesting to consider how it varies.”

So far, two of Joy’s favorite classes at Susquehanna have been Bio Geodiversity and Winter Vertebrate Ecology.

“In Bio Geodiversity, we covered everything you could ever imagine. I learned so much that gave me a lot of experiences and niche knowledge I can put to use in the future,” she said. “In Winter Vertebrate Ecology, we were trapping small mammals. We went to Reptiland and did lab reports on it. We studied a lot about birds, reptiles, mammals. We even stayed a camp overnight, shared a firepit with our professor and made smores. It was just so much fun.”

Check out the full interview with intern Sarah Joy in the newest episode of the Middle Susquehanna Podcast:

Seeing the fun in nature has been a part of Joy since she was young, visiting grandparents in east Tennessee, she would hang out with them a month or two at a time and go to the Smoky Mountains at least once per summer.

“It was where I fell in love with nature and realized there was nothing else like it. I started to realize I wanted to do something to make it a bigger part of my life,” she said. “Also, my family and I went to Zion National Park and I was just so breathless. It was amazing there and I had the time of my life. It was there I realized I wanted to do this sort of thing for a living.”

Within days of starting her internship with the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association, Joy was helping lead a pond study station to rotations of third-graders from Lewisburg during a field trip that brought more than 150 students to the Montour Preserve.

“When I was young, I was squeamish about bugs and frogs – I always thought they were cool, but didn’t want to touch them. But then for this program I was picking up frogs and showing them to kids and they were just so excited about it all,” she said. “I never worked with kids like this in this sort of environment, and to see this new generation take such excitement in our natural resources, there really is no feeling like it. Because of them, we will have a better future.”

In her down time, Joy loves engaging with her friends.

“My suite is usually the hang-out spot. Growing up with no siblings, my Susquehanna family have become my siblings,” she said. “I love all things outdoors, being on the water, kayaking. I love hiking, especially challenging rock scrambles. I also enjoy listening to music and do some drawing and even have been doing more reading lately.”

Her biggest passion is to encourage people to get outdoors.

“Kids need to be outside, see what nature does and how it works and why we should continue to support it. Environmental education is the most important thing for our future,” she said, admitting that sometimes it takes an intentional push to unplug.

“I have found that when I catch myself doom-scrolling on TikTok, which happens to a lot of us on any sort of social media platform, it is so valuable to go outside, connect with nature, even just lay in a hammock,” she said. “I have found that helps me more than just mindlessly scrolling online. It gets me more involved with nature, which I really do value.”

You can contact Sarah Joy via email by clicking here.

Check out bios of the other Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association interns for 2024: Jay Schofield and Theadora Duane.