Hi, I'm Mike Pakes, a fisheries and wildlife major, in the School of Natural Resources.

My official title is a Biological Science Research Assistant and my duties range from performing a wide array of experiments and data collection in a laboratory setting, to planting and working with plants in the agronomy and pathology green houses, to collecting data from field plots. We work most directly with Sorghum and focus most of our work on the interactions different fungus and bacteria have on genetically modified plants.

My work has given me the opportunity to experience what it's like to work in a scientific setting, and also to apply skills that I've learned in my classes. I've had the chance to work on a number of microbiology projects that let me apply skills and ideas I've acquired in my genetics class to run PCR and understand the process of DNA extractions. I also had the opportunity to make Prof. Hyngstrom proud by applying techniques I picked up in his Wildlife Damage Management class to keep the birds off of our field plots by using netting. The past few years they had attempted to use a number of tools that we learned to be unsuccessful in class and I was able to recommend a new idea that worked very well this year.

As a Fisheries and Wildlife major I feel that this internship has been a great experience. It has allowed me to do some very valuable networking throughout a number of branches in the federal government, where I would like to be employed after graduation, as well as let me experience what it is like to conduct scientific research. It has been a great stepping stone for my future as a Wildlife Biologist.