Researching Since (Almost) Day 1
In fact, I started my internship just two weeks into my first year on campus and have been working with the FRI almost every day since — my semester abroad at Griffith University on the Gold Coast of Queensland, Australia, withstanding.
In my first role as the Institute’s fish collection intern, I learned how to identify different species and how to categorize and organize the growing collection of specimens. After gaining that experience, I was hired as a sample processing intern for the fish lab, where my research includes sculpin identification with Freshwater Research Institute ecologist Sara Ashcraft. Our work seeks to create a field identification key to help us identify two common freshwater sculpin species — the mottled sculpin and the slimy sculpin — when conducting fish surveys during stream analyses. Additionally, I have been working on a field identification key for Leuscidae — or, as most people know them, minnows — in the Susquehanna River Basin. Both projects will make real-world contributions to scientific fieldwork, and I’m proud to play a role in them.
Beyond my identification work with Sarah, I also spend time each summer at the Institute as one of its “stream team” interns, helping to conduct stream surveys and supporting other collaborative restoration and research initiatives between the FRI and its strategic conservation partners. The FRI works with the Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy, the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, and various county conservation districts to help with conservation efforts, community outreach and education, research and data collection.
“This partnership is an amazing opportunity for Susquehanna students.”
Paige Hepfer ’26
The largest of its partners, though, is the Chesapeake Conservancy, which plays a major role in communicating what conservation actions should be taken in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The FRI and Conservancy work closely to support and implement restoration projects and to communicate important research to decision-makers at state and federal levels, with an overall goal of improving the health of the Susquehanna River watershed — which, in turn, improves the health of the Chesapeake Bay. This partnership is an amazing opportunity for Susquehanna students, as it’s given my peers and I hands-on opportunities to apply real conservation efforts and study their long-term benefits.
My work with the FRI, its staff and its partners has furthered my education more than I ever thought it could. It’s given me countless opportunities to learn new things and build new skillsets. It’s given me so much confidence conducting research in both field and lab settings and, because of its embrace of experiential learning, I’m able to apply the concepts I have learned in class to real, meaningful work. The Freshwater Research Institute has truly prepared me for a future career in conservation.
Paige Hepfer ’26 is an ecology and advertising & public relations double major from Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania. She has been a Freshwater Research Institute intern since 2022. After graduating, she hopes to pursue conservation opportunities at animal sanctuaries.
