Part of Turtle Island Restoration Network’s mission is to support and encourage the next generation of conservationists. Our residential internship program does just that by providing an opportunity for interns to live and work together at our California Headquarters for a period of six months. This post introduces our new intern, Kim Horrell.

We are excited to introduce SPAWN’s newest salmonid habitat restoration intern, Kim Horrell. Kim grew up in San Diego, and went to the University of California, Santa Cruz where she majored in anthropology and environmental studies, and studied abroad in Italy and Nepal. In her new role, Kim will be a regular presence at restoration workdays and will be assisting our biologist during stream and salmon surveys.

“I absolutely love it here,” said Kim. “I’ve gotten to be a part of the big restoration project at the golf course, and I saw when they first broke ground. It is fun being part of the whole process and watching as the different stages of restoration take place,” she added. “There is so much to do that is hands on.”

This month, she tagged along on her first stream survey with Turtle Island Biologist Preston Brown. The stream survey’s set out to establish a baseline water level during times of drought, and provide Turtle Island’s science team valuable information about the ability of these streams to support salmon populations. Kim is especially interested in this aspect of her internship and in protecting endangered coho salmon because though she volunteered with a fish hatchery while at UCSC where she worked with fry and smolts, but she has never seen an adult coho salmon in the wild. She hopes to see many while interning with Turtle Island.

Kim

Kim loves to hike, kayak and advocate for a unique protein source – bugs. During college, she wrote her favorite paper on human consumption of insects.

“About 80 percent of world’s population eats insects. About the only reason not too is the psychological taboo. It is way more sustainable and uses less water than other kinds of meat,” she explained. “I figured I should practice what I preach, so one day I ordered maxworms and crickets, and gave it a try. I’ve made cricket tacos and fried rice!”

Her favorite insects to eat are waxworms. She suggests sautéing them with onion and a pinch of salt.

Please click here to learn about our internship opportunities and here to get involved in our volunteer events.