Meet WELCOME intern Raven Regenold

We are lucky to have three Beloit Memorial High School students out at the Center this spring, as part of the Careers Academy program, and funded by our NSF grant. In this post, we’ll let Raven Regenold introduce herself and her projects.

So far in my journey here, I have been working on an egg project. This project uses bird eggs originally kept at Beloit College that were donated to Welty, and I have had the opportunity to look through them and make a display.

These eggs are from all over the world; such as the Vega Gull that breeds in Siberia and winters in Japan but is also found in Western Alaska, and the Yellow-headed Blackbird that breeds in Canada and winters in Central America, but is also found in the midwest. Also, I have found eggs as large as a Canada Goose egg and some as small as hummingbird eggs.

Raven is taking data points by the Rock River lagoon in Beloit, using a GPS tool that tells her the latitude, longitude, and elevation of the location. These measurements are part of the experimental protocols she is using for her study of fresh water macroinvertebrates and nitrate levels.

Some of these eggs are dated back to 1878 and are still in good quality and some of the eggs are not. For an egg to be of good quality it needs to fit the original description like color, size, and shape and it needs to be intact. Some of the eggs that are not in good shape are yellow rather than their original white, Some have wrinkled because they might not have been properly preserved and some are broken. 

Another cool project I have been working on uses GLOBE protocols. My project will be about freshwater macroinvertebrates in different bodies of water around Beloit. For this project, I will go to tributaries of the Rock River to study what macroinvertebrates are present and if they differ between tributaries. I will also be testing the nitrates in the water and if they differ between the tributaries. I have five set locations that I will be measuring, including: Wooton Park, Turtle Creek, Lesson Park, Nature at the Confluence and the Lagoon. I am very excited to be able to do this project and I can’t wait to see all of the discoveries in the tributaries of the Rock River.

My future plan is to go to UW-Platteville and double major in Biology and Animal Science with emphasis on Pre-veterinary care. Then I plan to go to veterinary school. My goal is to earn my Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree to become a veterinarian and then own my own clinic. 

From a young age I have always loved animals and I have always wanted to take care of them. This past year I adopted a cat named Mica and I also have a turtle named Sheldon. He is very cool because he is the first reptile I have ever owned, so I have had to do a lot of research to know how to take care of him.