November 22, 2016 โ Barney Boyerโs first few months as a NOAA Fisheries intern have been busy. He has assisted with tracking the return of salmon and forage fish to the Elwha River estuary, surveyed Puget Sound ocean conditions, and begun studying the invasion of non-native fish in the Snohomish River.
Boyer is the first military veteran to take an internship with NOAA Fisheries through a new partnership between Washingtonโs The next link/button will exit from NWFSC web site Department of Veterans Affairs and The next link/button will exit from NWFSC web site Veterans Conservation Corps, NOAA Fisheriesโ West Coast Region, the The next link/button will exit from NWFSC web site NOAA Restoration Center and the Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC). Boyer is based at the NWFSCโs Mukilteo Research Station, near Everett, where he is assisting with several research projects, including one that may include him as co-author of a peer-reviewed paper.
โItโs really turned out to be an amazing experience so far,โ Boyer said. โEvery day here is an interesting experience, and Iโm learning all the time.โ
Casey Rice, director of the Mukilteo Research Station until his unexpected passing earlier this year, was a key advocate of hosting veterans at Mukilteo.
โCasey wanted this to happen and his colleagues have assumed the task of moving it forward,โ said John Floberg of the NOAA Restoration Center, who helped coordinate the program. โItโs Caseyโs legacy that veterans are now contributing to research at Mukilteo.โ