Last summer, Lily Julian started volunteering with the Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes and was introduced to piping plover monitoring.
She then went on to achieve an internship opportunity at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore that was focused on daily monitoring and public outreach.
“Every day, we would go out to the beaches to record data on the plovers and other beach visitors and wildlife interactions. It was really rewarding working on the beaches that I’ve been recreating since I was a child,” she said. “Also, I got to go out to North and South Manitou Island to monitor the plovers there,” Julian said.
Julian, a 2021 Glen Lake graduate, is confident about the piping plover’s future and the work being done at SBDNL.
“Seeing that collaboration for the same species is really awesome, and I think with that, we’re going to be able to make real progress and change,” she said.
Julian graduated from Northern Michigan University in December with a degree in environmental science.
As a recent college graduate, Julian is enjoying the winter in Marquette before returning to Leelanau and looking for seasonal positions and roles. She’s even started exploring other options out West, just in case she gets the chance.
As a new graduate, Julian is busy browsing job boards and networking with her local community.
“Whatever opportunities present themselves, I’m just kind of looking into whatever possible … I also am very interested in trees and native plants, everything like the outdoors,” she said.
Julian shined in the earth, environmental, and geograph- ical sciences department at Northern.
Even with federal dollars up in the air, especially for jobs like Julian is pursuing, she isn’t bothered and is willing to find an opportunity no matter where it leads.
“There’s so many different opportunities … I have options, and there’s a lot of different places I could go,” Julian said.
Her favorite moments this summer included having a plover named after her.
“It was really rewarding. She (Lily) was nested on North Manitou. I didn’t see her after she was named Lily, but I saw her when she was younger and I could see her chicks, so that was a cool moment there,” Julian said. “Sometimes being the only person on the beach in the morning or on days when there just wasn’t a lot of people, like during the weekdays, it’s always super cool to be like the only person on the beach just me and the birds.”
