Reflecting on My Summer as BOPP’s Science Communications Intern
In summer 2025, the Birds of Prey National Conservation Area Partnership (BOPP) was thrilled to host Annabel CHristiansen, a Boise State University student, as our Science Communications Intern through the Andrus Scholars Program. Over ten weeks, Annabel joined research teams in the Morley Nelson Snake River National Conservation Area, gaining hands-on experience in raptor conservation, field research, and public engagement. From assisting with ferruginous hawk and prairie falcon monitoring to documenting our annual Raptor Fest and creating social media content, Annabel contributed to our mission of protecting Idaho’s birds of prey while learning the ins and outs of conservation science.
In this blog Annabel discusses her highlights from the summer…
As a student at Boise State University, I was granted the opportunity to work as the Science Communications intern for the Birds of Prey NCA Partnership (BOPP) through the Andrus Scholars Program. Over the course of the summer, I worked firsthand with various researchers, raptor biologists, and members of the BOPP team to learn more about our beautiful NCA and why raptor conservation is so vital to the well-being of our native Idahoan landscape.
One of my very favorite memories from my internship - learning how to safely handle ferruginous hawk chicks!
For many Boise State students, the summer of 2025 was most likely spent in similar ways to any other school break - traveling, working, relaxing at home, and soaking up the sunshine. For me, the summer looked a little different - early mornings spent in pickup trucks, bumping our way down dirt roads to reach the vast and gorgeous Morley Nelson Snake River National Conservation Area, bearing witness to the banding, monitoring, and observation of various birds of prey species that call this landscape “home”.
Through the Andrus Scholars Program hosted by Boise State, I was able to spend 10 weeks of my summer as a Science Communications intern for BOPP. Some responsibilities of this position included shadowing researchers’ field days through the NCA, photographing activities such as ferruginous hawk chick banding, camera retrieval in prairie falcon nests, and gathering morphometric data from young chicks. I also wrote a series of blogs for the official BOPP website (just like this one!) and created various kinds of social media content for Instagram and Facebook.
I was able to meet many different raptor researchers and biologists, all from different backgrounds and various fields of study - we were often joined by BLM scientists and interns, graduate and undergraduate students from the Raptor Research Center at BSU, all working alongside members of the BOPP team.
Taking my very first morphometric measurement - measuring the length of the chick’s talons.
One of the biggest projects I assisted with was the preparation and capturing of Raptor Fest, an annual celebration of the conservation and protection of the NCA’s birds of prey. Raptor Fest is BOPP’s biggest event of the year, and I was in charge of photographing the entire event, as well as posting social media material and capturing the spirit and energy of the festivities. We saw over 1,000 attendees this year, and hosted a plethora of food trucks, local vendors, conservation organizations such as the Peregrine Fund and the BLM, and even showcased live birds.
This year’s Raptor Fest was an incredible success, and being able to be a part of it was an experience I will not soon forget. Seeing so many members of the community come together in support of Idaho’s public lands and our local birds of prey population was truly heartwarming - and became one of the pivotal moments from my internship experience.
Raptor Fest 2025
My summer with BOPP was unlike any other - going into the experience, I had very little knowledge of raptor biology and had only visited the NCA once when I was younger. Over the course of the summer, I greatly increased my knowledge about both birds of prey and the NCA, and met so many incredible, knowledgeable people along the way. Getting to know local researchers and learning about their amazing projects was another highlight of my summer; getting acquainted with the team over at Boise State’s Raptor Research Center and interacting with fellow students was incredibly valuable.
Overall, I could not be more grateful to have had this opportunity to learn, grow, and push myself to new limits and get out of my comfort zone. As a native Idahoan, it was so important to me to not only learn more about the importance of the NCA and the birds that reside there, but to experience it firsthand - it has been an absolute pleasure to work with the BOPP team, and it will be an experience that I will not soon forget.
A huge thank you to Annabel for all of her hard work over the summer from the whole of the BOPP team!
All birds in these photos were handled under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U. S. Geological Survey, as well as additional state and institutional permits and permissions.