Shield Ranch college interns will perform and learn about a variety of land stewardship and wildlife conservation management tasks on the Shield Ranch this summer.
Caitlyn Harlan is a hard-working summer intern at Shield Ranch in Travis County. Originally from Groesbeck, Texas, Caitlyn graduated from Texas A&M University in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences. Her interests include hunting wild game, fishing, growing her Texas species skull collection (25 species and counting) for education and practicing taxidermy to commemorate the unique stories of her hunts. One of Caitlyn’s goals is to aid in the conservation of essential wild places in Texas like Shield Ranch. She also hopes to use her background to educate others about nature and share with them techniques to preserve the state’s natural resources, as well as to become a better land steward and wildlife professional herself. Caitlyn knows that her time at Shield Ranch will help her to become a more knowledgeable wildlife biologist who conserves wild habitats and species simply for the unique and irreplaceable value that they add to the splendors of planet Earth. She has plans to pursue a Master of Science degree in a related field in the future and to become a certified wildlife biologist.
Darren Sultemeier, a senior at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, is working as a summer intern for Shield Ranch in Travis County. He is a Wildlife, Sustainability, and Ecosystem Sciences major with a minor in Biology. Darren found his passion for wildlife at a young age while growing up on his family’s ranch in Cypress Mills, Texas and through his hobbies of hunting and fishing. Darren’s dream job is to work in wildlife conservation in order to protect and preserve the native plant and animal species in the Texas Hill Country, and to help landowners find the balance between wildlife management and agriculture. Darren is excited to be interning at Shield Ranch this summer and looks forward to learning more about wildlife conservation and management in the private sector of the Hill Country.