The Flagstaff Chapter had awarded its 2022 Avery Scholarship to Matthew Sprague, a Sophomore at NAU. Matthew’s interests are in the realm of natural stream channel process, impacts on stream channels by humans and wildfires, and remediation actions to mitigation impacts.
2022 Charles C. Avery Intern Scholarship Experience
by Matthew Sprague
The Arizona Hydrological Society grants undergraduate students a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, through the Charles C. Avery Intern Scholarship. I was the recipient this year allowing me to gain 200 hours of real-world experience with three different local organizations. The organizations I chose to work with this summer were the City of Flagstaff Stormwater Management, Natural Channel Design, and City of Flagstaff Water Resource Management. Throughout my time at these organizations, I was able to get a clear understanding of what a future career in hydrology can look like.
My experience began with the City of Flagstaff Stormwater Management, which showed me the importance of project management. I was tasked, by Edward Schenk, with the 2022 Flagstaff Channel Survey which had me rate channels throughout Flagstaff based on their conditions. This project allowed me to practice time management and creative thinking in the field. After completing my project, I moved on to Natural Channel Design to assist Alex Wood with fieldwork and data collecting. We started off with moisture monitoring and GPS surveys of the local Flagstaff area. I ended my time with this organization with a trip to Cottonwood Springs to investigate the round tail chub population decrease. During my time at this organization, I learned how to better communicate and work with others. For my final organization, I worked with Erin Young at the City of Flagstaff Water Services in Water Resources. I was assigned to local well water level and energy use analysis and data plotting. In addition, I attended a Water Commission meeting and got to visit Red Gap Ranch and take the water level depths of the wells in the area. With this opportunity, I got to watch and listen to how government organizations are run, and how crucial clear communication, as well as planning, is. With all of this knowledge and experience, I feel that I can confidently confirm that my future career lies in hydrology.
At the beginning of this summer, I was just planning to major and work in hydrology. Given this chance to explore the hydrological workforce through the Charles C. Avery Intern Scholarship, I now understand and appreciate some of the job opportunities related to this field. I am very grateful to have gained these opportunities. Thank you to Donald J. Bills, the Arizona Hydrologic Society Members, and my employers; Edward Schenk, Alex Wood, and Erin Young, for this unforgettable summer internship position. Overall, this scholarship experience went above and beyond my expectations supplying me with a lifetime of knowledge and connections to the real world of hydrology.