KINGSTON, R.I. — May 10, 2006 — Although Grace Lentini knew early on that she wanted a career working with animals, it took her a while to decide on a college major. She started out in marine biology, then shifted to animal veterinary science, and finally settled on wildlife and conservation biology. Now she is preparing to graduate from the 溏心vlog免费B站 on May 21 as the top wildlife biology student and recipient of the President鈥檚 Award for Student Excellence.
A resident of East Providence, Lentini is described by her faculty members as the consummate wildlife biologist who has taken full advantage of experiential learning opportunities through several research projects.
Following her sophomore year at 溏心vlog免费B站, she interned at Roger Williams Park Zoo to learn about efforts to breed short-beaked echidnas 鈥� an egg laying mammal from Australia 鈥� in captivity. A year later she was named a Coastal Fellow and spent a summer scuba diving in the Caribbean to study a threatened snail.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e easy to find and they鈥檙e a very tasty local dish, so people eat them quite frequently,鈥� Lentini said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 part of the reason why they鈥檙e threatened. We were trying to find out about their basic population dynamics to prevent their potential extinction.鈥�
Last summer, the 溏心vlog免费B站 student learned to identify birds by song as a means to survey declining birds in grasslands and shrublands in Rhode Island. 鈥淲e were surveying in particular fields that were going to be managed by the Department of Environmental Management, and we wanted to know what the bird and vegetation community would look like before and after the management.鈥�
This research project convinced Lentini that wildlife biology was the right career choice for her. 鈥淚 liked it because I was outside every single day and I was getting to know the wildlife and the nature around me. It鈥檚 cool to walk outside and look at something and be able to name it. And then you get to know their habitat, when they breed, their breeding plumage — there鈥檚 just so many things to learn. That鈥檚 what really interests me.鈥�
Lentini is completing her undergraduate college career with a semester at Humboldt State University in northern California to learn about ecosystems along the West Coast. 鈥淚 love the mountains and the trees out here,鈥� she said, 鈥渟o I鈥檓 trying to be outside as much as possible.鈥�
After graduation, the 22-year-old student plans to spend a few years taking seasonal field biology positions 鈥� perhaps conducting research on swift foxes in the Southwest or bats in Pennsylvania 鈥� before continuing on for a graduate degree.
鈥淥ver the next couple years I want to really narrow down what sort of species I鈥檓 most interested in working with and learning the techniques I鈥檇 need to use to study them,鈥� said Lentini, who received a scholarship from the Weekapaug Foundation for Conservation in 2005.
Because she likes big mammals and big mountains, she hopes to spend at least some of that time in the Rocky Mountain States. 鈥淏ut being in California this semester has shown me that I鈥檓 definitely a New Englander, so eventually I鈥檒l definitely settle back in New England, maybe to Maine or New Hampshire,鈥� Lentini said.