They’ll show up in your yard uninvited, causing problems for all kinds of other living things. No, not a horde of feral hogs — the latest internet obsession — but invasive plants, which can easily hide in plain sight. From now through November, three Student Conservation Association interns will be working with the state Department of Natural Resources to help private landowners handle these problematic plants.
The three — Taia Blizard (environmental studies, Virginia Commonwealth University), Conner Moore (natural resources management, Auburn University) and Andrea Shroba (biology, University of Louisville) — are by and large new to the Georgia coast and eager to learn about the local ecology.
“Because I just graduated, I was doing research in a lab, based on chemical ecology, and I really wanted to do something with plants more in a natural setting,” Shroba said. “Invasive species plant management, I thought, was a great way to do that.”
The first assignment starts tomorrow.
“Thursday we’re going to meet with a condo manager about Chinese tallow,” said Eamonn Leonard, natural resources biologist with DNR. “We’re trying to work with different condo groups to work together to tackle that one species together instead of one group doing it and their neighbors not — seeing if we can connect them together so we can have a more regional effect. Because if one does it and their neighbor doesn’t, they’re just going to get re-invaded.”