CEMML Early-Career Development Program participant Ellery McCaw stands in front of a fighter jet display at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho. Photo courtesy of Beth Burgess. BY JENNIFER HOFFMAN
When Ellery McCaw swapped her hiking boots for a desk with CSU’s CEMML, she didn’t just set aside her favorite well-worn accessories; she also discovered a missing piece to her professional puzzle.
McCaw’s resume read more like an adventure novel, touting experience as a wilderness guide, ski instructor, first-aid instructor, and canoe trip leader, but none of these roles had offered her the professional grounding of her CEMML internship as a cultural resources technician.
“This is my first office-style job,” McCaw said. “After a winter freezing outside and driving through snow doing some guiding through Canada, it’s nice to work in warm, dry surroundings but still get to connect with nature through my work.”
Plus, one of the major perks was being locally based — she already lived just an hour away from Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho. This eliminated the stress of needing to relocate or find a rental property in the area. “I could just show up and start working right away,” said McCaw.
From her first day on the job in November 2024, McCaw explained how she was immersed in hands-on work, including reorganizing online file archives, creating detailed species field guides, and compiling records for environmental restoration programs. One of her first major projects was developing a handbook for identifying wildlife and protected plants on the base. This simple task became a passion project for her.
“I’m a birder outside of work,” McCaw said, “so when I was out walking during my breaks, and I saw something new, I’d think, ‘Oh — I need to add that one to the guide!'”
Working behind a computer screen was a large component of the internship, but Ellery explained she had many opportunities to work in and explore the great outdoors.
A memorable moment for her came just at dawn on a spring morning, when she joined one of the natural resource specialists to observe a sage grouse lek. These important reproductive sites for the imperiled bird are often open, sparsely vegetated areas surrounded by sagebrush, where male sage grouse perform elaborate courtship dances to attract potential mates.
This was the first lek ever recorded on base land. It’s located on a training range, and with this discovery, the installation can identify and protect key habitat for the grouse and avoid potential disruption to training schedules.
Similar field outings, although often very early in the morning, are a highlight of the internship for McCaw because she gets to conduct counts and report on protected species such as burrowing owls. “That’s really one of the best parts of my job,” she said.
McCaw has also gained a great deal of knowledge about federal protocols and environmental policy through her role with CEMML, she said. The critical administrative and procedural skills she has acquired will help her advance her career ambitions.
She’s learned how to draft National Environmental Policy Act documents, which has really sparked her interest in that department. Her supervisor and mentor, Beth Burgess, the installation cultural resources and NEPA manager at Mountain Home Air Force Base, was a guiding force for McCaw. “I’ve had so many questions, and they’ve always taken the time to explain things,” McCaw said. “I was curious about the legal side, and now I’ve wrapped my head around how NEPA works,” she added. “It forces agencies to think through their environmental impacts in a systematic way.”
She’s also managed to master Microsoft Teams and Outlook, and picked up a few extra skills along the way, including how to safeguard Department of Defense data. As she puts it, she has “crawled through computer systems dating back to the Bush administration.”
Mentorship and public engagement have also been a big part of McCaw’s experience. She connected with the community during her internship, discussing how archaeology and conservation can intersect with students and families at community science fairs and open houses at the base. “It’s been fun to pull back the curtain on what archaeologists do—and why the natural world matters to help preserve cultural heritages and help us reflect on the past,” McCaw said.
McCaw came to CEMML expecting just a part-time internship but found a platform to gain career insights and build on technical skills. After her internship, she thought she’d guide a few raft trips on the Salmon River and finish her CPR certification. She also considered going into environmental law or applying for a full-time position at CEMML.
Looking back on her ECDP days, she said overall her entire experience was extremely positive, and the program has given her a new sense of confidence. “ECDP gave me something rare: certainty that I can make a difference,” McCaw said. She offers this advice to any new applicants considering CEMML: “Try it. Say yes and be curious.”