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  • LEAF interns Briani Boyd, Melanie Cruz and Christina Smythe take a hike in the Potomac Gorge.
  • Christina helps blaze a trail for preserve visitors.
  • Marek Smith, program director and head chef, welcomes LEAF to the Allegheny Highlands by cooking wild-blueberry pancakes at Warm Springs Mountain.
  • The LEAF interns get to use the tools of the trade for sampling aquatic creatures.
  • Melanie and Marek search for aquatic creatures in the Cowpasture River.
  • "Did we get anything?" Christina and Melanie check the net.
  • Briani and Christina share some laughs in the Cowpasture.
  • Cowpasture River Preservation Association members help the interns identify their finds.
  • After lunch, the interns tour Coursey Springs State Fish Hatchery and help feed the trout.
  • Marek explains conservation easements and introduces the interns to heritage-breed red poll cattle at Berriedale Farm.
  • The interns help Virginia Tech graduate student David Montague collect coyote scat as part of a wildlife-diet study at Warm Springs Mountain.
  • LEAF is inspiring both lifelong conservationists and friends.
Passport to Nature
LEAF Journal