Internship Spotlight - Robyn Clemons


	From:	San Angelo, TX
	Major:	Biology
	Company:	International Water Lily Collection
	Location:	San Angelo, TX

Have you ever heard of San Angelo, Texas? Not many people have, but it is famous for water lily botanists. San Angelo is home to the world's largest collection of water lilies from all over the world.

"I've always loved the outdoors and biology," Robyn said, who learned about the opportunity to intern with the International Water Lily Collection through a family friend, Ken Landon. Ken is the owner of this internationally recognized collection. In the early 1980's, Ken's mother suffered a stroke. "Our family helped Ken take care of her, and we've been good friends with him ever since," Robyn said.

A beautiful zanzibar blossom As a sophomore in high school, Robyn's favorite subject was biology. Naturally, her love for life led to studying it at university. Robyn's internship with the International Water Lily Collection allowed her to work with 80% of the world's water lily species. "Once you work with something, you appreciate the beauty of it," she said.

Robyn worked as a species specialist and collected seeds from endangered lilies. Ken, one of the top five experts on lilies in the world, would then cultivate the seeds for reproduction. "Ken is very, very knowledgeable. He's just so great at what he does," Robyn said.

With people coming from different parts of the world to see the collection, its aestheticism was an important part of the attraction, and needed to be maintained. "Sometimes we'd spend all day plucking moss and cleaning algae to keep the pond's looking beautiful," Robyn said. The lilies also needed to be harvested, which meant wading through the ponds and cutting back old leaves so newer ones could grow and flourish. "It's fun to just play around in the water all day," Robyn said.

Water lilies of nearly every shape and size adorn the pools Robyn's appreciation for plants grew even more while working there, but she says that her favorite part of the job was talking to the visitors. "When people had questions, I loved being able to talk with them and give them answers," she said. Robyn would like to pursue a career in conservation biology, but work as much with people as she possibly can.

Ken has a list of species he'd like to add to the collection, but there is a lot of legal work involved in trying to import plants from foreign countries. "He really wants to bring those new species into the collection, but that would mean expanding the pond," Robyn said.

Even without the new species though, Robyn loves the lilies she got to work with, and had a really positive experience. "It was definitely my favorite part of the week!"