Studying the fish of Minnesota's lakes, Luther senior Noah Amundson of Owatonna, Minnesota, spent the summer as a fisheries intern for the Minnesota DNR in Brainerd.

Amundson, son of Jacob Amundson and Sonia Mathison, is a 2015 graduate of Owatonna High School in Owatonna, Minnesota. He plans to graduate from Luther in the fall of 2018 with a major in biology.

As a fisheries intern, Amundson conducted several types of surveys in order to understand the habitats and communities of non-game fish and game fish. Conducting Score the Shore surveys, Amundson learned to assess the shoreline habitat of lakes in Minnesota. Through Index of Biological Integrity surveys, he studied the non-game fish communities by seining with vertical weighted nets and electrofishing with electric currents.

In his standard lake surveys, Amundson used gill and trap nets to look at the game fish communities of lakes. He also learned to age fish by examining their scales and otoliths, or the three small oval bodies in the inner ear of vertebrates.

Interning with the Minnesota Department of Resources, Amundson discovered his communication skills and has "become a great team player." Exercising his independence, Amundson learned that others can rely on him, even when unsupervised. In addition to acquiring fisheries knowledge, this opportunity bolstered his interpersonal and public relations skills. Amundson is now considering graduate school and a career in fisheries upon graduation from Luther.

Approximately 10 percent of Luther students take an internship for academic credit each academic year. The Luther College Career Center assists students with their internship search through resume preparation, networking, online internship searches, career fairs, on-campus interviewing and connecting the student to alumni through the college's Alumni Internship Program. Students also meet with a faculty adviser prior to the internship to create an internship learning plan that includes learning goals and assessment benchmarks.

An internship work supervisor assists in the process by writing an evaluation of the student at the end of the internship. Students also complete a self-reflection form to help finalize the learning experience.

A national liberal arts college with an enrollment of 2,005, Luther offers an academic curriculum that leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree in more than 60 majors and pre-professional programs. For more information about Luther visit the college's website: http://www.luther.edu.