By Jenna McElroy
Park Manager at Eagle Creek Ornithology Center
BACI donated $7,749 for two semesters of a Museum Studies Intern at Eagle Creek Park.
Eagle Creek Park is so grateful for BACI’s continued support of the Ornithology Center, ever since its opening in 2008. This year (2026), we had the opportunity to bring on a new Master’s student intern through the IU Indianapolis (IUI) Museum Studies department. We have had a long-running partnership with this department where they bring students to clean our bird taxidermy every year, but this is the first time they have asked us if we would like to partner with them to host an intern. The intern will receive university class credit and a salary, which BACI is funding for the entire 2026-2027 school year! We hope to continue this program in future years as well.
The Ornithology Center’s one-of-a-kind exhibits are more than 15 years old now, so this intern has a lot to do! They will work to update our collection records (taxidermy, nest, eggs, feathers, bones, etc.), clean existing exhibits, create new pieces to add to the exhibits including habitat additions and new taxidermy, update signage, create new container/box displays for programming and outreach, and coordinate the annual taxidermy cleaning with IUI staff and other students.
Meet our new intern, Brenna Roller!
A few sentences about your background:
Brenna: “I grew up here in Central Indiana but for the past twelve years I’ve lived in Bloomington; I’ve recently moved back to this area to continue my education at IU Indianapolis. I got my bachelor’s degree at IU Bloomington in Anthropology with a focus in Archaeology, where I also worked as a curatorial assistant at the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology (GBL). While at the GBL I worked with their various archaeological collections, helping organize and catalog artifacts, excavation reports, and other original documentation.”
What does being able to intern with a bird education center mean to you?
Brenna: “Interning at the Ornithology Center has given me a deeper understanding and appreciation of birds, and working with their collections has been a challenging but very rewarding experience for me. The previous collections I’ve worked with have mostly been archaeological; now that I’m working with a natural history collection, I’ve been learning new skills and gaining practical experience that I wasn’t able to before. Being able to intern here has allowed me to learn more about birds while also expanding my collection management skills in a fun and dynamic way.”
What do you hope to accomplish through the role?
Brenna: “I hope to help establish the collections at the Ornithology Center as an organized, accessible resource for our community that can enrich their understanding of birds here in Indiana.”
Thank you so much for your continued support!