I began the year studying land conservation with a program focused in field research in Chilean Patagonia. We would pack up and head out to go backpacking for up to two weeks at a time, living in the backcountry out of tents and tarps. We spent our days transecting through forests and bogs, collecting population and biodiversity data. Each night, we returned back to camp for dinner followed by an evening class. The program took a holistic approach, integrating biology and ecology with natural history and environmental humanities. I learned about the people who had inhabited the land before it was bought and converted to conversation land. We discussed the various perspectives that should be considered and respected when preserving areas of land, thinking about how to effectively implement conservation policies in a sustainable and impactful way. In March, I returned to the Vineyard to quarantine during the start of the Coronavirus pandemic. I finished out my classes online and enjoyed the calm and beauty of the island during the off-season. In early May, I started working for the Trustees of Reservations on their Chappaquiddick properties as a shorebird technician. Each day, I would head out onto the beaches trying to locate pairs of nesting piping plovers and American oystercatchers. The nests were then monitored daily, observing how many eggs were laid and later, how many chicks had hatched. It was incredibly rewarding tracking the progress of the birds, almost all of whom were nesting along beaches with vehicle access. I learned more about land and species management in areas highly trafficked by humans and how to balance the needs of the wildlife with the wants of the community. In the fall, I returned to Colby College for hybrid classes. Luckily, the school was able to finance mass testing and quarantine any students who did test positive for COVID-19, allowing us to stay on campus for the semester. Overall, I was really happy to be able to return to campus and was able to take advantage of being in Maine with access to both the mountains and the coast.