CANYON — Most college students spend their summer tackling internships behind a desk. West Texas A&M University junior Audrey Adkison spent hers holding down a nine-foot alligator.

Adkison, a wildlife biology major from Mansfield, was named WT’s 2025 Intern of the Year following a season of fieldwork at the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge — a sprawling 3,700-acre preserve where she helped tag and monitor American alligators, manage invasive plants, and assist with prescribed burns.

The honor was announced Nov. 3 during a campus reception in the Natural Sciences Building. Along with the title, Adkison received a $1,000 scholarship and will be submitted for the national Cooperative Education & Internship Association’s Academic Intern of the Year award.

Shelby Ford, assistant director

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