Letter from FOTR Intern: Aaron Coon

I was lucky enough to spend this summer working as the Restoration Intern at Friends of the Rouge. I got the job through the Michigan Sea Grant program. My experience here mainly consisted of working with the Restoration Team. With said Restoration Team I mainly worked on rain gardens, specifically their installation and maintenance. I helped with 7 installations and helped to maintain over 10 previously installed rain gardens. A rain garden, for those of you who don’t know, is a garden which takes water from impervious surfaces like a roof or a parking lot and temporarily holds it, using native plants with deep root systems that allow the water to soak into the ground. Another job that I was able to help out with was teaching Storm Water Specialist classes in Detroit which helps to educate people about Green Stormwater Infrastructure. The goal being that they would be able to get a job within that field that would pay them a decent wage.

I also got to work with the Monitoring Team on Mondays, mainly doing E-Coli sampling at the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park Water Garden at the Detroit Riverwalk. I also got to help out with crayfish monitoring with the Oakland Parks Department. We went around to many stormwater retention ponds and set and pulled traps, checking for invasive red swamp crayfish. I also got to help out with a fish survey which involved using a very wide net called a seine and we would walk a portion of the river, catching all of the fish that swam our way. We would then take all of the fish and record the size and species before releasing them. One time I got to go out with the Trails Team in kayaks, clearing log jams along the Lower River Rouge before an upcoming paddling event took place there.

One fond memory that I will take away from this internship is being able to see the impact that the rain gardens had on the ecosystem, with the sizable reduction of stormwater that otherwise would pond in fields or just flow right into the sewer. It was also extremely evident that the local pollinators loved it and every time I would visit a site I would always notice the bees and butterflies floating around in the gardens,  

I am hoping to take some of the knowledge and experience that I gained while I was here and be able to apply it to whatever job I end up with post graduation, as I am still attending school at Michigan Tech, studying ecological engineering. I am hoping to go into stream restoration and the knowledge that I gained while I was here of native Michigan plants and garden design/maintenance will be extremely helpful with not only the job that I am hoping to go into but also the classes that I still have to take. 

Aaron Coon

Michigan Sea Grant Intern – Summer 2026