The Art of Ecology
Building visual connections between people and nature.
Hello all! Welcome to my 2022 Internship Reflection. My name is Lucy and I have been interning for The Art of Ecology for about 4 months now, and I will be continuing my internship until my culminating event, hosted by me using all the skills that I have learned during this internship! This event takes place on May 21st, 2022 at 10:30am at Peace Valley Nature Center and focuses on creating bee habitat for native bee species.
Bee Habitat Workshop for Families
This time of the year, pollinators like birds, bees, and butterflies are busy collecting nectar from the flourishing flowers in our backyards. In this workshop, we will discuss ways pollinators contribute to our environment, the unique behaviors and characteristics of carpenter bees, and what we can do to protect these important insects. Each participant will build their own carpenter bee hive to take home.
May 21st, 2022 at 10:30am | Ages 8-12 are welcome!
I am currently on my path to becoming an environmental microbiologist and I thought being an intern for environmental education would be a great start for me. The world of environmental science has really opened up for me during this internship and it has been filled with nonstop learning and growing.
What have you done during the internship & what’s your favorite part so far?
Throughout my internship, I have been assisting Marissa with workshop preparation, monthly press releases announcing public events, developing Patreon content, creating social media & blog posts, and am completing a self-directed environmental research project. I chose to do a stream macroinvertebrate assessment to understand stream pollution using those creatures as bioindicators of health. She has been assisting me with my projects along the way.
One of my favorite activities I’ve done so far in this internship is guest-starring on Marissa’s For What It’s Earth podcast! We talked about microbes in the environment. The whole week leading up to the recording was so nerve- wracking, and I assumed that I was going to do terribly. Once we started talking about something I was passionate about, it became such a fun experience. I got to rant about things I am constantly geeking over!
What advice do you have for young adults looking to go into this industry?
If I could give any advice to students going into the environmental education industry, I would say to practice a lot with answering a variety of questions from students. As someone who is just a tad terrified of public speaking, it’s been very important to work on getting over my fears of talking in front of a lot of people. Plus, knowing how to speak to and in front of people is important for any industry – not just environmental education!
Although I am not planning on entering the environmental education field, I could tell from my internship that it is an incredibly rewarding occupation. So far I have been loving interning and I can’t wait to see how the rest of the internship goes!
