From the classroom to the office

Summer internships are in full swing.   This year there are over a dozen international internships and a total of 33 Nich students staying put in North Carolina.   The map will show how far we have spread our wings.  I took it upon myself to email a group of now second years on how they would be spending their summer internships.  Here are the responses I received. 

David Palange

Concentration: Ecosystem Science and Conservation

Sponsoring Organization: Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Annapolis, MD

I will work with Maryland DNR's Office for a Sustainable Future to conduct a carbon footprint analysis for all lands, facilities, and managerial practices of the agency. The information will assist the office in establishing a baseline from which they can they set future benchmarks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  The methodology that I will develop will serve as the model for other Maryland governmental agencies to use to calculate their carbon footprint.  If time permits, I plan to investigate lands the department can purchase to offset their GHG emissions.  Specifically, I have an interest in targeting lands the department can acquire that would benefit both carbon sequestration and water quality in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

David Anderson

Concentration: Energy and Environment

Sponsoring Organization: Rocky Mountain Institute, Snowmass, CO

I'll be working in RMI's MOVE: Transportation Innovation group.  The MOVE team consults primarily with players in the automotive markets, providing solutions for efficiency through design, lightweight materials, and smarter integration.  I don't really know what I'll be working on yet, but the possibilities include vehicle-to-grid strategy for PHEVs, the design of a superefficient car for an Indian auto manufacturer, integration design for an automotive OEM, development of a business model for truck/trailer integration technologies, etc.

Kara Koehrn

Concentration: Environmental Health and Security

I am working with Dr. Richard Weisler, a specialist in psychiatry who works with Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League on a public health project in Salisbury, NC. The project mainly consists of an investigation into the cause of a marked increase of cancer and suicide rates in a Salisbury neighborhood near a cluster of contaminated sites. The investigation may also involve other areas of NC with similar increases in health problems linked to industries                                                       emitting hydrogen sulfide.

Kelli Mineard

Concentration: Joint MEM/FUQUA

Sponsoring Organization: The International Council for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) and its Burkinabe partner organization, the Program for Sustainable Rural Development, Burkina Faso, West Africa

Internship: I will be working with communities and programs in northwestern Burkina to better understand why some communities have adopted agroforestry while others have not; how agroforestry programming is implemented; who is benefitting; and assessing the socioeconomic and environmental sustainability of agroforestry in the area.  I will also be spending time in the village (south-central Burkina) where I completed Peace Corps, conducting a pilot needs and interest assessment around agro-environmental issues in order to better plan activities that will enhance sustainable livelihoods and opportunities in the area.

Trevor Cutsinger

Concentration: Ecosystem Science and Conservation

Sponsoring Organization: Environmental Working Group, Washington, DC

I will split my time between the agriculture and public lands divisions. For the agriculture work, I will be focusing my attention on Conservation Reserve Program, biofuels, and food prices. In the public lands works I will be researching companies extracting resources from publicly owned lands, primarily in the west.

Joshua Schneck

Concentration: Ecosystem Science and Conservation

Sponsoring Organization: World Resources Institute, Washington, DC

This summer, with the help of the World Resources Institute, I will be conducting research on forest plantations in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, and their potential to offset natural forest extraction.  My survey will include information on tree species being grown, management applied, yields, along with qualitative information from mill owners regarding the suitability of plantation-grown wood for their processing needs.  Project output will include a spatially explicit study of the potential for degraded or barren land to offset primary forest extraction, along with an accounting of funds available for plantation establishment through various                                 carbon-offset scenarios being developed.

Elena Finkbeiner

Concentration: Coastal Environmental Management

Sponsoring Organization: Grupo Tortuguero, Baja California Sur

I will spend five weeks in Baja California Sur administering surveys and collecting baseline data, in an effort to assess community perception and involvement in a new sea turtle ecotourism project.

Ben Landis

Concentration: Environmental Economics and Policy

Sponsoring Organization:  Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University

I had always wanted to be part of a "think tank", and my dreams came true with a Stanback Internship with the Nicholas Schools' very own policy center.  Under the guidance of Bill Holman, Director of State Policy at the Nicholas Institute and former Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (NC DENR), I'll be conducting a cost analysis of the water quality infrastructure in the Upper Neuse River Basin, which encompasses Durham and Raleigh.  My work should provide a platform to assess the benefits of conserving ecosystem services in the Basin, and contribute to refining water management policies of North Carolina's Triangle Region.  But the job's not all number crunching: already in my first week, I've sat in on state commission hearings in Raleigh, toured a green roof/urban redevelopment site, and engaged in discussions on other research projects with Institute staff.  It's shaping up to be a very educational and exciting summer!