Since January 18th, I have been the Estuaries Program Conservation Associate at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida in Naples, FL. So far I have really enjoyed this experience and have learned so much about environmental policy in Florida.
My main job is to work on the Estuaries Report Card, a snapshot of the health of our regional estuaries in Southwest Florida. This is an extensive, 300-page document that has been in production for over a year and a half. I’m coming into this process towards the end, so my main responsibilities have been to edit the document based on what our peer reviewers suggested, as well as work on ways to make the Report Card understandable to the general public.
In order to do this, I will also be creating three different Esri Story Maps using ArcGIS Online to go along with the launch of the 300-page Estuaries Report Card. Such an extensive and complicated document does not lend itself well to the general public (i.e. the people who live within the 10 watersheds the Report Card focuses on), yet that is the major audience we are trying to reach through this Report Card. In order to make the information presented in the Report Card understandable and accessible to the general public, we must create a more succinct and interesting compilation of the information.
To see some great examples of story maps, click the links below: http://amazonteam.org/maps/sarayaku-en/ http://kygeonet.ky.gov/StoryMaps/KyNationalLandmarks/
My internship is 6 months long, so at the moment I have not started on the maps. I am in the process of outlining what should go into each story map and working with the policy and marketing team to make the maps as user-friendly and understandable as possible.
I have several other responsibility at the Conservancy, including researching environmental issues and advocating for the Conservancy’s positions on a local, state, and/or federal level. Additionally, I assist with the creation of comment letters, presentations, and handouts, and sit in on and participate in relevant meetings. As the Estuaries Program intern, I mostly work with water quality and water conservation issues and have attended several meetings and workshops on these issues. March is the beginning on legislative session so we will be very busy advocating for water issues (and other issues, such as a ban on fracking state-wide) for the next several months. I even get to attend Everglades Action Day in the state capitol of Tallahassee!
The Conservancy offers several different internships, including Environmental Education, Wildlife Rehabilitation, Science, and Turtle Conservation. Also, they offer free housing and a small stipend. If you are looking for a long-term internship, I highly recommend this place.