Connor Coleman '05

Hometown: Cleveland, Ohio
Internship: LandTrust for Central North Carolina, Salisbury, N.C.

"I started looking for internships in wildlife biology from Washington State to Colorado to Hawaii, and nothing really panned out. So I accepted an internship in Ohio that allowed me to write a grant to protect a 30-acre piece of property. Another intern and I wrote the proposal for $328,000 and actually got the grant. That was my lead into land conservation.

During my senior year I interned with the LandTrust for Central North Carolina where we wrote and received a grant that funded my position as stewardship and land conservation coordinator. The LandTrust either owns or has conservation easements on 85 properties — 11,000 acres — which are supposed to be monitored at least once a year. I was able to monitor 84 of the 85 properties in the half year that I worked. It was such an improvement over what had been done in the past that the LandTrust kept me on board.

The internship opened my eyes and helped me discover a love and a passion for something I never knew I had. If you had asked me this time last year, I would have told you I wanted to go to graduate school at N.C. State University and study wildlife biology. Now, I'm looking into the master's program in environmental management at Duke University. I want to protect the land which, in turn, protects the wildlife.

I strongly recommend an internship to students. You can read the books and do well in your classes, but the people who get hired and get into graduate school are the ones with hands-on, real-world experience."

Hometown: Simpsonville, S.C.
Internship: Southwest Florida Water Management District, Brooksville, Fla.

"I went out every day with the professionals to do wetland assessments. I learned surveying techniques and about GIS (Global Information Systems) and GPS (Global Positioning Systems). It helped to clarify for me that I want to work in the field. That was the best part of my day. The internship also opened my eyes to opportunities that are available for graduates with an environmental science degree. I think completing an internship should be a requirement for graduation."

Hometown: Hartstown, Pa.
Internship: Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, National Heritage Program

"My internship doing National Heritage Program work with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy involved working with rare and endangered species and indirectly with invasive species. We went to areas where there were past records of endangered species and verified that they still existed.

The work with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy involved a study of the flora of the nine glacial lakes in northwest Pennsylvania with emphasis on rare species as well as invasive alien species. We identified plants that occurred in the wetlands around the glacial lakes and went out in canoes with grappling hooks to determine the abundance and distribution of plant species that exist in the glacial lakes.

The experience was very valuable. It helped me verify the direction I want to go for a career. After gradation I want to find a position in the South dealing with botany, and then I want to go to graduate school to get my master's degree in botany."

Hometown: Mocksville, N.C.
Internship: Campus Greening, Catawba College

"Those of us in the Campus Greening Initiative wanted to encourage campus-wide environmental stewardship, and I focused specifically on composting because it's really an important aspect of that. The college can save thousands of dollars a year by composting food waste instead of sending it to the landfill.

I learned how to work with people from different areas of the campus, from facilities management and administration to those in charge of the dining hall. I also talked to experts on composting and learned how beneficial it is. I gained more respect for it as an environmental tool. I also learned about the grant-writing process, about policies and restrictions and environmental standards.

It was a real lesson in interpersonal relationships and how to get things done. People are willing to do things for you, but you've got to get out there and make the contacts. At first I didn't want to call people I didn't know. Now it's so much easier for me. That's something you can't get from a book."

Hometown: Lakeland, Fla.
Internship: LandTrust for Central North Carolina, Salisbury, N.C.

"My internship gave me an appreciation for land conservation and its interconnectedness with environmental issues. It also brought to my attention just how much non-profits rely on donors and supporters. I received experience writing to companies for donations and to property owners about the possibility of putting their land under a conservation easement. I also did field work monitoring the sites and obtained experience working with GIS (Global Information Systems).

It was very valuable. I think the best education is hands-on experience, whether you're doing it in the field of study you hope to pursue or in another field to get awareness and to learn about what is out there. The internship was really helpful and a lot of fun."

Hometown: Winston-Salem, N.C.
Internship: Air Quality Initiative, Salisbury, N.C.

"Initially I gathered information about air quality initiatives in cities across the nation and gave presentations on air quality issues. It was very beneficial. It helped me understand how to build relationships with community leaders and to communicate with people to help them see why an issue is important. It was amazing to me that I was able to meet so many people from the governor of North Carolina to bank presidents and city leaders.

I was in on the initial talks about CityGreen technology that's used in ecosystems analysis, and now I'm working with the program as a member of the Salisbury Planning and Land Management Department's GIS (Global Information Systems) Division. It's cool to see something that the city has talked about for two years come to fruition.

My first internship was with the N.C. Zoo. The more internships and experiences you can get, the more beneficial it is to you in your college career and in helping you find out what you want to do when you graduate.

Experience. Experience. Experience. That's what it's all about, especially when you get out into the real world."