An internship is a great opportunity to experience the multidisciplinary nature of environmental problems, relate course material to these problems, and observe decision-making processes associated with their solution. For some students, an internship allows them to explore potential career choices. For others, it provides practical experience that they can take with them as they apply for environmentally-related jobs or pursue graduate work.
To participate in this internship, the student must be an Environmental Science major or Environmental Studies minor and must meet requirements described in the Academic Catalog. During the initial planning stage, the student should meet with the Program Director to discuss the appropriateness of including the internship in Environmental Science or Environmental Studies. In addition to having completed 75 semester hours, the student must have completed coursework in both their major and minor prior to preparing the internship proposal. The student should meet with the potential supervising faculty member with a preliminary proposal to ascertain the appropriateness of the proposal for internship credit and to solicit advice for developing the final proposal.
Some of the internship opportunities that students have taken advantage of include:
- Clark County Solid Waste Management District - developing a presentation on recycling and an Earth Day advertisement for recycling tires
- Water Quality Laboratory at Heidelberg College - evaluating water quality of streams in the Tiffin area
- Code Enforcement Office of Springfield - field checking land uses for the city of Springfield
- Hagen Center for Civic and Urban Engagement - water quality and macroinvertebrate sampling of Buck Creek as part of the Center's Core and Creek initiative
- Ohio Department of Natural Resources - organizing and entering information relevant to natural areas and preserves into a database
- Navistar International - evaluating plant water and air quality
- Clark Soil and Water Conservation District - preparing final proposal for the lower Mad River Watershed Protection Plan
- Tecumseh Land Trust - creating maps using a Geographic Information System to support applications for Conservation Easements