This year’s Luing Family Internship Program Environmental Education Interns spent 12 weeks leading public education programs and interacting with visitors of all ages, while braving the mud, bugs, salt water, and sun to create the best visitor experience possible. They worked hard and through it all developed the skills needed to continue their careers in the environmental education field. Each year, interns are asked to develop and implement an education project of their choosing that is personally and/or institutionally beneficial. The development of individual projects assists them in honing skill sets that are essential to creating fundamentally successful programs or initiatives within the field of environmental education.
Pictured left to right: Emily Cook, Paige Jarocki, Kaelin Drey, Gregory Maccarone
Intern Projects Overview
Emily Cook (Bucknell University) enhanced the Seashell Sunday program by introducing a new identification guide titled, Seashell Sunday: Common Beach Finds. Using Canva, a graphic design software platform, this booklet will be distributed at the end of the Seashell Sunday presentation and be available for download as part of the Virtual Wetlands Experience on The Wetlands Institute’s website.
Kaelin Drey (Stockton University) created Conservation Conversation, a two-part Science Feature series, focusing on two keystone species present in salt marsh ecosystems, the Northern Diamondback Terrapin and the Atlantic Horseshoe Crab. Created using Prezi, an interactive presentation software, Conservation Conversation aspires to influence visitors to create a positive impact on our ecosystems.
Paige Jarocki (University of Delaware) developed a new Creature Feature focusing on coastal nesting birds that will be the premiere Creature Feature on World of Wings Wednesday, a new conservation-themed programming day debuting in Summer 2025. The presentation will include an interactive PowerPoint Presentation, a variety of bird artifacts and live prey animals available in the Secrets of the Salt Marsh Aquarium at The Wetlands Institute.
Gregory Maccarone (Rowan University) created the overarching theme of World of Wings Wednesday. Seeing this idea from concept to reality, Greg developed the title and marketing for the program along with a specialty Salt Marsh Safari activity and eight alternating bird crafts to provide both education and enjoyment to visitors.