A Summer of Growth
by Brooke Knapick, Director of Educational Program Development

This summer, 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 they need 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.

Francesca Jacobs (Washington College) used Procreate and Photoshop, two drawing and editing software applications, to adapt The Wetlands Institute’s Secrets of the Salt Marsh video to print format using digital media to create a series of four one-of-a-kind, hand-drawn posters. Each high-quality vinyl poster, measuring 36 inches high and 24 inches wide, highlights the key species seen in the salt marsh each season. Jackson Sullivan (Stockton University) utilized Canva, an online graphic design tool used to create engaging visual content, to develop two sets of trivia flip cards, each containing the answers to eight questions related to horseshoe crabs and filter feeders. These trivia flip cards serve as a fun and interactive educational resource for visitors heading into Terrapin Station or the Secrets of the Salt Marsh Aquarium. Kayla Thanner (Eckerd College) strived to close a gap in Environmental Education by introducing young adults to the animals and plants of the salt marsh through the creation of a Young Naturalist’s Guide to the Salt Marsh and Back Bays, available as part of the Virtual Wetlands Experience on The Wetlands Institute’s website. This e-book includes both pictures for identification, as well as words for learning and understanding, and in doing so is meant to allow readers of different attention spans to gain information how they would like.

2022 EE Interns, L to R: Francesca Jacobs, Jackson Sullivan, Kayla Thanner