Summer at the Urban Ecology Center is a time where community engagement is at its peak. From Land Stewardship, Community Programs to children’s summer camps, the Urban Ecology Center grows tremendously. To keep up with the increase in activity summer brings, interns are recruited to help fill in the gaps. With 26 total interns hired this summer to fill an assortment of positions, they bring a fresh perspective to the team and gain valuable experience to help propel them into future careers.

As the summer picks up speed, the Urban Ecology Center is bursting with energy and amazing interns. They have come to share their skills, further fulfill their career ambitions, and connect their communities to nature despite the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the UEC had a total of 17 interns. Five are land steward interns, 11 are summer camp interns, and 1 is a science communication intern. Altogether, the interns helped summer campers reconnect to nature and keep the organization’s mission to help the community.

I want to tell you about an amazing employment opportunity that the Urban Ecology Center has for high school students. But first, let’s do an icebreaker.

What was your first job? For me, it was babysitting. I worked with many different families, which meant different expectations from employers.Some families paid fairly, others did not. There were well behaved children and those who saw a parent date night as an opportunity to cast off all the tyrannical rules set in place for them.