Meet the 2009 Interns!

Alaska Center for the Environment—Sara Rafalson
Sara grew up primarily on Chicago’s South Side, but has spent the last five years living in Charlotte, North Carolina. She just finished her sophomore year at the University of North Carolina, where she is pursuing her undergraduate degree in International Studies and Sustainability. She enjoys caffeinated beverages, water polo, Cubs baseball, reading, and Carolina blue sky days. Sara has been very lucky to have the opportunity in the past year to work as a green events specialist at UNC’s Office of Waste Reduction and Recycling and is often seen lugging compost bins around the town of Chapel Hill.  She enjoys speaking about environmental issues and educating whoever will listen. Sara is particularly passionate about climate change and hopes to one day attend graduate school to study environmental policy. She is so excited and humbled to have the incredible opportunity to explore an entirely new location this summer, work on an issue she feels particularly strongly about, and meet great people in the process.

Alaska Coal Working Group – Marty Schnure. 
Marty is a member of the class of 2010 at Middlebury College in Vermont, where she studies geography with tendencies toward ecology and public health. She spent this past spring semester studying public and community health in Tanzania and Vietnam, looking specifically at where health and the environment intersect. She has a background working with 1Sky and Appalachian Voices on fighting mountaintop removal coal mining, and is excited to work on Alaska coal issues with ACWG this summer. As Alaska faces growing pressure to invest in its coal reserves, it is increasingly important to spread awareness about the ecological and environmental health impacts of coal mining and combustion, and to direct public and legislative attention toward Alaska's world-class renewable energy potential. Marty is looking forward to working with ACWG's coalition members and the public to ensure a healthy and sustainable future for Alaskans. She can often be found hiking, biking, cooking, and looking for places to swim.

Alaska Community Action on Toxics – Samarys Seguinot-Medina.
Samarys is an environmental health doctoral student at the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Puerto Rico.  Having been raised in the countryside, living on a tropical Island, and being Latina, Samarys decided to dedicate her academic and professional career to science and environmental education, nature appreciation and protection, and research and environmental activism in Puerto Rico and the US.   She is Co-founder of the Sierra Club--Puerto Rico Chapter and an advocate in the environmental and social justice movement.  Samarys has also worked with solid waste issues, recycling, urban sprawl, and climate change initiatives. While attending a Sierra Student Coalition Summit in Washington, DC, Samarys met a group of students from several indigenous communities of the US (Navajo, Hopi, and Gwich’in) and was amazed by their culture, traditions, wisdom, and the holistic, respectful and profound way they see Mother Earth--especially the Alaska Natives. Since then she has been dreaming about having the real Alaska experience!  She hopes to learn more about Alaska Natives, their environmental issues, community education, and public policy processes. Samarys loves tasting new food, contemplating nature, writing poetry, photography, hiking, laughing, and doing batik.

Alaska Conservation Alliance - Laura Silverman
Laura currently attends Eugene Lang College in New York City and lives in Brooklyn. She is pursuing an Environmental Studies major with a focus on environmental justice and the food system. She is interested in integrating her interest in critical theory and social justice with politics of sustainability and conservation. Laura is excited to work with ACA, and to see how these intersections operate in Alaskan environmental politics. She enjoys cycling, cooking pasta sauce without spaghetti, reading, and urban gardening.

Alaska Marine Conservation Council – Julia Beatty. 
Julia is a native of Cape Cod, Massachusetts and has always had a great love of the oceans. She is a recent graduate of Smith College with a major in biology and a minor in marine science and policy. Although her school was landlocked, she completed the Oceans and Climate Semester with the Sea Education Association during her junior year of undergrad and sailed a tall ship from Mexico all the way to Tahiti. After that she spent a semester in Madagascar studying ecology and conservation and developing an interest in traditional fishing practices. She is incredibly excited about making Alaska her next big adventure and working with the Alaska Marine Conservation Council, where she hopes to continue learning about the challenges of marine conservation.

Alaska Youth for Environmental Action - Sam Hoeffler. 
An Ohio native, Sam just graduated from Kenyon College with a degree in International Studies. She has spent a summer working on an organic farm, a semester studying women’s public health in Mali, and a summer leading wilderness trips in Virginia. In the past year she’s hopped around, exploring France, Ecuador, and Mexico. She enjoys backpacking, running, yoga, reading, broccoli (delicious!), laughing, and ice cream. This summer, she will be working for AYEA, Alaska Youth for Environmental Action. The goal of her internship will be to facilitate education and action regarding local environmental issues. She hopes to discover the intricacies involved in grassroots organizing, as well as to gain a deeper understanding of the state of the Alaskan environment. After spending this summer in Anchorage, she plans to teach English in southern France.  Perhaps someday she will pursue a joint graduate degree in law and public health. Among some of her more whimsical aspirations are to learn to Salsa, take a trip around the world, and romance all the romance languages.

Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies – Jessica Pollock
Jessica spent much of her childhood in southwest Florida, where she helped to build the Naples aquarium. There she researched and created interpretive exhibits, led programs for all ages, and participated in animal collection, release, and care. Jessica completed her undergraduate studies at Johnson State College in Vermont, graduating with a BS in environmental science, natural resources. She was a student volunteer in New Zealand where she worked closely with the Maori and conducted environmental service projects. After graduating, Jessica returned to her hometown as an intern at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida in environmental policy. There she researched the effects of fertilizer on estuaries and drafted an ordinance for environmentally safe and effective fertilizer application that was passed into law in the city of Naples in 2008.  This spring she completed an internship as a naturalist for San Mateo Outdoor Education in La Honda, California where she taught California state science standards to fifth and sixth graders in the coast redwood ecosystems. This summer Jessica is looking forward to fantastic tidepooling opportunities as well as becoming a more polished naturalist.  She loves the beach and enjoys kayaking, cooking, rock collecting, tree climbing, soccer, and traveling.

Discovery Southeast – Nicole Hampsten
Raised in Los Angeles, Nicole’s passion and love for the outdoors was fostered at an early age on family adventures to the wild places outside the city walls. Recently, Nicole earned a BS in recreation and tourism management from California State University, Northridge (CSUN), where she focused her studies on a broad spectrum of interests, including human impacts on the environment, outdoor adventure recreation, youth, and nonprofits. While at CSUN, Nicole spent time in Belize studying ecotourism and served as a teaching assistant for caving, rock climbing, survival, and winter mountaineering courses. Also, between being a full-time student and teaching earth science to special education students, Nicole has backpacked Half Dome, the Grand Canyon, and Mt. Whitney. When not at school, Nicole enjoys baking, reading, running, backpacking, snowboarding, traveling, volunteering, and being overwhelmed by the endless beauty of the natural world. Nicole is thrilled to be coming to Alaska for the first time this summer to experience the vast wonderland of wild beauty that she has heard so much about. She is eager to share her love for the environment, inspiring the next generation to be stewards of the planet, as an intern for Discovery Southeast.

Great Land Trust – Katherine Teale. 
Katherine is a master's student in sustainable development and conservation biology at the University of Maryland, College Park. She graduated with a degree in environmental science from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse and is a native of upstate New York. Katherine is primarily interested in land conservation as a means of preserving ecological health and biodiversity, and is looking forward to gaining hands-on land conservation experience with the Great Land Trust. Alaska has always held a certain allure for Katherine, and she is very excited to take advantage of the opportunities for outdoor recreation in Southcentral Alaska this summer.

Juneau Watershed Partnership – Lia Mastropolo
Lia is in her first year of grad school at the University of Pennsylvania, where she's studying landscape architecture and environmental planning. She graduated in 2005 from the University of Connecticut with a degree in English, and worked for The Nature Conservancy for a short time, managing volunteers and assisting project scientists with office and field work. Lia is thrilled to be coming to Juneau for the summer, and hopes her work with the Juneau Watershed Partnership will further her understanding of the science and politics of watershed management.

Northern Alaska Environmental Center – Jenna Hertz
Jenna Hertz is a Michigan native and a rising senior at Kalamazoo College.  A student of history and political science, she hopes to pursue a career in environmental justice.  Jenna spent her junior year abroad as a student at the International Sustainable Development Studies Institute in Thailand.  While in Southeast Asia, she taught art as a form of activism to Burmese Refugees, lived with Karen villagers, ate a ton of delicious food, and interned with EarthRights International.  In the states she is involved with campus environmental and social justice organizations and her local watershed network.  Jenna is hard at work on her senior thesis on Alaska as a frontier from the lens of American environmental history.  She works recycling and plays ultimate Frisbee.  In her free time she enjoys sauntering, windsurfing, cooking local food, and doing anything outdoors.  Jenna is very excited to pursue her passion for conservation and environmental justice with the Northern Alaska Environmental Center this summer.

Renewable Energy Alaska Project – Nora Gecan
Nora grew up in New Jersey and found her way back to her birthplace, NYC, when she graduated high school. She has just completed her second year at the New School. She double majors in graphic design and environmental studies, and hopes that she can find a way to work in both these fields when she graduates, because she loves them both. She’s looking forward to becoming savvy to the Alaska conservation scene and hopes that her internship at the Renewable Energy Alaska Project will give her fluency in the topic of renewable energy. She couldn’t be more excited to be working on these issues at such a critical time in history. She is also looking forward to getting outdoors, enjoying the natural environment, and gaining a sense of perspective after three years of living in New York City.

Sitka Conservation Society – Lexi Fish
Lexi returns to her Baranof Island roots to work for the Sitka Conservation Society. Growing up in Port Alexander and Sitka, Alaska, she learned the importance of taking care of the land that provides everything for us. Lexi graduated with honors from Willamette University, double majoring in Spanish and international studies, with an emphasis on human rights. Lexi spent significant time in Latin America and Spain, which inspired her to pursue environmental work in order to create more equal and healthy societies for everyone. Since graduating in 2007, Lexi has worked for the Washington Environmental Council, Washington Student Public Interest Research Group, and directed Seattle’s Community Voters Project leading up to the 2008 election. Outside of work, Lexi lives for outdoor adventures, and loves yoga, hiking, traveling, farmers' markets, Spanish, and spending time with friends and family.

Southeast Alaska Conservation Council – April Christensen
April grew up on a farm in south central Nebraska where she developed a love for the outdoors.  She is a sophomore at Hastings College in Hastings, Nebraska where she pursues a double major in piano performance and biology.  As vice president of the Student Environmental Action Coalition (SEAC) on campus, she has helped raise awareness for environmental issues by coordinating many different events throughout the year.  Between brushing up on her Rachmaninoff Etude and studying for her next botany test, April does find some time to pursue her many hobbies.  She enjoys reading, knitting, bicycling, fishing, traveling, and spending time with her family.  Her recent trip through southern Germany showed her how much we take for granted the beautiful areas present in the United States.  She is excited to intern with the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council as it will allow her to experience conservation issues firsthand by helping to preserve the Tongass.  She is looking forward to this adventure and can’t wait to experience Alaska!

Takshanuk Watershed Council – Tyler Stuart
Tyler grew up in Manitou Springs, Colorado. At the age of 7, he developed an obsessive love for the outdoors, particularly the mountains, where he spent a great deal of the next 11 years.  Before leaving Colorado, Tyler earned his Eagle Scout award after several years of hard work.  His incredible obsession with nature has persisted through four years at Occidental College in Los Angeles, where he recently graduated as a biology major. At Occidental, Tyler researched for 2 years in the Braker Lab, studying blackbird populations, hummingbird nesting, and tropical plants.  He loves spending time exploring the Sierras and the California deserts. Naturally, the mountains of Alaska were the initial draw for Tyler.  When he found out he could help protect the rivers and their inhabitants in the Haines area, he was sold.  When he isn’t losing himself in the backcountry, he enjoys playing the guitar, trombone, and melodica.  He is also a huge fan of the Colorado Rockies, Colorado Avalanche, and Denver Nuggets.

Yakutat Salmon Board – Nicole Jones
Nicole is completing her senior year at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington and is pursuing a degree in environmental studies planning/policy track.  During her studies, she has put an emphasis on community involvement and social capital with regards to community planning.  While Nicole has lived in Washington all of her life, she has traveled to Alaska and fell in love with the scenery and openness.  Working with the Yakutat Salmon Board will provide an awesome experience for learning about the community approach to the environmental issues that face Yakutat, specifically with the fishing industry.  In her free time Nicole enjoys kayaking, hiking, quilting, and spending time with friends and family.  She’s also committed to her community and has been participating in Big Brother Big Sister program for two years.  Nicole is excited about this opportunity to learn about Alaska and give back to a new community.

Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council – Alanna Purdy
Alanna Purdy is a recent graduate from Dartmouth College with a degree in Native American studies and biology. In college, she served as a Women in Science Project mentor, danced with the Native Women’s Dance Society, enjoyed being an active participant in Native Americans at Dartmouth, and explored the nexis of state and federal environmental policy, tribal authority and natural resource management, and metal accumulation in subsistence resources through a collaborative project with a New England tribe. Currently, Alanna is looking forward to supporting the interdisciplinary and collaborative mission of the Yukon Watershed Council, as well as gaining a better understanding of the unique conservation and resource utilization issues that exist for Alaska Natives during her internship experience. Alanna is most interested in creating a more critical awareness of how non-Natives perceive their environment, the importance of land-based cultures, and the recognition of Native sovereignty in the United States, and in encouraging mutually beneficial, collaborative efforts that place an emphasis on local policy and control as well as access to decision-making forums with regard to natural resource management.