Education Programs >

Education Programs
Internship Programs

	Bird Banding. Photo by Eric Lind

"I don’t think I could have asked for a better introduction to the world of outdoor education and natural history", said Avril Merandy of Cold Spring, New York, after completing her Audubon internship. Since 1989, Constitution Marsh Sanctuary has been giving college students the opportunity to spend the summer working and learning about all aspects of operating a wildlife sanctuary and nature center.

Interns are quickly immersed in all of our activities and become a wildlife warden, environmental educator and a research scientist for three or six months. Perhaps the most important jobs interns are asked to take on is in the delivery of our education programs and assisting with our research projects. As these programs have evolved and grown dramatically over the years, intern involvement has become crucial. They also help with regular maintenance, staff the nature center, and care for our live animal exhibits. In addition, it has become customary for each intern to design and implement an original research or education based project during their tenure with us.

By the middle of the season, they are facilitating stream explorations for kids, leading canoe trips into the marsh, banding birds and identifying all sorts of plants and animals previously unknown to them. The objective is to augment what these students have learned in school and to hone their practical skills. This is a chance to apply their knowledge and to invent new ways to teach themselves. Ryan Crehan of Ridgefield, Connecticut explained that "by simply not telling me answers, but encouraging me to find them out for myself, I have continued to learn and discover each new place I go."

Many of our interns have used their experience as a stepping stone towards careers in the environmental field. They have gone on to become wildlife technicians, environmental educators, fishery specialists, assistant sanctuary managers and of course, graduate students. "Interning at the marsh gave me a hands-on experience and created new ideas and opportunities for me to consider in the future. I was also able to meet many different people that passed through the marsh from all different places," said Marakim Zablinis while reflecting on her recent internship.

We believe that the time and effort we expend on our internship program is well worth it. Interns help us through our busiest season and make valuable contributions to improving our nature center. We also benefit personally in the satisfaction we get from helping students begin their careers and reminding ourselves of things that inspired us to enter the environmental field in the first place. When we look at where our interns are now, we can’t help but think working at Constitution Marsh had something to do with it.