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From Creek to Career: Exploring the impacts of watershed education internships on career pathways
Immordino, Marisa Ann
Immordino, Marisa Ann
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Abstract
While publications in environmental education and career development through internships are vast, there is limited literature about the outcomes for undergraduate students who participate in non-research, environmental education-based programs as educators. This thesis explored the impacts of academic year, watershed education internship opportunities for undergraduate students and investigated how and the extent to which these experiences influenced the career pathways of participants. Data were collected via a survey administered to early career alumni (n=43) followed by semi-structured interviews with a subset of participants (n=20) from three internship programs. Results suggested that alumni commonly entered occupations related to their internship program discipline. Reported impacts emerged across academic, career, personal and skills-based themes. Through further exploration of career impacts, internships appeared to influence career pathways for 45% of alumni, as participants were able to link their career trajectories to their participation in the internship. Our findings support previous work in science outreach internships and provides valuable insights about benefits of participating in experiential education internships that can aid program sponsors and directors to recruit and support participants in similar internship programs in the future.
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2024-01-01