As our largest ever class of summer interns begins their departure back to school for the fall semester, we thought we would share some of their work to help save the river. This year, we hosted 7 incredibly talented aspiring professionals looking to gain real-world experience. Thanks to your support and some special funders such as the Forest Foundation, Mass Clean Energy Center and Station One who supported these internships, the river is better off than it was before this summer. Somi Ahed is a recent graduate of CUNY Hunter College in New York and worked on various Riverwatch data sets including a coldwater fish habitat assessment in Howlett Brook. Her partner on the project, Mirabai Deve, is a graduate student at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Theo Van Allen, a junior from the Waring School, worked to remove invasive buckthorn from several acres at Riverbend and helped out on several other projects. Says Noah Robb, a junior at Bowdoin College: “Working at IRWA this summer, I was able to understand what it takes to monitor, analyze, and be an advocate for the river. My knowledge of river hydrology and data analytics vastly grew working out in the field with the UNH microplastic study and back at Riverbend picking apart USGS flow data. Above all, I realized even though the staff here work extremely hard to protect this river, the safety of the Ipswich relies heavily on the overwhelming dedication of the IRWA community.” Sarah Dawson, who comes to us from Tufts shares: “This internship taught me so much about water quality and how extensive the impact of the river’s health is on local ecosystems. The interconnectedness of water quality, aquatic health, and biodiversity underlines just how important it is to protect the Ipswich River. I’m thankful to have gotten the opportunity to work with IRWA and do my part in helping the river.” Henry Mullholland from Brandeis University says: “My time at the IRWA has shown an insight into not just the work that I could be doing with my major, but also the inner workings of nonprofits. IRWA allowed me to explore avenues such as gift entry and website development that not only gave me real experience but also allowed me to utilize and develop some of my other skills.” Finally, Katie Bernard who is entering her sophomore year at Colby College shares: “I have had an amazing summer interning for IRWA and have been lucky to work with so many visiting youth groups. The most rewarding part of my summer has been watching kids transition from hesitant and nervous on the dock to confident and excited once they are in kayaks on the water. I have also learned so much from my film project “Who Owns Water” by interviewing all sorts of river stakeholders.” On behalf of the entire river community, we thank you for your hard work and dedication to protecting our River!
