Hello! My name is Patrick Brien and I am happy to be Ipswich River Watershed Association’s newest intern, who will be helping out with anything and everything the organization and my co-workers need help with! I am from Bridgewater, Massachusetts and a current senior at Endicott College, majoring in environmental science with an additional minor in biology and biotechnology, with a specific interest in urban ecology and climate science. My internship at Ipswich will run the entire fall semester, all the way through part of December, which means I will be here for a lot of interesting and significant events.
I’ve always loved science in general and have been fascinated by the natural world for as long as I can remember. Since I was young I’ve been especially interested in astronomy and learning as much as I could about the planets in our solar system, in addition to Earth’s specific environment. After deciding to study environmental science in college, my interests have shifted mostly toward climate change and its effects on the world, both far-reaching and closer to home, and what exactly can be done about it on these different scales.
As such, I am very excited to be interning at IRWA, to work with like-minded people who also want to preserve this beautiful area and help make it cleaner, greener, and more accessible for generations to come. Protecting this watershed is extremely important, especially when it is already so threatened, and so I am thrilled to be with an organization doing such important and necessary work, while also providing so much for the region. I hope that what I do here will be beneficial for helping the community and the watershed itself, and I’m very excited to see what lies ahead! Thank you to the IRWA for taking me on, and I look forward to helping represent this great organization!