The environmental science major culminates with two required internships, which allow students to gain practical experiences in areas of personal interest and provide skills helpful in future careers. At the end of their internships, students write summaries of their experiences and provide final projects based on new information they learned during their internships.
The students must complete their two internships in different areas of environmental sciences, which allow assessment of the student’s abilities to integrate their coursework to real-world situations and to demonstrate detailed knowledge in two different areas. The internship summaries and projects are used to assess students’ writing abilities. Students accepted internship positions with the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge, Tifft Nature Preserve and La Buena Vida Farm (in Hawaii).
Initial internship projects demonstrated that students needed additional instruction in citations and in integrating material from different sources. After incorporating these skills in two required courses, the students’ writing skills improved, based on their internship summaries and projects. The environmental science program is proud of how the internships are providing capstone experiences both for students and for the assessment of student learning.
Submitted by: Sara Morris, PhD, associate vice president, academic affairs
