Student Internships
Most students in the Environmental Studies Program participate in one or more internships that are an integral part of their undergraduate studies. Typically students do internships in an area of interest.Pacific University Environmental Studies Program has connections with many organizations, including science laboratories, and environmental nonprofit organizations.We also have a diverse group of faculty associated with the program conducting research in a variety of disciplines, including science, social science, policy, and economics, which provide a variety of choices for student internships. Pacific Environmental Studies Program also has several work study positions in ecological restoration and domestic groundwater monitoring.
Examples of Student Internships
Micah Russell
Micah spent 3 months working at the Belize Marine TREC. This is an education and research center located in San Pedro, Belize, Central America. Micah worked with University groups that were interested in learning about coral reef ecology.
Ian Courter
Ian was in Queens land Australia. Ian is involved with a group of scientists from Murdock University looking at the effects of salinity on species distribution in coastal areas.
Lesa Nelson
Lesa worked for the Alaska Fish and Wildlife Department. Lesa spent the last 2 summers monitoring trout and salmon populations, tracking moose and banding ducks.
Janna Vavra & Michele Bernal
Jana and Michele worked at Pacific University with Dr. Deke Gundersen on a research project looking at the effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals on white sturgeon from the Columbia River. This research project was funded by the EPA for $350,000. Jana and Michele presented their results at the National meeting of the Society of Toxicology in Nashville, TN (see below).
Katie Marston
Katie worked on a project looking at mercury levels in paddlefish from the Ohio River Basin. She has found that farm raised paddlefish have significantly lower levels of mercury than those collected from the Ohio River.
Michele Bernal
Michele spent the summer working for Dr. Boll at the University of Idaho. Michele developed a digital land use map (see below) for the Paradise Creek watershed using ArcView GIS. Michele also was involved with stream monitoring.
Adam Dingeldein
Adam worked in the delivery of a pilot environmental education program sponsored by the City of Boise, ID and The University of Idaho Urban Design Institute. Adam worked with high school youths who conducted a survey of the people of Boise on carpooling and alternative transportation.
Jeff Hemrich
Jeff looked at the feasibility of using photovoltaic systems to generate electricity in Pacific Northwest Homes. Data collected from a 1 kilowatt solar array on a residential home in Oregon was used to determine if this system would be feasible to use for generation of electricity for the home.
Crispin Wong and Megan Plumlee
Crispin and Megan are looked at mercury accumulation in Columbia River white sturgeon tissues. They investigated both human health effects and reproductive effects. Megan and Crispin presented their work at the National meeting of The Society of Toxicology in Salt Lake City.
Prabu Segaran
Prabu looked at the effectiveness of remediation of sagebrush-steppe habitat along a transmission line corridor in Yakima Washington.
Katri Laukkanen
Katri worked at the EPA office in Newport Oregon, looking at the density of burrowing ghost shrimp and oxygen availability in benthic habitats.
Vicki Cox
Vicki spent the winter III semester in Costa Rica studying animal abundance in Bromeliads.
Amanda Rhodes and Xander Reeder
Amanda and Xander are currently working at the B-Street Permaculture Farm. They are looking at ways to improve soil nutrients, and they are experimenting with different plant varieties.