Jamie Bugel ’13

 
Major(s):Biology
Internship Site: The Public Trust Project - Washington, DC

The Internship:  
I obtained my internship by sending out letters to people in the conservation field. I was lucky enough to know someone in animal conservation and she sent me a few names and emails of people who worked with ocean conservation. I made a cover letter and resume that clearly stated my goals for what I wanted to accomplish this summer.  As I sent out more and more cover letters and made cold calls to people in order to find out more about the field, I eventually spoke with people who starting sending my letter to others. Eventually, the director the Public Trust Project emailed me, after getting my letter from one of the conservationists that I initially contacted, and told me she was looking for an intern.   

My main project this summer was to do a daily news round up on aquatic happenings around the world. I would then use Twitter to get the articles out to the Public Trust Project followers.  My favorite project was working with the social networking because I haven't done anything like that before and it was really interesting to see what people look at by how you present the information and what types of information are popular at the time.


The Challenges:   
What was most challenging for me was putting myself out there and networking.  I have realized that this is the most important thing in gaining employment and have started to learn how to enjoy it by doing things such as practicing what I want others to know about my current job and further aspirations and learning what types of questions to ask successful people. I also found it difficult to leave my comfort zone and work a 9-5 job at a computer.  I have only ever worked at a pool or in an academic environment like a lab so this was a new type of work experience for me. I eventually learned to get used to this by taking strategic breaks throughout the day and really taking advantage of the free time that I had.


The Preparation:  
The classes that most prepared me for this internship were those that I took abroad. In the SFS program in Turks and Caicos I was able to learn first-hand about the ecosystem and economics behind fishing. I participated in a project where I was on the docks with the fishermen and saw how a good or bad day could affect the outcome of a family’s livelihood.  I also learned what types of policy affect fishermen. From a conservation standpoint, having the government outlaw fishing in parks allow more fish to breed, however from an economic standpoint this would make that fishery collapse.  It is hard to strike a balance and it was good that I had a background in that before I started working to lower catch limits for menhaden.


Tips from Jamie:
Speak with family and friends about what you may or may not want to do. Coming from college, you haven't been out in the working world yet and aren't as familiar or know of as many opportunities in any field as people that have been out working.  I would also say that the most important thing is to ask questions of people and be open to any opportunity given to you. 


*To find out more about how to get an internship, make an appointment with a career counselor. Just call the Career Center at 717-245-1740 or stop by Biddle House.