Environmental Systems majors are put to work before they graduate—and some even get paid for it. Charged with participating in an internship, students spend two quarters gaining practical experience in their field and one quarter preparing and presenting their results.

Cristin Kenyon, Muir ’07, worked with Aquatic Adventures, which brings marine science into the classroom, and is now teaching with Teach for America in New York. Other students interned for Mission Playground, an eco-conscious clothing company run by UCSD alumni, and the nonprofit Tijuana Estuarine Research Reserve.

Randelle Bundy, Muir ’08, worked at Scripps Institution of Oceanography to evaluate iron concentrations in seawater using trace metal detection. She joined her lab last summer and cruised the San Diego coast to sample areas with high concentrations
of iron and sunlight, which limit the growth of phytoplankton. Back in the lab, Bundy determined the lifetimes of Iron-II in the water and how certain molecules affect it.

“I think the internship was the most beneficial part of the program for me, and it has prepared me for graduate school,” says Bundy. “I will be attending Scripps next year to be in their Ph.D. program.”