Lloyd Center Intern Alan Austin talks of his Internship at the Lloyd Center
Ever since I first visited the Lloyd Center last February I knew that I wanted to be a part of it. Throughout my internship, I have been afforded the opportunity to help with the Visitor Center, the research department and the education department.
My favorite part would have to be the teaching. With the Lloyd Center programs, you can teach just about every age group ranging from kindergarten all the way to high school. This helped me not only realize how much I enjoyed teaching, but it also gave me a chance to see which age group I worked best with.
Outside of teaching, I was also given multiple opportunities to have conversations with visitors coming in the Center which varied from a short “hello” to discussions about the Lloyd Center’s story and its biodiversity.
The research mostly dealt with insects and insect collections and although education was my favorite department, I found the research rewarding as it helped me better understand all of the different factors which go into the research field. While doing tasks such as observing dragonfly species and documenting, it also felt good to be a part of a larger project that could potentially help these organisms.
If you are an undergraduate student or recent graduate interested in doing hands-on work while getting a better understanding about environmental organizations, then I would highly recommend the Lloyd Center for an internship!