Experiential learning: Binghamton students among the state’s first Climate Corps interns

Like a lot of people, Nicholas Bronson was skeptical of state government and those who work within it. A three-month internship at the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP), however, has changed his mind.

"I had heard a lot of bad things about working in the government and how it is a waste of time, but I can't speak highly enough of everyone I met and worked with," said the rising Binghamton University senior, an environmental science major. "I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who values work-life balance and making a difference."

Nicholas Bronson, an environmental science major, in Buttermilk Falls State Park in Ithaca. Image Credit: Provided photo. Bronson, geography and environmental studies major Joshua Clinton, and history majors Liam Kelley and Nathan Lennard are all completing three-month paid internships with OPRHP as part of the inaugural SUNY Climate Corps program. Thirty-six SUNY students from eight campuses were selected for immersive experiences in research and policy at state agencies with environmental and sustainability missions, as well as SUNY System Administration.

The students have a long-standing interest in climate change and sustainability, part of a larger generational trend, they said. Abnormally hot summers and tumultuous weather have become familiar to many people during the past decade, after all.

"I definitely believe that sustainability is the only way to go. It's something that we should all prioritize because the fact of the matter is that we live on a finite planet, and our level of consumption isn't conducive to that," said Lennard '24, who will enter the sustainable communities master's program at Binghamton this fall.

Liam Kelley, a rising senior majoring in history and Asian and Asian American studies Image Credit: Provided photo. Kelley and Lennard are both interning with the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) under OPRHP on Peebles Island, located at the junction of the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers. During their time at the agency, the two are geolocating structures and archaeological sites throughout the state for the Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS).

"We've mapped everything from old 19th-century dilapidated barns and Erie Canal locks to sprawling Victorian mansions," said Kelley, a rising senior also majoring in Asian and Asian American Studies. "We've each been given over 5,000 sites to map. Our supervisor isn't expecting us to finish; it's our single, never-ending task."

Bronson is interning at the Energy Bureau in downtown Albany, where he focuses on solar energy. It's his first experience in an office setting, he acknowledged.

"I have learned the basics of how solar panels and arrays function, to all the different maintenance issues they can have," he said. "I have also learned all the steps that go into planning and constructing these solar arrays and how different state agencies work together to create these projects."

He came into the internship without a clear sense of his career trajectory. The experience left him open to possibilities in the solar energy sector, as well as other careers related to the environment, he said.

The internship confirmed Lennard's interest in using geographic information systems (GIS) professionally and educated him about government agencies and their work. Long term, he would like to become a planner, possibly working with local government, he said.

For Kelley, the experience has left him feeling more secure about his future. Many students - particularly those in the humanities - worry about job opportunities and financial security post-graduation, he acknowledged.

"This internship has opened my eyes to the value of government jobs and state jobs especially," he said. "If the state is still hiring by the time I finish grad school, I'll be applying, no doubt."

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