Paleontological Research Institute.
I met a representative of the Paleontological Research Institution at a career fair at Ithaca College. They were one of the only tables that had any position related to what i wanted to do as a career, or even related to the environment at all; I was thrilled! I was soon emailing with Robert Katz who was the Community Engagement Coordinator, and after going through an application process, I was officially titled the Climate Change Education Intern at PRI. I was assigned to Ingrid Zabel, the Climate Change Education Manager, since I was interested in climate change education. The application process was made enjoyable because it was focused not only on what skills I could bring to PRI, but what project I was interested on taking on, essentially creating my own projects. I decided on two separate projects with two different organizations within PRI: Making climate-related pamphlets for the Museum of the Earth and soft crocheted toys for children visiting the Cayuga Nature Center.
I worked with Ingrid for a little above a year (initially the internship was expected to last just the summer of 2023). I chose the topic of the carbon cycle for my pamphlet venture because it was something that I had taken to in one of my classes. I realized that no matter how many times I learnt about the carbon cycle in all of my environmental classes, there would always be so much more to discover because it is an all-encompassing and growing field with so many interconnected parts and delicate balances. The initial goal was to make a single pamphlet about the carbon cycle, but I soon realized how tough that as going to be without losing the complex beauty of the phenomenon. I was also humbled by the amount of time and work that went into each pamphlet, and each draft of each pamphlet. I completed one pamphlet in the time that I expected to be done with three.
Through this process, Ingrid and I would meet weekly where I would show her changes I'd made and she would give me feedback on how I cam imporve my work. Although definitely the most rewarding part of the process, it was also the toughest. As a perfectionist, I initially tried very hard to present Ingrid with only the parts of the project that I was confident in and not those I was unsure of. When I started to show Ingrid my more unfinished and unpolished parts, I found that I was able to be more thoughtful about the direction in which I wanted to take my work. By the last pamphlet, I felt very open to bring up my challenges and learnt the balance between seeking guidance and working to figure things out independently.
My pamphlets are displayed in the climate change exhibit at the Museum, but are also avaiable online as resources on this page of the Museum of the Earth website.
Outside of the core of the pamphlet work, the crochet toys were one of my favorite projects to have worked on. They are crocheted Amigurumi weather and ecology themed toys. Here is a picture of them being used at an event! The process included trial and error with patterns online, creating my own patterns, or doing a mix of both with some problem solving!
I am very proud of the work I accomplished during this internship and in the final evaluation Ingrid Zabel, wrote :
“Nandini applied strong communication and research skills to deliver well-crafted educational materials. She showed creativity, efficiency, and a positive attitude throughout her internship, making valuable contributions to our climate education projects.”
I will always be grateful for the kind words, the weekly meetings where I could feel myself get better at science communication, and learnign from Ingrid's knowledge and wisdom about the environment.