For a number of years, the Missouri Botanical Garden has partnered with Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience to provide internship placements for members of the senior class. Collegiate is a magnet school within St. Louis Public Schools that focuses on the medical sciences. The school helps to facilitate the placement of seniors as interns at institutions around St. Louis to provide them with hands-on experience in the field.
EarthWays Center was excited to join in the partnership this spring! Our intern, Jania Moore, has a special interest in the connection between sustainability, health, and environmental injustice. Hear more about what she has been working on and her interest in sustainability.
"My name is Jania Moore. I’m 18 years old, and I am a senior at Collegiate. Just a little bit about myself, I enjoy playing the violin, practicing meditation, and hanging out with my best friends. After high school, I plan on attending the HBCU Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans. I will major in Neuroscience on the pre-med track with a minor in African Diaspora studies. I am super grateful that I was placed with Missouri Botanical Garden and the EarthWays Center for a virtual internship my senior year. My experience has been filled with trying and learning new things. Before joining the team, I thought I knew a pretty good deal of information regarding how to take care of the environment. The simple things like recycling and water conservation, when in turn I really only understood the tip of the iceberg. EarthWays has opened my eyes to how I could navigate my life with more sustainable living.
Since being a part of the team I have been assisting in those pertinent initiatives to not only help the environment but also educate the public. I have co-lead a reduce, reuse, and recycle class for kindergarteners which was very enjoyable. With this, I was invited to help participate in the Mississippi River Plastic Pollution Initiative and Innovation Challenge. The purpose of this project is to pick up trash near the river and collect useful data with the debris app to catch trends in our findings. Participating in these acts was both really interesting, however, my favorite part of the internship thus far has been exploring the topic of environmental justice within the city of St. Louis. I have always been an advocate for social justice so I was automatically drawn to the topic of discussion. I have attended meetings and read some material that has enlightened me. Thanks to the resources that have been provided to me by EarthWays I know this is a topic that I would love to pursue more in the future. I am sincerely grateful for this opportunity and all I have learned."
The Garden offers unpaid internships designed for individuals to obtain academic credit or credentials to fulfill requirements of an apprenticeship or to experience professional development, perhaps in an area new to their career. Unpaid interns receive free admission to the Garden, as well as discounts at our retail shops and Sassafras Cafe during the internship period. Learn more!