Maine Government Student Internship Experiences
“I am proud of the work I did this summer and I am excited to put this experience on my resume! I am also happy with he many connections I made.”
“During this internship I grew a lot more confident in who I was as a person in the workplace. We made a difference for the people of Maine”
“The best thing about my summer internship was being able to work with such a supportive team.”
My name is Isabel and I am from Southport, Maine. I am a political science and international relations student at Northwestern University and I am working as a training content intern with the Maine Public Defender’s Office. This summer I have been editing recorded attorney training videos and creating smaller, more digestible content to upload onto a training database for attorneys to access. This aids in training more attorneys throughout the state so the number of unrepresented clients decreases from the approximately 800 at present.
In addition to content editing, I have been able to sit in on meetings with attorneys and even state-wide legal trainings. This internship has been extremely beneficial in giving me hands-on experience in the legal field and in state government, and I am 100% remote so my schedule is very flexible. Big thanks to the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center for this opportunity!
My name is Amelia and I am interning with the Maine Department of Transportation as a GIS Assistant for Vegetation Management.
A large part of my role as an intern is documenting the vegetation along the I-95 corridor in Maine as part of the DOT’s work to manage and support the native habitats our roadsides provide.
Before I go out in the field, I make sure I have all my protective gear, and tools for data collection. Then I drive to my first site, which is different every day.
A large portion of what I do is documenting beneficial flowers along our priority roadways. The DOT seeds these areas, and I am working to document which areas have been successful and which could be improved.
I am also documenting the invasive species present in each location, and their severity. These plants outcompete native vegetation and can take over diverse habitats, so documentation and management are critical.
As part of the DOT’s application to the Monarch CCAA, I am documenting information such as milkweed stems, pollinators, and the flower cover at each location. This information helps to determine the quality of each location as a monarch butterfly habitat.
Since I am on the road so often, I make lunch at home to take with me. Usually, I will find the nearest park so I can sit and look at the birds, and enjoy a new area while I eat.
By the afternoon I head back to the office. Here I enter data, upload and organize photos, and map out important areas that I surveyed. I have been using the Pollinator Habitat Scorecard created by the Rights of Way as Habitat Working Group to ‘score’ the locations I visit. These spaces are an opportunity for us to provide habitats, food, and other resources to pollinators, especially Monarch butterflies.
After I am finished, I head home for the day!