The Jones Beach Energy & Nature Center seeks proposals from currently enrolled students at Williams College for internship projects that address themes of climate change and coastal resilience in a public museum context.
The Jones Beach Energy & Nature Center offers exhibits, programming, and educational workshops that explore the complex interplay between humans, energy, and nature. Located on a barrier island shaped by both human and natural forces, the guiding themes of the Center are the Power of Nature and the Nature of Energy: How is energy present in nature, and how do we transform it into power for human use? What, in turn, is the impact of these energy networks on ecological systems?
The Center’s particular focus is on combating climate change through public education, and promoting coastal resilience. In January 2019, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that New York State, as an example to the rest of the nation and as a response to the mounting threats of climate change, will transition to 100 percent carbon-neutral energy sources by 2040. New York State legislators codified this initiative in July 2019 with the passage of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. The transition to renewable energy will require massive capital investments, infrastructural changes, and collaboration between policymakers and energy producers. But it will also require that all New Yorkers come to understand the relationship between the energy consumption that enables their lifestyles in the present, and the warming atmosphere that poses a challenge to their futures.
The Center invites proposals for internship projects that address the major themes of the Center, as well as a desire to work in a museum and nature center context. Interns will work with the Director and educational staff to define goals and outcomes, which may take the form of a temporary exhibit, video, interactive online exhibit, public program, or some combination of these. Projects may address, but are not limited to, the following topics:
- Being a plover steward (assisting with the DEC’s piping plover program on Jones Beach)
- Offering a series of educational programs for kids around a chosen theme
- Assisting with community science projects and community beach clean ups
- Graphic design/marketing
- Virtual programming
- Virtual exhibition on the history and future of the Long Island State Park system
Interested students should submit a resume with a project proposal of 500 – 1000 words to [email protected].
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