Undergraduate student Anna E. Davenport has received a prestigious internship with the US Geological Survey’s Western Coastal and Marine Geology Team. She’s a student with many talents, so let her speak for herself:
I’m a fourth year Geography (BA) major, French minor graduating in June. I’ve been taking the 176 GIS series A- C this year and have really enjoyed it. I’m especially interested in human- environmental interactions, and hope to focus on that in graduate school. I studied abroad for all of last year at the University of Sussex in England. I chose Sussex because I had heard that, in general, Geography is much more standard in England, more people take it, and there is more of a focus on it in schools. I had also heard that Sussex had a good program. It was interesting to take Geography classes there and compare them to ones I have taken here. Sussex tended to focus much more on the Human side of geography rather than Physical, although they did have some Physical classes. I took Historical Geography, Cultural Geographies and Environmental Management, and Sustainable Development. I really enjoyed my time abroad, and I got to travel tons all over Europe!
I’m taking a year off before graduate school to gain some experience and better narrow down what I want to focus on. This summer, I have an internship with USGS in partnership with UC Santa Cruz. I will be working for their Coastal and Marine Geology office in Santa Cruz, where I’m also from. I’ve been hired as a GIS specialist developing maps for the California State Waters Mapping Program under Sam Johnson and Guy Cochrane. I’m really excited to get to use all of my GIS skills I’ve learned this year in a job environment, right out of college! The internship is 12 weeks long, paid, and includes going up to the main USGS headquarters in Menlo Park some days a week to do work there. I would not have gotten this internship if it weren’t for the amazing letter of recommendation my TA, Indy Hurt, wrote for me. I owe it all to her! After my internship I’m planning on coming back to Santa Barbara in the Fall to work and apply for graduate school.
Editor’s Note: Samuel Y. Johnson is the Western Coastal and Marine Geology Team Chief Scientist. “The WCMG Team of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) studies the Pacific coast of the Western United States. Team scientists conduct marine research, monitor ocean processes, and provide information about geologic hazards, environmental conditions, habitats, and energy and mineral resources. USGS activities help managers at all levels of government and in the private sector make informed decisions about the use and protection of national coastal and marine resources” http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2004/3075/. Guy Cochrane is a USGS geophysicist in charge of the California Coast State Waters Mapping Project which “allows scientists for the first time to see highly detailed, three-dimensional images of the seafloor off California’s coast. New data illustrates the rugged seafloor conditions surrounding Mavericks more clearly and helps better explain ocean ecosystems and underwater activities like large waves and earthquakes” (see http://www.coastalconservancy.ca.gov/Programs/SeaFloorMapping/PressRelease.pdf).
