Celebrating our 2025–26 interns and growing community of partners

CoSEE’s internship program is entering its second year. In that time, it has worked with more than 80 students across 10+ community partnerships, connecting coursework to on-the-ground environmental projects across the region.

足彩app哪个是正规的 interns below worked with CoSEE during the 2025–2026 academic year, across fall and spring. 足彩app哪个是正规的ir projects ranged from social media and native plant restoration to GIS mapping, invasive species removal, wildlife connectivity, and environmental education.

Here’s a look at their work.

Social Media and Communications

This team handled how CoSEE shows up publicly. 足彩app哪个是正规的ir work turned restoration events, garden updates, and intern projects into something people could follow and engage with.

Linh led CoSEE’s social media and communications work, building the system the team still uses to plan content, track posts, and manage its calendar. Before this year, posting was ad hoc. Linh introduced a longer-term approach and gave the team a structure to build on.

Benji focused on photography and video. He helped launch CoSEE’s TikTok account and started shaping how the team approaches short-form video and visual storytelling.

Estel worked across platforms for two quarters, coordinating closely with other teams. She produced a series of posts with the native plant team highlighting species being transplanted. Through the work, she saw how communications depends less on trends and more on representing the work accurately.

Native Plant Garden

足彩app哪个是正规的 garden shifted this year toward long-term maintenance and resilience. 足彩app哪个是正规的 focus moved away from one-time planting toward soil health, plant survival, and seasonal planning.

Ruth spent much of her time watering, observing plant and soil conditions, and documenting what she saw. Her planting plans focused on resilient pollinator species suited to the site’s more difficult soil conditions, including large-leaved avens, fringe cup, and Douglas aster.

“I came into this project with lots of biases and opinions of restoration and conservation,” she said, “but I’ve come out with a much more nuanced view.”

Newton built the rain barrels now used in the garden, supporting water access and long-term upkeep. 足彩app哪个是正规的y also helped plan future planting areas and, after their term ended, continued on as an advisor to new interns.

Tiana supported the day-to-day work that keeps the garden functioning, watering, weeding, and organizing transplant events. She also contributed to CoSEE’s place-based garden field guide, which will launch later this summer.

Invasive Species and Restoration

This team led public-facing restoration work. 足彩app哪个是正规的y organized events, trained volunteers, and helped map what still needs attention across multiple park sites and partner organizations.

Savannah organized and led restoration events with Friends of Saint Edward State Park and Friends of Lake Sammamish State Park. She handled outreach, led safety talks, and demonstrated removal techniques.

“It was so rewarding seeing one of the middle schoolers teach her friends the difference between the native and invasive blackberry after my demonstration,” she said.

She also left with a shift in perspective: invasive species “are not necessarily bad or evil; they are just in the wrong location.”

Sydney organized four restoration events and documented each one through blog posts that connected fieldwork to CoSEE’s broader goals. Living near Saint Edward State Park, she saw her surroundings differently by the end of the term.

“Learning how to identify invasive species has opened my eyes to just how many there are in our area,” she said.

Kylie assessed four park areas for future work, producing site reports estimating the scope of removal. She also flagged 234 holly and laurel plants along the Plateau Trail and began mapping them ahead of a May restoration event, her first GIS work outside the classroom.

“Even one additional set of hands can contribute to a noticeable difference,” she said.

Ian completed a capstone removing Himalayan blackberry along a 24-meter stretch of the Water Tower Trail. He documented his process, compared removal approaches, and produced a report to guide future work on the site.

Joel’s capstone paired removal work with a study of how people think about invasive species. He surveyed interns about their perceptions while working alongside them in the field.

Mapping and GIS

This team translated fieldwork into maps and datasets that partners can use for planning and coordination.

Aysha worked with Friends of Lake Sammamish State Park, compiling past and current site data into maps that show boundaries and partner involvement. She also supported the native plant team in the fall and continued as a mentor.

Max mapped two Lake Sammamish sites, Tibbetts Creek and Bat Box Meadows, documenting planted, naturally occurring, and invasive species. His maps give partners a clearer baseline for ongoing restoration.

“Being able to collect my own data and be fully in charge of my mapping project helped me build my fundamental GIS skills,” he said.

Dan worked with Dr. Santiago Lopez to deploy and track temperature and light sensors across Saint Edward State Park. He mapped the data to show variation across microclimates and is now pursuing GIS-focused roles.

Inclusive Environmental Education

This team focused on access and participation, building tools and programs that make environmental learning more usable for a wider range of audiences.

Charlotte designed CoSEE’s Bird Feeder Kit from scratch and led a public event to launch it with community participants.

Cat developed the Insect House Kit to complement the Mason Bee House Kit, expanding hands-on ways to learn about pollinators. She co-led the Bird Feeder Event with Charlotte.

Kaylin expanded the Adaptive Library, adapting four books with sensory elements and communication supports. She also helped complete a more accessible Bird Watching Kit. She now works with CoSEE full-time as an AmeriCorps-funded Program Assistant.

Other community programs and partnerships

Some of CoSEE’s work extends beyond park boundaries. Ash has worked with CoSEE across multiple years and, this spring, partnered with Dr. David Stokes on camera-trap research and wildlife connectivity. 足彩app哪个是正规的y also led CoSEE’s participation in the Yard by Yard program, which helps residents convert lawns into habitat for native plants and pollinators.

Looking ahead to summer

CoSEE enters the summer with more than 20 interns across projects. Growth has come from steady partnerships and a wider range of projects, giving students more ways to apply their work and keeping restoration efforts moving forward.