Intern update: Jordan Lillybridge

Posted August 12th, 2016 in Internships, Program, Water Resource Economics

Jordan Lillybridge interned in Chicago with IISG Water Resource Economist Margaret Schneemann. He is a senior at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin majoring in geospacial science with a minor in geographic information systems.

One of the biggest stresses of a college student going into his/her last year of school is finding an internship or long-term job that will help them grow as a person.  When I was offered the position of Green Infrastructure Workforce Intern with IISG, I felt as if everything was coming together.

I knew I had a great opportunity to explore the green industry. Coming into the internship, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my geospatial science and GIS degree, but I knew I needed some work experience to realize what my real desire was.

This internship gave me the opportunity to understand a significant problem that underdeveloped or low-income communities have – flooding. Before the internship, I had little knowledge about the process of installing and maintaining green stormwater infrastructure.

Over the past three months, I have had an opportunity to be a part of the Calumet Stormwater Collaborative (CSC). CSC is a group of stakeholders that has come together to tackle flooding issues within the Millennium Reserve (southern Cook County). As a part of the Training & Maintenance working group within the CSC, I focused on issues and gaps related to training skills and workforce development. One of my tasks was to assess what other cities have done before us to address these issues and create summaries of these reports. We had monthly collaborative meetings, which was my chance to update our working group on new information as well as get key feedback from local case studies.

Aside from reading and reporting to our working group about areas to focus on, I had opportunities to step out of the office and network with different organizations. The first was a Center of Neighborhood Technology (CNT) presentation about their RainReady Initiative at the South Suburban Mayors and Management Association.  CNT was educating the community and potential at-risk citizens on their community and neighborhood green infrastructure programs.

The second was a GreenCorps action plan meeting. GreenCorps is an organization that trains workers with barriers on how to maintain the environment including green infrastructure installations. People who were a part of the meeting gave valuable feedback to GreenCorps on how to help them grow.

Many of us who attended were able to meet past and present trainees. For me, understanding their perspective was pivotal considering some of the trainees grew up in the same neighborhood as me. To see people wanting to make a difference in their community by focusing on sustainability makes me appreciate everything that organizations like GreenCorps and OAI Inc. do for the low-income and underdeveloped neighborhoods. Workforce development for the green infrastructure industry is key.

The past three months working in the CSC with Margaret Schneemann has given me an opportunity to not only impact neighborhoods close to mine, but to also gain valuable communication, analytical, and planning skills along the way. It has also narrowed my thoughts on what I want to do as a profession – renewable consulting.

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant is a part of University of Illinois Extension and Purdue University Extension.     

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The gales of November may come early, but, as usual, the nominations for the Lakies are right on time along with our official call for nominations!

Brought to you by the Teach Me About the Great Lakes podcast, The Lakies (aka "quite possibly not the least prestigious Great Lakes-focused awards ceremony there is”) are back.

Our goal isn`t to be the Official Arbiters of Quality, but to host a fun celebration of amazing Great Lakes-related research, outreach, and communication in the inimitable Teach Me style.

Nomination categories are:
-Great Lakes Science Communication of the Year
-Great Lakes Outreach Program of the Year
-Great Lakes News Event of the Year
-Great Lakes Research Finding of the Year
-Coolest Thing You Learned Listening to TMATGL in 2025
-Science Podcast of the Year (Non-TMATGL edition)
-Great Lakes Animal of the Year
-Great Lakes Non-Animal of the Year
-Great Lakes Sandwich of the Year
-Great Lakes Donut of the Year

The Details:
-Deadline: Nominations close on December 4th.
Process: It`s easy (just enter the name/title and a link).
-Self-Nominations: Highly encouraged. Don`t be shy.

We’d love to get a broad swath of work across both the serious and less-serious categories to celebrate. Feel free to pass the link on to interested people: https://bit.ly/Lakies25

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Open post by ilinseagrant with ID 17913992691239654
The gales of November may come early, but, as usual, the nominations for the Lakies are right on time along with our official call for nominations! Brought to you by the Teach Me About the Great Lakes podcast, The Lakies (aka "quite possibly not the least prestigious Great Lakes-focused awards ceremony there is”) are back. Our goal isn't to be the Official Arbiters of Quality, but to host a fun celebration of amazing Great Lakes-related research, outreach, and communication in the inimitable Teach Me style.Nomination categories are:-Great Lakes Science Communication of the Year-Great Lakes Outreach Program of the Year-Great Lakes News Event of the Year-Great Lakes Research Finding of the Year-Coolest Thing You Learned Listening to TMATGL in 2025-Science Podcast of the Year (Non-TMATGL edition)-Great Lakes Animal of the Year-Great Lakes Non-Animal of the Year-Great Lakes Sandwich of the Year-Great Lakes Donut of the YearThe Details: -Deadline: Nominations close on December 4th.Process: It's easy (just enter the name/title and a link).-Self-Nominations: Highly encouraged. Don't be shy.We’d love to get a broad swath of work across both the serious and less-serious categories to celebrate. Feel free to pass the link on to interested people: https://bit.ly/Lakies25

Making Sense of Social Media: Presented by Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant & Purdue Extension
‌
When: December 6, 2025, from 1 - 4:00 PM EST
Where: RDM Shrimp, RDM Shrimp, 101 N 850 E, Fowler, IN 47944
Registration Link in bio.
‌
Social media can be a great way to market your small business and products, but sometimes it might feel like you are casting a net again and again to find that your net is empty. After all, the point of using social media marketing is to connect with customers. By attending this workshop, you will:
-Hear Research Findings
-Participate in an Interactive Workshop Session
-Learn Real World Application
-Tour a Shrimp Farm
-Network at the “After Hour Social”
‌
This program is supported by the North Central Regional Aquaculture Center and put on in partnership with the Indiana Aquaculture Association Inc, RDM Shrimp, and Ohio Sea Grant, The Ohio State University.
‌
For questions contact Amy Shambach by email (ashambac@purdue.edu) or phone (317-238-0511)

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Open post by ilinseagrant with ID 18100693840687186
Making Sense of Social Media: Presented by Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant & Purdue Extension‌When: December 6, 2025, from 1 - 4:00 PM ESTWhere: RDM Shrimp, RDM Shrimp, 101 N 850 E, Fowler, IN 47944Registration Link in bio.‌Social media can be a great way to market your small business and products, but sometimes it might feel like you are casting a net again and again to find that your net is empty. After all, the point of using social media marketing is to connect with customers. By attending this workshop, you will:-Hear Research Findings-Participate in an Interactive Workshop Session-Learn Real World Application-Tour a Shrimp Farm-Network at the “After Hour Social”‌This program is supported by the North Central Regional Aquaculture Center and put on in partnership with the Indiana Aquaculture Association Inc, RDM Shrimp, and Ohio Sea Grant, The Ohio State University.‌For questions contact Amy Shambach by email (ashambac@purdue.edu) or phone (317-238-0511)
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