Intern update: Lauren Schnoebelen

Posted August 10th, 2016 in Internships, Program, Water Resource Economics
lauren Schnoebelen intern

Lauren Schnoebelen interned in Chicago with IISG Water Resource Economist Margaret Schneemann. Lauren is a recent graduate from Northern Michigan University with a major in environmental science, a concentration in natural resources, and a minor in sustainability. 

This summer I spent my time working as the Water Policy and Pricing intern for IISG at the offices of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. I didn’t really know what to expect. I was excited to work on policy issues and get familiar with township and village ordinances for water pricing, but I had never worked with large data sets before.

At first I was a little overwhelmed, but once I started getting the hang of it, I really enjoyed it because I got the opportunity to see what so many communities around me were doing to manage their water systems. After working for a month and a half on collecting as much data as I could get on water, sewer, and possible storm water rates, I needed to call village halls and water facilities to get any missing information.

The hope was to have all the rates available for the 2017 fiscal year. This gave me the opportunity to improve my communication skills by talking to dozens of people about what they charge their residents for water and sewer services. With this project done, I’m really excited to see how the final presentation of it will be in the Northeast Illinois Water and Wastewater Rates Dashboard.

Another opportunity that I was given was becoming a co-author of a published literature review. I helped to write about the economic value of ecosystem services in the Great Lakes region. This project allowed me to create and organize multiple tables displaying all the studies that were used in the paper and write summaries based on their subcategories of threatened ecosystem services. I also helped in editing and arranging the final layout of the literature review.

Throughout my summer, I was going to monthly meetings for the Northwest Water Planning Alliance and was involved in creating a community outreach brochure on establishing new lawns through seed or sod and their water requirements. This helped me see what communities are currently doing to work on water conservation and also how community outreach can lead to suggestions for policy change.

This internship gave me an opportunity that I haven’t had before. I worked on so many different aspects of water conservation which gave me great experience in creating a database, academic research and writing, and community involvement and outreach. With these skills, I know I will be extremely competitive in finding a full-time position in my field.

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

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Some partnerships just make sense. Happy Valentine’s Day from IISG! 💕

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Some partnerships just make sense. Happy Valentine’s Day from IISG! 💕

This February marks a major milestone: 30 years of aquatic invasive species outreach by our team! To celebrate, IISG Director, Stuart Carlton, and Strategic Communication Coordinator, Renie Miles, sat down for a Sea Grant Chat with two key figures in IISG’s AIS history: Pat Charlebois, our assistant director and program leader, who spent over two decades leading our prevention efforts, and Katie O’Reilly, who took over that role in 2022. We discussed the evolution of the invasive species issue in the Great Lakes, the shift toward understanding human behavior, and the creative strategies that make this team so effective.

Dive into the full interview at the link in bio.

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This February marks a major milestone: 30 years of aquatic invasive species outreach by our team! To celebrate, IISG Director, Stuart Carlton, and Strategic Communication Coordinator, Renie Miles, sat down for a Sea Grant Chat with two key figures in IISG’s AIS history: Pat Charlebois, our assistant director and program leader, who spent over two decades leading our prevention efforts, and Katie O’Reilly, who took over that role in 2022. We discussed the evolution of the invasive species issue in the Great Lakes, the shift toward understanding human behavior, and the creative strategies that make this team so effective. Dive into the full interview at the link in bio.

Introducing the Lake Michigan Explorer!
Start exploring the varied factors that impact the Great Lakes with our Explorer Series. This searchable database of external resources can help you find hands-on activities that spark curiosity and inspire action.

✨ What’s inside?
Lesson plans, fact sheets, and reading materials
Engaging videos and visualizations
Easy-to-use filters by grade level, topic, and time.
Perfect for classrooms and informal learning, this resource empowers students to become stewards of the Great Lakes.

🔗 in bio for more.

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Open post by ilinseagrant with ID 17993556791875462
Introducing the Lake Michigan Explorer! Start exploring the varied factors that impact the Great Lakes with our Explorer Series. This searchable database of external resources can help you find hands-on activities that spark curiosity and inspire action. ✨ What’s inside?Lesson plans, fact sheets, and reading materialsEngaging videos and visualizationsEasy-to-use filters by grade level, topic, and time.Perfect for classrooms and informal learning, this resource empowers students to become stewards of the Great Lakes.🔗 in bio for more.