David Chen, 2013, Politics

David Chen ’13

The Restore America’s Estuaries (RAE) Policy Internship approached issues of environmental conservation from a policy making perspective. Specific to coastal and estuarine habitat restoration, the internship sought to improve the connections between environmental responsibility and executive and legislative policies. Specific responsibilities in the internship involved legislative advocacy to pass environmental bills, researching and drafting issue-specific white papers on human health implications of estuarine degradation, fundraising for Gulf Oil Spill funds, and outreach to other environmental partners in nonprofit and government sectors. Most of the projects involved improving the relationship between Restore America’s Estuaries and other executive government agencies. RAE’s stakeholder status on coastal issues gives it the opportunity to provide expertise about environmental issues to agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Fish and Wildlife Service. This internship was an eye-opening educational experience that provided me valuable insights on the non-scientific aspects of environmental conservation.