Author Archives: jeremy

Hello again, everybody! Found myself with some time and thought I would update everyone on what I think is probably the most interesting part of my internship with Foresight Design Initiative this summer.

Every Friday, we head to downtown Chicago to participate in an Intern Lunch Series. Now what is this, you might ask? Well, the Intern Lunch Series is a brown-bag lunchtime lecture series, where my group of interns, along with other interns from a multitude of different organizations, go and visit an environmental-minded group. During these lunches, people who work at these organizations tell us a little bit about what they are doing.

Some examples of places we have gone to include the National Resources Defense Council, and the Environmental Law and Policy Center. Each opportunity has given us the chance to connect with like-minded interns that are around our own age. This has the benefit of expanding our networks and getting to know young people interested in the same topic as us. As well, it gives us the opportunity to hear from and ask questions of experts in our chosen field, and to learn more about the job opportunities that may be available for students and future graduates such as us. But finally, it gives us the opportunity to see great views of the Chicago skyline, such as those I have posted below.

View from NRDC

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I am really enjoying the opportunities and knowledge that I am gaining from my internship with Foresight Design Initiative. The friends that I have made, the people I have met, and the projects that I have been working on have given me the opportunity to expand my knowledge about my chosen field and to learn skills and abilities from others that I had not thought about previously.

 

Foresight Design Initiative: Week One

After some technical difficulties and working 9-5:30 every day, I finally have some time to sit down and write about my first week!

This summer I am working at Foresight Design Initiative, a sustainable design/consulting firm that works with government organizations and many other interest groups in the Chicagoland area. Adjusting to a full time schedule and wearing business casual has certainly been interesting, never before did I realize that I had so many combinations of button downs and khakis! Commuting has also been interesting, and probably hasn’t been helping my blood pressure…

As for the actual work we have been doing, it has ranged from creating a window design for the Foresight office and creating a systems map of climate change. Without going into too much detail, that project explores the interconnectivity of the various factors inducing anthropogenic climate change, as well as some ways to intercede in the system. However, the most interesting thing that we did in week 1 was our meeting with the Metropolitan Planning Council about an initiative Foresight is helping to facilitate. To expand as much as I am able to, this initiative is a project Foresight has been given in order to facilitate communication between different stakeholder groups in the Calumet region in southern Chicago about availability and purity of water resources in the area. Seeing all of the different interest groups come together and talk about their side of the problems in an innovative way really made me stop and think about different ways to approach problems that confront a cityscape.

That’s about all I have for Week 1! It has been an enjoyable week and the people that I have met along with the skills that I have been learning make me believe that this summer will be a good training for a future career.