Hey there! My name is Sarah Berg and I study Environmental Studies, French, and Public Health. I am super interested in the intersection between art and the environment; I think that art can be a really powerful tool for fostering both an appreciation of nature and a recognition of our footprint on it. A Studio in the Woods houses artists of all kinds from all places, offers science inspired arts education for kids, and preserves the endangered bottomland hardwood forest in which it resides here in New Orleans. Every summer, they host a summer camp for kids age six to eleven that encourages a love of science, art, and the melding of the two. Their summer camp falls exactly at that nexus of environmental education and art.
As a camp intern, I am so excited to be able to aid in cultivating that love of learning through nature and creativity. Daily activities with the kids will all be hands-on: collecting and studying insects, identifying trees and other plants with the staff botanist, making puppets of woodland creatures, etc. As an environmental studies major with previous experience in environmental education work, this internship coincides perfectly with my interests in getting kids excited in creative ways about the natural world around them.
My objectives for this internship are as follows:
- Further develop my leadership skills as a leader to a group of campers.
- Increase my knowledge of native Louisiana plants and wildlife.
- Apply my knowledge of environmental studies to both teach campers and simultaneously learn with campers about the environment in which we live.
- Gain insight into how art can be used as a tool for the field of environmental education.
- Form connections with professional members of the New Orleans art/eco nonprofit community.
NCI’s mission of enfranchising those with a long history of disenfranchisement manifests itself in A Studio of the Woods in the form of education, creativity, and the loving stewardship of this swampy state’s forest. With our rapidly changing climate, environmental education is more important now than ever. The campers at this summer camp here in Louisiana, a state losing coastal wetlands at unprecedented rates, will be forced to deal with the delayed consequences of decades of dredging oil canals and burning fossil fuels. I cannot wait to work with this organization in helping to expand the future generation of environmentally minded New Orleanians.
In preparation for this internship, I am reading up on native plants and animals of Louisiana, looking into fun recipes with seasonal and local fruits and veggies to make with campers, and mentally preparing myself for daily outdoor adventures with lots of kids in 90 percent humidity and 90 degree heat.