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| Lauren jumping right in and doing aquaponic training last weekend |
Green Bridge Growers is excited to bring on board our summer intern, Lauren Jessup, who graduated from Notre Dame last month with a major in Science Business. In just a short time, Lauren's made great contributions to move our venture forward - with much creativity, good humor, and persistence. Lauren started off impressively - during her first 24 hours on the job, she'd already negotiated a very sizeable donation of materials that are needed to build our greenhouse system at Hannah and Friends! She's kept that pace up each day, wowing us all with her great resourcefulness and hard work.
We had a chat the other day with Lauren where she spoke about the many things important to her, including why she was drawn to Green Bridge, the things she loves to do, and what she has on the horizon for herself after this summer (spoiler alert - it's very exciting!).
Her Love of Science: Lauren had a great experience during high school in South Bend that focused on science research, and even traveled around the US to conferences to present that work during her last year of high school. At ND, she discovered a love for water science - especially water chemistry - and specialized in geological and environmental sciences. Through her classes, Lauren realized what a problem water is around the world and saw an opportunity to use science to contribute to a very pressing need.
What Interested Her in Green Bridge: Lauren summed it up in three words: "the social mission." There's a good deal of science involved in our venture, of course, and our goal to grow good food and good jobs for those on the autism spectrum was what really inspired her to join us this summer.
Learning through Service: Lauren's had the chance to be part of a summer program at ND last year in South Africa where she served at an orphanage and saw firsthand the devastation of AIDS in that country. She also developed a powerful bond to Appalachia through a seminar she participated in during college that took her to West Virginia over semester breaks. Lauren continues to have strong relationships with the people there, and now travels to WV on her own time to keep up her connections with that community and continue to serve.
Green Bridge So Far: "I've loved coming in and helping the venture start up from scratch, especially working to build the greenhouse. Behind the scenes, working on the daily operations, helping to form partnerships, and get involved in our crowdfunding plans has been great."
In Her Spare Time...Lauren works on her French language skills, keeps up a schedule of daily running, and enjoys cooking.
Next Year's Plans: Lauren has been accepted to the Peace Corps and has been appointed to serve as an environmental educator in Cameroon, a French-speaking country in West Africa. She'll depart in September for her post, and she's excited to use her science skills while growing and learning about the people and community she'll serve.
We're thrilled Lauren's here at work with us for the summer, and look forward to sharing updates during her internship of all the great work she's doing!