Here are just some of the many volunteers and interns with which International Rivers has had the privilege of working.
See our Flickr page for more photos of interns and volunteers hard at work (and at play)! Then go to our info page to learn more about how you can join in the fun.
Intern Profiles
Tendai Chitewere, Africa Intern 1997, with Lori Pottinger
Tendai Chitewere
Tendai was the summer Africa Intern in 1997 and still stays in touch while she teaches across the bay at San Francisco State University. Tendai was a year into her Ph.D. program in anthropology and found International Rivers "a perfect match' for learning how to apply her academic work to solving real problems.
Currently, Tendai defines herself as a political ecologist and is interested in the social and environmental impacts of greening in the United States. As an assistant professor in the Liberal Studies Program at SF State, she says, "I have used Silenced Rivers as a textbook for my students, and the friendships I made while an intern remain rewarding to this day."
Sinan Chu
Sinan began interning for the Climate team in the summer of 2009, while studying at Syracuse University in New York and D.C. His projects include researching CDM hydropower plants in China and producing a weekly CDM hydro update that activists use worldwide. His bilingual skills in Mandarin and English have also made him an invaluable contributor to the China team.
Jill Eisenberg
Jill currently works on communications and social media projects. She began her internship in Januaray 2010, after searching for an organization that would allow her to combine the theory and practice of water rights, environmental justice, and resource management. According to Jill, "International Rivers has enabled me both to study the history of the global and community-based environmental justice movements more deeply than in school and to participate in the day-to-day operations of an activist NGO." She looks forward to a career in the non-profit sector, but before then, she will be traveling to Taiwan at the end of 2010 to pursue a Fulbright Scholarship.
Hanna Jacobsen
Hanna Jacobsen
Hanna was the 2008 International Day of Action Intern, and then an external intern for Glenn Switkes and his work with the Xingu Encounter in the Brazilian Amazon. She is currently living in the Amazonian region of Brazil, working as an intern for Projeto Saude e Alegria with a focus on water quality and environmental health, and completing a master's degree in Environmental Science and Management at the Bren School at UCSB.
When asked about her internship experience, she says, "I was extremely grateful for the opportunity to work with a dedicated, passionate group of people, all of whom are extremely well-respected in their fields and imparted a great deal of knowledge to me. My work was structured, but I also had the freedom to tailor my work to my strengths...My relationship with my supervisor (Elizabeth Brink) was excellent--I found a successful balance between her expectations for me and my personal goals as an intern."
Grace Mang
Grace was the China Intern from November 2007 to January 2008. During her internship, she contributed greatly to the team's understanding of Chinese dam buiders and investors through her policy research and analysis. Grace is currently a water and environment policy adviser in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in Australia.
When asked what drew her to working at International Rivers, she says, "Before coming to International Rivers, I only had ever been exposed to Australian and Mekong River resource management issues. After an internship with International Rivers, I had knowledge of issues ranging from Patagonia to Mozambique!" According to Grace, her experience has also taught her how civil society can leverage and engage with governments and the private sector to achieve better social and environmental outcomes for local communities.
Staff and Intern Kayak Trip, 1999, including Sarah Minick (second from right)
Sarah Minick
Sarah began her relationship with International Rivers as an Intern for the River Revival program in 1999. At the time, Sarah was an undergrad at Stanford University. After she graduated, she went on to UC Berkeley, where she studied Community Planning with Marcia McNally. Ten years after her internship, International Rivers was thrilled when Sarah joined our Board of Directors. In her spare time, Sarah also works as a Stormwater Planner for the city of San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.
Salma Nakhuda
Salma Nakhuda
Salma was the 2009 International Day of Action
intern. She communicated with partners worldwide to bring about over
116 actions for rivers in 29 countries worldwide. She continued to
volunteer for International Rivers after her internship, because we
wouldn't let her go.
Brooke Peterson
Brooke Peterson first heard about
International Rivers' fight against destructive dams and the impacts of
dams on ecosystems in class. She joined as a Mekong Intern in the
summer of 2009 and works in Bangkok researching the linkages between
Mekong River fish and regional food security. Her research will
eventually serve as the background necessary to storyboard, script and
shoot a documentary on the Mekong with a number of our Mekong River
partners.
Only three weeks into the internship, Brooke says that she has already
discovered the satisfaction of working on present-day issues about
which she is passionate. "It has been especially valuable for me," she
continues, "to learn about the many diverse livelihoods that rivers
provide and the many, often overlooked, dependencies of urban
populations on rivers."
Martina Plaza
Martina is the 2010 International Day of Action
intern. She describes one experience she recently had while attending a
campaigns meeting: "I was stunned in my first staff meeting where
another employee in Africa was able to join us through a video chat. It
was then that I realized the kind of work International Rivers does is
completely doable, as impossible as it may sound to outsiders. Prior to
working here I couldn't imagine how such a local organization could
reach all around the world to help people--International Rivers has
helped me see that all it takes is the desire to help and willingness
to take action for others who might not have the resources [with which]
we have been blessed." International Rivers and our partners welcome
Martina to the movement!
Alexandra Teixeira
Alexandra (or Alex) came to us after hearing Aviva Imhof speak to her UC Berkeley class on the Mekong dams. Now she works with Aviva on the Belo Monte
campaign in Brazil, collecting information about the costs of the
project, mapping dams planned for the Amazon, researching the
greenhouse gas emissions of Belo Monte, and supporting our Brazilian
partners.
When asked what drew her to the Amazon work, she says, "I found the
Amazon campaign particularly moving not only because I am Brazilian,
but because I witnessed a series of 'development' projects pushed
forward by [the] Brazilian government, which caused irreparable
destruction, thousands of displacements, and left a long history of
neglect." She hopes to continue working to defend te environment and
indigenous communities' rights.
Shradha modeling our new t-shirt
Shradha Upadhayay
Shradha interned in the South Asia program in 2008 and 2010, working with our South Asia campaigner and partners, as well as with Shripad Dharmadhikary, one of South Asia’s foremost water and energy experts to produce the Himalaya dams report, Mountains of Concrete.
Feng Yun at Yosemite, US
Feng Yun
Feng Yun began volunteering with the China Global program in early
2008, after having worked for a Chinese environmental NGO before moving to the US. She transitioned into being a China Intern in 2009. Being bilingual
in Mandarin and English, Feng Yun has been indispensible in assisting the
China Global team in translating reports, news articles, webpages, and
letters to important dam builders and financiers, as well as scouring
Chinese websites for information on China's global dam-building
industry.
Feng Yun's current project involves translating and assisting in the
production of the World Rivers Bulletin, the Chinese version of International Rivers'
World Rivers Review, for dissemination in China. She says that what's been most valuable to her is seeing a variety of tools International Rivers uses in its campaigns.
Volunteer Profiles
Jocie Bartlett (Volunteer and intern extraordinaire)
Jocelyn Bartlett
Jocie began volunteering at International Rivers in 2009. Her enthusiasm and committment has made her an invaluable member of the International Rivers team and contributor to the Home Depot campaign and the Africa program.
Jocie was originally drawn to International Rivers' work, which she describes as building networks within Africa, China, Latin America, South Asia, and Southeast Asia "to strengthen civil societies and faciliate the cultivation of agency within disempowered communities." She is currently pursuing a Masters Degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology at the California Institute of Integral Studies.
Wil Dvorak (International Rivers' super volunteer)
William Dvorak
Wil
Dvorak has volunteered with International Rivers since 2003,
putting together the River Revival Bulletin. Wil became interested in
conservation and water issues early after witnessing the pollution of
the river in his hometown of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Dvorak says his work on the River Revival Bulletin gives him hope for
the future. "I'm the good-news guy most of the time!" he says with a
grin. "Its focus on the positive restoration of water systems around
the world is very uplifting and hopeful in a world full of negative
environmental news."
Wil is a veteran volunteer and an indispensable part of International Rivers' work to keep rivers heathy.
Volunteer Translators
Marie Gibb, Alex Sharp, Elizabeth Segura, and Eleni Spiridaki hail from countries around the world, volunteering from afar in their
spare time. Their contributions towards translating documents has been
a tremendous help.
