NVCT Intern-view

Our Interns, Caroline and Ananya, working our gala!

Caroline Barnhart

Caroline works with our lands team, so she often gets to be out in the field and assist with land monitoring. However, there is much more to her internship than one would expect. While Caroline focuses on the technical skills required for those interested in the environmental field, such as using ArcGIS or identifying key areas for protection, she also gets to learn a little about the business side of a small but growing non-profit. She participates in many organizational meetings and just played a big role in putting on our annual Gala!

Caroline's core project is a GIS analysis of Arlington County and later the Potomac watershed area. Part of our new strategic plan is a conservation map (Master Acquisition Plan) that helps NVCT identify key prospects for conservation protections. A few of the elements that Caroline is working on in her mapping work are identifying tree cover, riparian areas, and developability!

1.    What do you study in school? What motivated you to choose that path of study?

Caroline studied environmental biology as an undergraduate and is currently a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania. Caroline had a desire to apply her skills and knowledge in the field, which is why she concentrated on resource management. The NVCT land conservation internship was the perfect fit! With our lands team, Caroline can get her hands dirty and learn more about what it takes to steward, map, and manage protected lands! “The hands-on conservation work interested me a lot!”

2.    When did you first show an interest in environmental science?

“I took an environmental studies class in high school, my junior year, and that’s when I realized that I could do this as a career. I never saw myself as someone in a science program. I always saw myself as a humanities person.”

Caroline found that environmental science is often interdisciplinary, “it involves science, people, history, and geography.”

3.    Are you from Northern Virginia or familiar with the area? Did you grow up here?

Caroline is from outside of Philadelphia but has lived in the Northern Virginia area before. “I worked with the EPA and NIEHS last year doing environmental work like land surveys, doing logistics for an environmental justice working group, things like that!” Caroline also accomplished work on the lead service line replacement as part of the Biden infrastructure bill, which was rolled out last year. “I continued doing this work part-time, along with some Great Lakes sediment surveillance work during the school year, during the new administration change.”

4.    Do you have a favorite outdoor spot in Northern Virginia?

“I love walking the Mount Vernon Trail and hiking in Shenandoah!”

5.    What inspired you to apply for an internship with the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust?

No shock here that the keyword Caroline searched when looking for an internship was “Conservation”. “When I started my grad program I think I would have searched “research” or “environmental” but I found that conservation is what encapsulates the career path I’m interested in, and more and more it has become a keyword just in my life”

Having lived in the area for previous jobs, Caroline chose to come back once again, but this time, she focused her work on the other side of the Potomac!

Caroline is undoubtedly an accomplished young conservationist. It’s no wonder she’s here at NVCT working with us to accomplish our conservation dreams!

6.    What has surprised you the most about working in land conservation?

“I think what has been interesting is that because it’s a land trust, there are dynamics I wasn’t familiar with or thought would be at play. I’m more accustomed to land stewardship, like trail clearing and invasive species removal. At NVCT, we build relationships with landowners and everyone around us to encourage that work.”

While NVCT accomplishes tasks such as invasive removals and necessary trail clearing, we perform these activities on properties that we don’t own. We are the protectors of these lands, but not the day-to-day managers. We survey land and, after completing an analysis, we can advise landowners to consider invasive species removal or planting natives. However, these actions are voluntary and up to the owners; on lands where we hold conservation easements, we enforce that legal agreement based on what is permitted on that land. Our approach is to build strong relationships with landowners, and by serving as a resource to them, they can feel empowered to take care of the land they live on and work with us to continue protecting it.

As Caroline puts it, “We aren’t out there to rip out invasives on their property, we’re building relationships with nearby people. The strongest use of resources is having more people feel empowered to take part in conservation.”

7.    What are your plans after this internship? Any big plans on the horizon?

“I have one more year in my master’s program, so hopefully I get a job this year!” Caroline loves the Northern Virginia and DC area and is happy to come back to NOVA in the future to work for an environmental non-profit!

8.    How do you hope to stay connected to conservation in the future?

“If I’m not directly working in it, it’s something I want to stay connected to because it will ground me with whatever new community I join wherever I go next.”

Ananya Sinha

Ananya is our Communications and Partnerships Intern. She collaborates with our communications specialist and partnerships coordinator to promote events, research ways to enhance our diversity, equity and inclusion (IDEA) work, establish new partnerships, and help with communications needs. Some of the work she has accomplished includes revamping our website for viewing on mobile devices (check it out!), building new pages for our site, helping us develop social media posts, and initiating a project that examines indigenous tribes on our land. Ananya’s research helps us gain a comprehensive understanding of the land’s history and how we can honor that history. This work is crucial to our IDEA work, which Ananya is also helping us grow! By analyzing industry standards for equity and inclusion work in the area, we can better understand how to integrate these principles into our work better. 

1.    What do you study in school? What motivated you to choose that path of study?

Ananya is attending Davidson College, where she is working to double major in environmental social sciences and mathematics. “We’ll see, no promises, check back in two years! I’ve always enjoyed math, and I know that statistics is used in environmental science.”

2.    When did you first show an interest in environmental science?

What motivated Ananya to pursue a career in environmental science was her upbringing in India. “I’ve always been hyper-aware of the environment. Growing up, I spent a lot of time in India where I witnessed a lot of environmental degradation and ruin that many people have to deal with. Areas like New Delhi that have severe air and water pollution put things into perspective for me. They influenced me to be a part of the solution, for myself and future generations.”

  “When I was little, I remember visiting my grandmother and helping plant trees! The area is much greener now. That shows that community effort can change things! It’s easy to get into the mindset that one person can’t do anything, but communities coming together can do a lot!”

Ananya has already had the opportunity to get hands-on conservation work by taking part in tree planting in her grandmother’s community in India! Over the years, the valley where her grandmother lives has been working to combat the erosion and deforestation issues it faces.

3.    Are you from Northern Virginia or familiar with the area? Did you grow up here?

Ananya is a NOVA Native, having been born and raised in Arlington. Her parents have lived here for almost 30 years. “I’ve lived here my whole life, I would come back here.”

4.    Do you have a favorite outdoor spot in Northern Virginia?

“Great Falls and 4 Mile Run!”

5.    What inspired you to apply for an internship with the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust?

“I Really wanted to try working in a non-profit because I wanted to be surrounded by people who are passionate about their work! I also wanted to come back home and do work that gave back.”

6.    What has surprised you the most about working in land conservation?

“How much do relationships matter. I never expected to be able to learn about the legal side of this work, to me it kind of seems like real estate!”

7.    What are your goals after this internship? Any big plans on the horizon?

“Finish college, I’m currently a Freshman, so a ways to go!” Ananya also hopes to study abroad. One of her dreams to study in Bhutan because Bhutan is the only carbon-negative country in the world!

8.    How do you hope to stay connected to conservation in the future?

“Conservation will always be a part of my career path. I do want to pursue high-level education, like a master’s degree, and I feel that conservation will be a part of what I study and always a part of my career path. If not, I’ll probably still volunteer with orgs like NVCT!”

We have been so fortunate to have Caroline and Ananya as part of our NVCT family this summer. They excite us about the impact that future generations of environmental leaders will have, and we hope their paths continue to cross with NVCT as they do amazing things in the future!