Before he got to New York City, Nick Pace ’19 thought he would never find an internship related to his environmental studies major.
Amid all the glass, steel, and concrete of a big city, Pace was surprised to see all the conservation work taking place. “Once I looked closer, I saw that there were environmental opportunities everywhere in the city,” he said. “Conservation doesn’t just take place in the forests and oceans, but some of the most important work is done in urban centers.”
Pace is interning at New York Restoration Project (NYRP), a land conservancy agency in NYC that oversees 80 acres of parkland and 52 community gardens in all five boroughs.
Major: Environmental Studies
Hometown: Dallas, Texas
High School: Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas
Whether he’s in the office or in the field, work never stops for Pace—and he wouldn’t have it any other way. As a marketing and development intern, he is in charge of running social media accounts, organizing corporate volunteer events, taking photos and writing articles for the blog, putting together the monthly newsletter, coordinating charity events and more.
“The work is hard, but it’s incredibly rewarding,” he said. “I was drawn to this internship because the NYRP understands the benefits of green space, especially in an urban environment, and seeks to bring those green spaces and the associated benefits to the underserved communities in NYC.”
Seeing those communities flourish is one of Pace’s favorite parts of the job. “I love attending the openings where you finally get to see the culmination of everyone’s hard work,” he said. “You really get to see the neighborhood come together and be inspired to take advantage of that space for years to come.”
After graduation, Pace hopes to use the momentum from this internship and take it all the way to a future career as an environmental design consultant. “This internship has helped me make the necessary connections over the spectrum of the environmental sector of NYC. I hope to use the connections and knowledge that I’ve learned to create a sustainable relationship between humans and the natural world.”
