Projects – MIIS Experiential Learning

Empowering Work in Partnership with Local Monterey NGOs [Yanyan Wang IPD ’18]

Yanyan Wang working on her practicum project with a friend in the library.

Yanyan Wang completed a practicum project with Professor Mahabat Baimyrzaeva in her fall semester. She was consultant to two local NGOs: Monterey Museum of Art and Patron of Encinitas Park (PEP). In this article, she describes her experience and outlines what she found most beneficial from her EPL.

This EPL experience with Professor Mahabat Baimyrzaeva is to provide consulting service to two NGOs. One organization I am working with is the Monterey Museum of Art. Monterey Museum of Art is a local NGO that focuses on the region’s visual arts and demonstrates California’s vibrant and diverse spirit by connecting art and community. Together with another MIIS student consultant, I work on a group consulting project on marketing strategy for the Monterey Museum of Art. The other NGO I work with is Patron of Encinitas Park (PEP). Patron of Encinitas Park is a grassroots organization formed by local business owners and residents to support Encinitas residents and their interests in enhancing city’s parks, beaches, trails, and open spaces. Similarly, I work on a group fundraising consulting project for Patron of Encinitas Park, and I was also invited to be the grant adviser of the PEP board.

It has furthered my understanding of the knowledge we learnt in class and take it to a higher level, which enables me to better apply in my future career.

My practicum project of providing consulting services to the two NGOs is a very good practical training opportunity for me that has contributed to my education at MIIS and benefited me considerably. I have three main reasons that this opportunity has benefited me.

First, this immersive learning opportunity has enabled me to demonstrate, integrate, apply, deepen, and reflect on core competencies of my degree. It has provided me with a very good opportunity to apply what I learnt in my International Policy and Development program at MIIS to practice. It has furthered my understanding of the knowledge we learnt in class and take it to a higher level, which enables me to better apply in my future career.

Second, during my consulting service to the two NGOs , I have got the chance to partner with the other student consultants from MIIS to complete meaningful research that directly influences methodologies on marketing and fundraising of the two organizations.

Third, I have received tremendous help from my professor Mahabat Baimyrzaeva during the whole consulting project. It has improved my understanding and skills, and it is very helpful to my future career. Moreover, as a Stillwell Scholar at MIIS, I am planning to help with marketing and fundraising to increase the influence of Stillwell Scholarship and carry on the aim of the scholarship in building the relationship between China and US and between the people of the two countries. At the same time, I also want to do some work for MIIS in the future if possible. What I have learnt and practiced during this immersive learning opportunity with the Monterey Museum of Art and Patron of Encinitas Park has got me closer to these goals.

Anyway, this EPL experience is a great experience that has deepened my professional experience in consulting and has contributed to my education immensely.

Networking Nervousness + Launching a Magazine with No Experience = Success. [Harlyn Lane TLM ’23]

image of Harlyn Lane working on ROAR translation magazine at MIIS.

Harlyn describes her motivation and curiosity in the development of a MIIS magazine for TLM. She outlines the skills and knowledge base she drew upon. This article provides great advice on how students can effectively venture into new disciplines and sectors.

ROAR Magazine home page in March, 2023. https://roar.tlmcreate.net/

I knew I would start this summer by networking, a daunting task many grad students fear. The goal was to gather information and tools to create a strong foundation for ROAR magazine to have a successful first year out. As a content creator with zero understanding of running a magazine, let alone what to put inside it, I dove straight into the networking pool and did a little rummaging. With ROAR magazine as the focused topic, I felt comfortable reaching out to professionals with focused questions regarding their work. I spoke to content writers, marketing experts, and publishers to get a complete perspective on how a magazine can run, thrive, and succeed.

I knew I would start this summer by networking, a daunting task many grad students fear.

While the topic of ROAR was the focus of all my informational interviews, I learned a bit about my speakers, learning how they transfer experiences and stories into the written word to share with others. Professionals in the industry share something because they feel it can be helpful for readers (or at least entertaining). Students feel the same way about classes they’ve taken or internships they’ve acquired. These stories shouldn’t be hidden for special events like career fairs. Students have stories to tell, and ROAR wants to share them. My content team and I can fill in some gaps, sharing our experiences and thoughts about classes and career directions, but we need more voices than three. LinkedIn is indeed a powerful resource when trying to get content writers. More often than not, most people in the Localization industry are excited to share their stories, especially if they’re excited about it. So this led to a new path to consider: Marketing and outreach for the magazine.

For outreach and marketing, though, would LinkedIn be enough? Are there other ways to reach students who maybe aren’t big on LinkedIn? After talking to my informants and doing a little research, I noticed that MIIS had a lot of global and local partnerships with schools and organizations. Already recognizing the Japanese Exchange and Teaching Program, where I learned about MIIS, I could envision reaching out to these people living and working abroad. The stories they could share about how they utilize language while abroad, the cultural experiences they have with the locals in the area they live, the stories that we all can relate to, even though the location and cultures are different every time. These are the kinds of people that MIIS is looking for as prospective students, so those are the kinds of voices we should try to collect for the magazine.

Throughout the summer, I stayed in touch with my content creator team regularly. The check-ins with them were a good reminder of our original view, and if we made changes, were these changes heading us in the new direction we want to go in? Some of the challenges we encountered were that we weren’t sure about our articles’ writing style and format. For example, someone writes a blog post we would love to publish. The problem is that the writing style and design are different. Writing for a magazine is a different writing style than writing a blog post: the voice of the piece changes. My team and I debated a couple of times about responding to these. We didn’t want to add more work to the contributor, but if we changed it, we risk altering the original writer’s voice. After a few edits and discussing things back and forth, we changed blog posts’ writing and formatting styles so the writer could repost the same content in two different mediums.

The stories they could share about how they utilize language while abroad, the cultural experiences they have with the locals in the area they live, the stories that we all can relate to, even though the location and cultures are different every time. These are the kinds of people that MIIS is looking for as prospective students, so those are the kinds of voices we should try to collect for the magazine.

Another thing I learned was that there are different ways to talk about the same content, even if it’s in the same medium. Similar to the blog format versus a more traditional article way of writing. ROAR has a podcast side as well. Was this a chance to fuse both sides? I took this chance to reach out to another professional in the industry, one who worked for MultiLingual Magazine, to ask her how the different mediums worked. Currently, MultiLingual doesn’t have a podcast, though they’re trying to record articles to make it more accessible to those who prefer listening to their content rather than reading it. However, upon hearing the challenges they had to face, I figured this would be a great chance to play with the idea of joining forces with the podcast. Some things are better in podcast form, but that medium isn’t for everyone (I’m not a podcast listener myself). ROAR Magazine has the chance to become a multimedia platform for student news, discoveries, adventures, and fun updates.

I knew my takeaway from this summer would be networking and research experience. I’m entering my practicum to understand better how a magazine can work within an industry. We must ensure that while we have these different mediums and voices, we still maintain our quality of information. Are the articles we’re posting helpful, engaging, or fun? Does everyone feel like they can submit something if they want to? ROAR should be a space where students can come to explore and express their adventures in localization. A strong, grounded platform can grow without losing sight of its original purpose: To give students a place to share their voices.

Creating Opportunity for Oneself at the Monterey Bay Aquarium [Lawrence Garber IEP ’21]

Lawrence hard at work as GSRA Fellow.

Lawrence describes how he created the Global Seafood Ratings Alliance (GSRA) Fellow position at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. He outlines his experience in a such a way that it assists in students to follow suit at their own organizations or opportunities. In this article, Lawrence shares what skills he leveraged and further developed to create…

A smoke infused fog blankets the sky as I reflect on the past months of learning about the realm of seafood rating organizations. While the skies over California, will hopefully clear soon, the issues plaguing our oceans and the food we harvest from them will continue to present international collective action problems.

My route to becoming the GSRA Fellow began at the end of 2019 before the world was aware that a viral pandemic was threatening to upend life as we know it. The full impact economic, social, and political impact of coronavirus may never be known, but its impact on the seafood industry and the Monterey Bay Aquarium was felt almost immediately.

As the pandemic progressed through March and into April, the Monterey Bay Aquarium made the difficult decision to lay off many of its staff members. I had been working as a volunteer for Seafood Watch, supporting staff members with their involvement with the GSRA. When the lay off was announced, my supervisor and Seafood Watch’s primary liaison to the GSRA was included. I decided to create a fellowship position in which I would take over the responsibilities as the coordinator of the GSRA. Because I had already been attending monthly GSRA meetings, I had established relationships with many of the members.

While the skies over California, will hopefully clear soon, the issues plaguing our oceans and the food we harvest from them will continue to present international collective action problems.

My work centered around administrative duties organizing monthly meetings, creating website updates, and producing social media campaigns. In June we welcomed WWF South Africa to the GSRA. I interviewed one of their program managers to create a blog post on the GSRA website announcing WWF South Africa’s entry into the group. Later in the month, I worked with staff members from Mar Viva, a seafood ratings organization based in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama to create a social media campaign for World Ocean’s Day.

I was able to fill a key organizational capacity need by being in the right place at the right time. The relationships I had developed over the months interacting with GSRA members gave me the trust I needed to effectively carry out the tasks of a technical coordinator.

As my time with the GSRA progressed, I realized that the organization could benefit from a continuous technical coordinator presence. From the beginning of the GSRA in 2016, members had expressed a need for this role. Various financial and organizational barriers prevented the GSRA from having a technical coordinator until I took on the role of the GSRA Fellow. I decided to write an internal memorandum summarizing my experience to the GSRA members and recommending that the fellowship position continue after I left. I was connected with an incoming MIIS IEP student and proposed that she take over my position. As I write I am in the middle of training her to succeed in the role.

Turn over presents challenges to every organization. The issue is at the heart of sustainability for all organizations. Mass layoffs during a global pandemic present both unique challenges and opportunities to an international alliance. I was able to fill a key organizational capacity need by being in the right place at the right time. The relationships I had developed over the months interacting with GSRA members gave me the trust I needed to effectively carry out the tasks of a technical coordinator. I have faith that when the smoke clears the GSRA will continue to provide a place for productive collaboration and learning for the seafood ratings industry.

Advice to MIIS Students

In my experience, people in leadership positions respect initiative. Initiative can take many forms, from offering to take meetings notes, to saying yes to a follow-up action item. These actions signal to leaders that you can be trusted and you are able to handle responsibility. I’ve reflected on these ideas through the lens of “managing up”. If you are in a junior position, it might be uncomfortable to initiate a meeting or a project. We all have some level of imposter syndrome to work through. The sooner you can recognize that and move through it, the more success you might have in completing a project. I think MIIS students should give ourselves credit for the knowledge and skills we bring from our courses of study. Our perspectives provide a fresh take for organizations that might be stuck in a specific way of thinking.

Initiative can take many forms, from offering to take meetings notes, to saying yes to a follow-up action item. These actions signal to leaders that you can be trusted and you are able to handle responsibility.

Teaching English to Community Members in Monterey [Kira Arias TESOL ’22]

Kira (top) and students warm up to discuss the simple past tense with some conversation practice.

Kira describes her volunteer position at Monterey Adult School (MAS) with English as a Second Language (ESL) courses. She outlines what she found unique about the ESL courses and how she further developed her own professional skills.

This semester, experiential professional learning funding enabled me to work in one of my ideal teaching contexts: adult English as a Second Language classes at the Monterey Adult School (MAS). My involvement there began in January of 2021 when I started volunteering as a conversation partner in one of the classes. My relationship with the instructor and students grew over the year and developed into a practicum internship starting in January of 2022. I couldn’t have been more excited to continue working with the students I already knew and apply what I was learning in my classes at MIIS to a language teaching role.

Throughout my time at MAS, I worked with speakers of Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, German, and Chinese, to name a few!

I love this language education context because it is so unique. Students from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds are all in class together with a common purpose. Throughout my time at MAS, I worked with speakers of Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, German, and Chinese, to name a few! And, because the classes were on Zoom, learners could join in from anywhere– Monterey to Mexico, Florida to Georgia (the country!).

Fortunately, great challenges can lead to great learning. . . Concepts like differentiation and scaffolding went from theoretical “head knowledge” to more practical “heart knowledge” quickly, guiding me to better serve the students.

This level of linguistic diversity was also a source of great challenge. Imagine having students who just started learning English in the same class with intermediate or advanced learners! Also, even though I speak Spanish like the majority of the students, out of fairness I could not rely on it too heavily for explanations and clarifications. Fortunately, great challenges can lead to great learning. I had the opportunity to apply ideas from my classes at MIIS directly to my teaching. Concepts like differentiation and scaffolding went from theoretical “head knowledge” to more practical “heart knowledge” quickly, guiding me to better serve the students.

As this experience is coming to an end, I feel so grateful to my cooperating teacher and all of the students at MAS for allowing me to join them and for trusting me with even a small part of their education. I hope this experience was as valuable for them as it was for me in terms of preparing me for my future and showing me the joys of language learning!

Cultivating Leadership in Young Women at Monterey High [Jordyn Dezago MPA/IEM ’23]

Group picture of Girls Inc organization at Monterey High including MIIS Student Jordyn Dezago.

Group picture of Girls Inc organization with Jordyn Dezago.

Jordyn Dezago describes her mentoring work in the Girls Inc group at Monterey High. She accounts her connection and passion with education and community uplifting. Within this article, Jordyn shares an encouraging moment on the impact of mentorship with youth.

As a passionate educator and community advocate, I believe that the greatest knowledge we can pass on to young people is of the power of their own voice, and how to use it; to ask questions with confidence, and to speak out as allies and leaders in their communities. Before attending MIIS, I worked for 6 years in the field of education and youth development. Throughout my experiences as a teacher, mentor, youth soccer coach, and community advocate, I noticed a trending disparity between the confidence levels of boys, girls and nonbinary children, especially when it came to leadership. This struck me on a personal level, having experienced a lifetime of discrimination and sexism, and inspired me to pursue a career dedicated to empowering and inspiring young girls and LGBTQ youth. Girls Inc.’s mission of “inspiring all girls to be strong, smart and bold” was what drew me to join their local program at Monterey High.

As a firm believer in the importance of community-based work, I was intrigued by the Girls Inc. ECHO Leadership program because it is designed to be a youth-led model; girls that graduate from the program are then paid to become facilitators and organizers for the next cohort. My role was to support and mentor the youth leaders, while modeling leadership through the individual connections I fostered with the participants.

I suggested that the next time she blanked out in front of the group, to just admit it, smile about it, and show that it’s ok to not be perfect. “In doing so, you are rejecting the unrealistic standards of perfection that girls are so often held to, and that is more powerful than anything you could say in a presentation.”

One of the most powerful moments in my ten months working with these young women was during the first few weeks of the program, when our youth-facilitators were still getting used to presenting in front of their peers. One facilitator in particular was really struggling; every time she stood up to present, her voice shook, and she seemed to immediately forget what she wanted to say. During our post-module evaluation and discussion, she said critically, “my presentation went badly, I’m sorry everyone.”
I spoke up in disagreement, pointing out that all of the participants had given positive feedback about her presentation in their evaluations. I reminded her that we all get nervous, and that her role as a facilitator was to model humanity, self-compassion, and forgiveness for her female peers. I suggested that the next time she blanked out in front of the group, to just admit it, smile about it, and show that it’s ok to not be perfect. “In doing so, you are rejecting the unrealistic standards of perfection that girls are so often held to, and that is more powerful than anything you could say in a presentation.”
I was surprised by the vulnerability in her eyes as she smiled back at me. It was a look that said “thank you for understanding what I’m going through.” As I got to know this student, I was able to see how similar we truly were – both driven to perfection; both learning the balance between achievement and self-acceptance.

I reminded her that we all get nervous, and that her role as a facilitator was to model humanity, self-compassion, and forgiveness for her female peers.

Every day with these girls was a lesson in humility, as they taught me about their own communities, families and values. During a discussion on community impact, a rather shy student spoke up about gang violence in her community, surprising us all with her extensive knowledge of the criminal justice system. I later found out that she was already taking courses at her local college, with plans to pursue a degree in criminal justice that she would eventually use to affect change in her own community.

Needless to say, every day with Girls Inc. was as much an opportunity to learn as it was to teach. My involvement with the organization provided a hands-on framework upon which I’ve been able to apply my studies at MIIS. I have gained invaluable insight into the internal operations and structure of education-based nonprofit, including the immense benefits of an educational program that is truly youth-centered. My career goal is to work in an organization that promotes gender equity and empowers young people through comprehensive sex education. Thanks in part to my hands-on experience at Girls Inc, I have secured an opportunity with the Taiwan Gender Equity Education Association (TGEEA) in Taipei, Taiwan.

Transferable Skills in Development at UNICEF Nigeria [Elena Klein MPA/IEM ’23]

image of Elena Klien with some of their UNICEF team members.

Image of Elena Klien with a team analyzing data for a proposal — all in matching green.

Elena describes her internship at UNICEF Nigeria. She worked in the nutrition sector. Her personal account on her challenges and personal triumphs creates a refreshing and motivating read.

I often say that I came to MIIS because of its practice-oriented pedagogy: I wanted to learn how to actually thrive in the development and education fields, rather than exclusively learn theory or how to write academic research. My MIIS classes have indeed been wonderful in their immediate practicality, and as the semesters have passed, I have felt more and more prepared to succeed in the field.

That being said, I am a human being just like everybody else, so as my graduation date was approaching, I sometimes felt panicked that I could never know ‘enough’ to be what the field needs. But when I had the opportunity to intern at UNICEF Nigeria this past summer in the nutrition section, I was able to see how everything I have learned so far comes together to make me a flexible and effective professional.

When I first heard about the internship opportunity in the nutrition section, I was immediately interested, but I wasn’t sure how well I could do the job, because I don’t come from a background in nutrition. As a joint MPA/IEM student, my development focus has been education. But the job description talked about data systems and literature reviews, which I had studied before, so with the encouragement of the Experiential Professional Learning staff and my professors, I decided to apply and learn as much about nutrition in Nigeria as possible before beginning the position. Malnutrition in Nigeria is an urgent and serious issue, so I wanted to make sure I was doing the best job I could do.

When I was not sure about something, I found the appropriate time and place to ask. In some cases, I learned to observe and trust that with time, I would understand the situation better.

Once I started in Nigeria, I realized that despite not having an ample nutrition knowledge base, I had the soft and hard skills to contribute to the nutrition section as a team member. In terms of hard skills, I was generally comfortable working with data systems, and when there was a data system feature I wasn’t familiar with, my supervisors were happy to help me pick it up quickly, or I was able to learn it on my own with some online tutorials. The same thing happened with the proposal writing I helped with. I had a good foundational understanding of proposal writing from my coursework, and it was easy to pick up any specifics that I wasn’t familiar with. In any case, none of the projects I worked on were done just by one person, so each team member contributed based on their strengths and skill sets. When I did some research on the food fortification landscape in the country, I knew where to look to find similar studies in other countries and how to perform an extensive literature review, despite not being an expert in the topic. I noticed that I was not the only one who did not come from a heavy nutrition background; some of our team were nutritionists, and others were experts in data or management, or a combination of both. I also started to meet other professionals in the UN offices who used their expertise in a few versatile skill sets to easily move between different knowledge areas. When starting in a new knowledge area, they would jump into learning about it while utilizing their hard skills in proposal writing or data analysis.

I feel more confident now that I can do the work that needs to be done. Every development or humanitarian project should have experts in the knowledge area and experts in program management, development and implementation, and depending on the project, I could function as either.

The experience helped me understand how I can further hone my skills in program management, evidence and data management, data analysis, research and funding management, and how I could apply those to a literacy program in Belize or an anemia intervention in Bangladesh. I feel more confident now that I can do the work that needs to be done. Every development or humanitarian project should have experts in the knowledge area and experts in program management, development and implementation, and depending on the project, I could function as either.

Additionally, it became clear that no matter how many hard skills you develop, those skills are no less important than the soft skills such as positivity, initiative, teamwork and attention to detail. It was as simple as this: When I didn’t know how to do something, I immediately and enthusiastically tried to learn it. When I was not sure about something, I found the appropriate time and place to ask. In some cases, I learned to observe and trust that with time, I would understand the situation better. At the career center at MIIS, the advisors are always telling us that the soft skills are key to employers because they are harder to teach. It is one thing to teach a new employee how to use a certain software, but it is another to teach them intercultural competencies or communication skills with internal and external stakeholders.

My internship at UNICEF Nigeria taught me many things, but one of my biggest takeaways that I would like to share with my classmates is this: focus on those transferable skills, and keep an open mind about positions that seem a little out of your comfort zone. You probably already have plenty of transferable hard and soft skills that will allow you to thrive, and what you don’t know, you can learn if you want to!

Protecting the Environment and Music in Uganda [Irene Fernald IEP ’23]

Fernald learning about the social and ecological functions of local plants at St. Francis Junior School in Mpambire, Uganda

Mwasuze mutya bassebo ne banyabo! My name is Irene, and I am earning a Master’s degree from MIIS in International Environmental Policy with a focus on Natural Resource Policy and Management. I received EPL funding to cover some expenses for a four-week Middlebury College course in Mpambire, Uganda titled Performing Arts and Community Engagement in…

On a personal level, this experience introduced me to Ugandan history, politics, economics, and culture. Many of these lessons were classic serendipitous study abroad moments. I learned to pick mangos by hitting them with a very long stick and was introduced to some of my favorite local foods—peanut soup and chapati. However, being a white American woman in Uganda also exposed me to many of the upsetting lingering effects of European colonialism in Africa. Children and adults often bowed or kneeled when greeting me, and several people spontaneously repented to me for fictitious “sinful traditional practices” before the arrival of Christianity.

Central Forest Reserves recently changed access to forests and swamps, so women who used to harvest plants freely to produce crafts must now turn to men for alternative job opportunities. . . this policy directly threatens women’s independence.

Understanding these social dynamics was essential for uncovering root threats to sustainable instrument making in Mpambire. For example, the kingdom of Buganda passes down knowledge orally, but Westernized schools promote a written system of knowledge transfer. This threatens the practice of instrument making and playing, which relies on learning through observation. Other threats to sustainability come from colonial forms of land management. For example, the establishment of Central Forest Reserves recently changed access to forests and swamps, so women who used to harvest plants freely to produce crafts must now turn to men for alternative job opportunities. In addition to threatening traditional ecological knowledge, in a culture with traditional gender roles, this policy directly threatens women’s independence.

More broadly, this course let me practice ethnographic research methods including taking detailed field notes and conducting unstructured and semi-structured interviews. I also got to practice using situation analysis tools I learned through DMPI at MIIS. This experience has also given me vital skills in intercultural communication that I believe will help prepare me for a career in International Environmental Policy. I hope reading about my experience encourages future EPL funding recipients to pursue projects relating to musical culture and environmental policy!

Predicting the Carmel River Ecosystem during the Pandemic and Beyond [Mariana Filip IEP ’22]

Mariana reflects on the ecological changes to the Carmel River ecosystem and its interesting history. Along with Professor Monica Galligan, Mariana is focusing on predicting how climate change will affect the Carmel River.

Abundant all along the central California coast, the otters had long been a part of the Ohlone culture. Cloaks of otter fur draped from shoulders to waist were worn in the villages and can be recognized in the earliest drawings of Native American life. The Ohlone hunted otters with snares, or with sticks when the animals ventured far from shore, an ability so at odds with the behavior of today’s otters – which seldom stray from the ocean’s edge – that some wildlife biologists dispute that this hunting method ever existed. Soon the westerners focused intently on the commerce of sea otter trade and thereby altered the ecology of the entire coast for centuries into the future.
Stephen R. Palumbi & Carolyn Sotka, The Death & Life of Monterey Bay: A Story of Revival

While standing on the beach that buffers the Carmel River Lagoon from crashing waves of Monterey Bay, one could spot a sea otter on a lucky day. Just a couple centuries ago, an individual would have been able to witness more than a single sea otter floating beyond the shoreline. The area we know as Monterey Bay was teeming with marine life for thousands of years prior to Spanish colonialism, and California’s Native Americans lived alongside the flora and fauna as sustainable stewards of both land and sea during those many centuries. Consequently, today’s bay may be a shadow of what was before the Spanish came and the generations of exploitation that followed, but its surrounding environment and its ecosystems are recovering thanks to the conservation efforts of local organizations.

The lagoon area through which the Carmel River empties out into the Pacific Ocean is home to more than a real-estate goldmine with ocean-front views: it also provides habitat for the critically endangered California red-legged frog and the steelhead trout, as well as holds great cultural significance for Ohlone Native Americans.

Down the coast from the more popular Carmel Beach, the lagoon next to the Carmel River State Beach is the site of a recent restoration project that turned artichoke farmland back into a coastal wetland, an ecosystem that is becoming increasingly rare. Current stewardship of the Carmel River Lagoon is managed by California State Parks, with lands upstream owned by the Big Sur Land Trust (BSLT). My MIIS IEP colleague Ellie Oliver and I have been working with BSLT Associate Director of Conservation, Nicole Nedeff, on a GIS project since the first wave of COVID-19 lockdowns began in March 2020. In light of the pandemic, this place has proven to be an especially fascinating climate change case study within Monterey County because of the various stakeholders involved. The lagoon area through which the Carmel River empties out into the Pacific Ocean is home to more than a real-estate goldmine with ocean-front views: it also provides habitat for the critically endangered California red-legged frog and the steelhead trout, as well as holds great cultural significance for Ohlone Native Americans.

The onslaught of climate change and sea level rise further exacerbates flooding of the Carmel River Lagoon ecosystem and the surrounding residences.

However, past human development combined with the geographic nature of the lagoon has made this location prone to flooding. Flooding of the lagoon occurs seasonally, so the county must get an emergency permit to breach the dune berm that prevents the water from emptying into the ocean and re-directs the flow inland. In 1995, there was an especially serious instance that inundated the nearby commercial district and destroyed a section of the Highway 1 bridge. The onslaught of climate change and sea level rise further exacerbates flooding of the Carmel River Lagoon ecosystem and the surrounding residences.

Starting as a semester-long project for the Advanced GIS class taught by Professor Monica Galligan, our map aims to demonstrate 1) how sea level rise will affect the lagoon, and 2) which properties will be most vulnerable to future flooding events in order to reduce risks for homes and business in the lower Carmel River watershed. Going forward, I would recommend that incoming IEP students align their team projects and/or individual assignments to local NGOs or governmental bodies in order to gain both insight and professional experience. As members of the IEP MIIS community, we cannot bring back the unexploited abundance of the past, but we can make it abundantly clear that conservation and environmental justice is at the nexus of people, planet, and sea otters.

Up to Ears with Localization Work [Yan Ning, TLM ’20]

Yan Ning with peers at LocWorld booth at a conference.

Yan Ning describes her internship at local localization company, Translation by Design (TBD). She weighs the challenges and growth of her career from this experience. She concludes the article with tips for MIIS TLM students with the internship experience.

Translation By Design (TBD) is a local company located at Pacific Grove. It started as an interpretation management company and gradually evolved to a localization business as well. When I was offered the internship, TBD is struggling from new technology acquisition, new work flow set up and unprecedently large volume of localization requests. I am really glad that I get to join a company at this initial localization stage and see to establish a localization process.

Every course TLM offers is preparing us for the real professional world.

My first project is to evaluate and select a new Translation Management System for TBD. When I was taking the TMS courses at MIIS, I was a little skeptical as will I be able to use these skills in working? Well, it turns out everything we learn in the classroom is the actual skills required in professional setting. Every course TLM offers is preparing us for the real professional world.

I’ll conclude with an outline of some important tips for TLM students in preparation for their summer internships.

You might not find your dream internship, but you will in the end. Start somewhere. There is something to learn in every job, every project you work on.
You will encounter anti-mentor, you will encounter your true mentor as well. Each will teach you valuable lessons.
You don’t need to have experience to land an internship. You need to show employer that you are trainable.
Think about what you can do to add value to the team, to make your boss’s job easier.
Know what do you want to learn from this internship.

Designing Engaging Environmental Education for Children [Raqul Friedmann IEP ’19]

Raquel Friedmann while on class field trip to Carmel Beach.

Raquel Friedmann describes her internship with Carmel River Watershed Conservancy. She specifically focused on curating and teaching education materials on the environment for children. Raquel concludes on what they found most valuable in her further career development.

As an educator and an environmentalist, I strive to make nature accessible to others and integrate nature into daily experiences. Through my internship with the Carmel River Watershed Conservancy (CRWC), I was able to learn from an organization that is doing just that. Carmel River Watershed Conservancy works to, “balance environmental protection and the diverse needs of the Community. This is accomplished by exemplifying integrity, inclusiveness, education and mutual respect.”

During my internship with CRWC, I assisted with classroom education trips. This gave me more experience in the classroom executing environmental lessons. I also worked to match the existing CRWC curriculum to the California Next Generation Science Standards. This complimented previous work I’ve done with these standards while interning at Amigos de Bolsa Chica in Huntington Beach.

This was a lesson for me in selling my marketable skills and applying previous experiences to assist a new organization.

I obtained this internship opportunity through a connection with a fellow classmate that was working with them. This highlights the importance of networking to find meaningful professional experiences. Most of the projects I worked on for CRWC were related to my previous expertise. For example, the experience I had with the Next Generation Science Standards. This was a lesson for me in selling my marketable skills and applying previous experiences to assist a new organization. Overall my experience with CRWC provided me with further knowledge and development in my desired career field and will be valuable as I move forward from MIIS into the next stage of my life.