Connecting community, education and coastal concerns

Ira Washington spent last summer working with Delaware Sea Grant in Wilmington communities to learn about their environmental concerns and find ways to share information.

By creating an educational “Jeopardy”-style game, Washington worked to support Delaware’s urban watershed community. Check out the Q&A below to learn more!

Q: Where did your love for the environment and community engagement originate?

Washington: So, it originally started my freshman year of high school when taking a global studies class. One of our units was about climate change and we brought up some political issues surrounding it. I think that really struck a chord with me; I’m someone who doesn’t like misinformation and I’m also just very environmentally inclined. The class inspired me to start an environmental club at my school called Leading Young Fascinated Environmentalists, or LYFE for short. I got to use that club to spread awareness about different environmental things going on, and to educate people about simple stuff. I got to teach others and would tell others that no matter what you’re interested in, you can always bring some type of environmental aspect to it, regardless of what it is.

Q: What has your experience at UD been like so far?

Washington: I’ve liked my time here a lot. I love that UD is not one of those schools where everyone is here for one specific major. Everyone has different interests and is here for different reasons. It’s nice getting to meet all sorts of people.

Q: What was your internship over the summer like?

Washington: I heard about the internship from one of my friends. When I applied, I had an interview with Emily Maung-Douglass, who I actually met priorly when working for Plastic Free Delaware. It was super great to see her again and work with her. I got to develop a “Jeopardy” game with questions revolving around Wilmington’s coastal roots that was used at community events. A lot of people in Wilmington don’t realize that Wilmington is a coastal city, even though they experience coastal issues like flooding, and two rivers, the Brandywine and the Christina, flow through it. The Christina is also tidally influenced. The game was meant to educate and help people learn more about the environment in their city.

Q: Through your internship, you also got to help with different projects. Did any stand out to you?

Washington: I also got to work on a photo voice project with Dr. Victor Perez, who is a Delaware Sea Grant funded researcher. The project was in Southbridge and he collected photographs from different community members that represented how they saw their community. We then set up a photo voice gallery that the community members could view during the Southbridge Civic Association meeting. It was nice to speak to so many people and learn about views on their home and their various passions. I also helped with many other projects including building a community garden at a church, peer mentoring with the Wilmington Green Jobs Program and the Delaware State Parks Youth Conservation Corps, and facilitating tours of labs down on the Lewes Campus.

Q: You also traveled to North Carolina. What was that trip like?

Washington: I got to go down to North Carolina and meet other community engagement interns from around the country. It was super interesting because they were all from different states and all had such interesting stories. While we were down there, we did a bunch of fun activities; I saw dolphins, we went on a boat and I learned so much about other organizations and what they’re doing. It was nice to get a deeper look into the stuff that Sea Grant does overall.

Q: Do you have any other thoughts on your internship experience?

Washington: I’ll say it was a really enjoyable experience overall. I’m very happy I got to do it. I wasn’t expecting to find a job that aligned with my interests so much, and I’m very grateful that I did. I’m grateful that I got to meet so many people and make so many connections. Although I was helping these communities learn, at the same time I was learning so much from them.

Story by Risha Inaganti