EESI Intern Blazes Trail to Law School | Article

Abby Neal, serving with the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps

As I entered the EESI office on my first day as a policy intern in January 2020, I had no idea what to expect. A lifelong Kansas resident attending a state school, I was still surprised to find myself with a paid internship in the nation’s capital and was eager to spend the next semester immersed in the world of environmental policy. Little did I know that I was embarking on an experience that would challenge and empower me to start making a difference in my dream career field while also helping me build connections with a group of people who quickly showed how deeply they care about my future success.

Looking back, I cannot imagine where I would be without all the experiences and memories I gained at EESI. I was more than the stereotypical intern making coffee and answering phones; I was fully embraced as part of the team and immediately started working to inform Congress on the most promising policy solutions to today’s environmental and energy issues.

No day at EESI was ever the same, as I split my time between tracking federal environmental legislation, researching and reporting on policy solutions at all levels of government, attending Congressional hearings and other events around the city, supporting EESI’s slate of Congressional briefings, meeting with adaptation and mitigation professionals, and more. Even as the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic a couple of months into my internship forced us all to adapt to new ways of promoting policy action, I felt supported by the EESI staff as I continued to research and write about necessary policies and programs.

The relationships I built during my time at EESI were a crucial aspect of my experience as well. On the policy team, Anna and Amber were constantly helping me develop my understanding of the environmental policy world, improve my writing and communication skills, and increase my confidence in myself as a young professional. From communications, Dan O. never failed to keep the fridge stocked with vegan cream cheese, and daily intern check-in calls made working remotely feel less lonely.

My time at EESI reinforced my drive to pursue environmental law as a career, as well as the importance of bringing a well-rounded policy response perspective to the climate crisis. After spending seven months communicating with leaders working in everything from data science to wetlands protection to archeological preservation, I left EESI with the understanding that these issues require interdisciplinary expertise, and have continued to use the skills I developed to contribute to public policy and natural resource management.

During my last semester of college, I had the opportunity to serve as a legal intern to the governor of Kansas, a position in which I implemented many of the skills I had honed as an EESI intern. My experience analyzing legislation helped me as I assisted in drafting executive orders in response to the COVID-19 crisis, developed an open records policy to better facilitate public access to executive branch records, and sifted through Kansas statutes, constitutional provisions, and case law to find ways to promote the well-being of all Kansans.

Currently, I am over halfway through a term of service with AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps, a federal program that gives young adults the opportunity to dedicate a year to performing service in communities around the country. I was selected as a member of a team working exclusively with the U.S. Forest Service, became a certified wildland firefighter, and have worked to support public access and ecological health in six national forests across the Southeast, as well as responding to the Caldor Wildfire in California. In this program, I’ve been able to see the impact of policies I researched as an EESI intern, such as promoting national service as an avenue for environmental protection.

As I look forward to my future plans of attending law school and focusing on environmental law, I know that I will always treasure my memories as an EESI intern. I would highly recommend an internship at EESI to anyone interested in making a difference in environmental and energy policy while making lifelong memories.

Author: Abby Neal