YET Internship Connects People to People—And People to Nature

A New Approach to Conservation?

Could exploring conservation through a lens that values people and nature equitably be a new approach to consider? This idea is at the center of the YET program based at TNC’s Indian Boundary Prairies Preserve. Debra Williams, community engagement specialist for TNC in Illinois, developed the program, which began in 2019, with support from Karl Gnaedinger, the site manager at Indian Boundary Prairies.  

“The impetus was being able to work with young people and emphasize that our program is not just a job, but an opportunity for personal development,” Williams says. 

The YET program exposes participants to a range of issues, from environmental justice to climate change. They travel to sites around the Chicagoland and engage in presentations and experiences led by well-informed speakers. The interns also participate in weekly stewardship activities led by the stewardship team at Indian Boundary Prairies. Each area of study helps interns see how both peoples’ relationships to nature and environmental challenges impact communities and conservation efforts.

“How the interns engage with one another, in addition to helping them gain an understanding of the connection between people to people and people to nature, are all regularly highlighted,” Williams says. “One of the goals is to share information in a manner that interns can apply wherever they go.”

Providing Leadership Opportunities

YET interns are students from high schools and post-secondary institutions ​​around the country. Titilayo Brown, a senior at Temple University studying environmental studies, acted as the 2023 program assistant, supervised by Debra Williams.

“For me, the program was a really great leadership opportunity,” she says. “We had goals and a theme for each week, and I really learned a lot about myself, just from figuring out what felt important to teach.”

Natural Connections 

YET attracts interns with a wide range of interests, from experienced outdoor enthusiasts to those who are visiting and learning about the natural world for the first time. Team-building exercises, paired with the opportunities to visit places like TNC’s Nachusa Grasslands Preserves, make it easy for the participants to connect with Chicagoland’s diverse habitats and wildlife, as well as with each other. 

“I went into the internship thinking this is a nature program, so I expected to learn about the environment. We totally did and that was great, but there was so much more devoted to the people aspect of it,” says Charles Roth, a 2023 intern. “After having gone through the program, I see that people and nature really need each other so much and we can't function without each other.”