Tags: Freshkills Park Faces

Catherine Montalvo (a.k.a “Cat”) is a seasonal Programming Associate at Freshkills Park. She’s from a part of Queens, New York that is known for its expansive beaches and boardwalk. She recently graduated from Syracuse University with a BS in Biology and Minor in American History.

Charlie Rae O’Brien is the summer 2017 Communications Intern for Freshkills Park. She is from Westfield, New Jersey, and she is a rising junior at The Ohio State University, majoring in Strategic Communications with minors in Business and History.

What are you working on?

Terrance Caviness is a seasonal Programming Associate at Freshkills Park. He grew up in Syracuse, New York and recently graduated from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry with a degree in Environmental Biology.

The Freshkills Park office has had a group of amazing interns and seasonal staff this year. As the summer comes to a close, we’d like to thank all the talented individuals who went above and beyond what was asked of them and made meaningful contributions to the park project.

Josephine Hill-James is an Environmental Monitoring Intern this summer. She is working on a project analyzing the soil in a forested area of Freshkills Park to examine how the health of the soil can demonstrate the resilience of the park’s ecosystems.

Jocelyn Zorn is an environmental science student at Sarah Lawrence College, and will be spending her final semester as an undergraduate studying tropical biology in Costa Rica this fall. She is working on monitoring the ongoing environmental restoration of Freshkills Park this summer.

Savannah Lust is a recent graduate of Purchase College, SUNY, where she double majored in Philosophy and Art History. She sees Freshkills Park as an exciting place to begin questioning our complex relationship to the environment, a question she’s interested in approaching through art and design.

Ravipa Ramyarupa, also known as Pa, is a student at Barnard College. She is currently a Visual Design Intern at Freshkills Park, working on projects that illustrate what the park will be like in the near future.

Patrick is an AmeriCorps member serving through the NYC Service Civic Corps program. During his time at Freshkills Park, he has been a driving force behind the new citizen science water monitoring program, inviting volunteers to study water quality and better understand the health of the wildlife at the park.

Yating Ru is one of two students from Cornell University who conducted an Observational Survey of the New Springville Greenway this summer. Along with Saumitra Sinha, she developed and implemented a Greenway usage survey to better understand how Freshkills Park’s 3.2 mile New Springville Greenway is providing more opportunities for transportation and recreation and how the community is embracing those options.

Saumitra Sinha worked with fellow Cornell University student Yating Ru to conduct an Observational Survey of the New Springville Greenway this summer. They developed and implemented a Greenway usage survey to better understand how Freshkills Park’s 3.2 mile New Springville Greenway is providing more opportunities for transportation and recreation and how the community is embracing those options.

Jessa grew up in a big old farmhouse next to a big old red barn in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts. After a childhood with late night summer bonfires, days spent floating on a river, and long drives on New England dirt roads, she knew that the environment would be central to her undergraduate studies.

Arturo Romua has taught thousands of students in New York City about the Freshkills Park project through presentations, workshops, and walking tours. He came to Freshkills Park through New York City’s Parks Fellowship & Conservation Corps, a 40-week public service commitment in which individuals were assigned to divisions throughout the agency to help protect and enhance New York City’s parks and natural resources.

Freshkills Park is excited to introduce and welcome Win Shanokprasith, the new Visual Design Intern, to the team. Win is a recent graduate from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and he is an artist, designer, and arts educator.