Intern Vinay Lehkaraju on his experience this summer at Dogwood Alliance…

I just finished the last week of this know-how and awakening internship. It has almost been 2 months since I started my internship in a completely different field from my normal field of study. Now it is time for me to look back and regroup with my thoughts on what I take away from this internship.

·    I started as a novice in the environmental field. The passion at Dogwood Alliance for working on topics of social impact is infectious. It spreads faster than flu and I was one of the victims. I learned what it takes to effectively campaign against unethical corporate practices by working on the Green Grades report. This report holds large corporations (Walmart, Office Max, Office Depot, Staples to name a few) responsible for their actions and shows a comparative analysis on how each company is pitted against one another on critical environmental issues (endangered forests, chain of custody, carbon content, recycle content, etc). Watch out when this report hits the stands later this week!

·     Forecastle experience: How often do you get to attend a music festival in your internship? In my case, I do! The experience of tabling in the festival, meeting with fellow members from different organizations, volleying questions from smart -curious passer-byes and reaching out to a larger audience was a great experience. One conversation which I remember so distinctly was when this young girl walked up to the table, wanting to know more about Dogwood Alliance and its activities and after appraising her of all she had asked for I ended up with ‘I hope you would sign this petition and make a difference…’ She stared and me and corrected ‘I hope..no…I SHOULD be the word’. Then it dawned upon me that what Dogwood does is- the distinguished service of converting hopes into realities. When love and skill work together, expect a change to be made and advocating such a change is the hallmark of a dedicated and passion team striving to protect US Southern forests.

·     Climate: A lot of people know that the world is speaking of drastically changing climate conditions. With a lot of green house gases being emitted, climate concerns are the usual coffee table discussions for world leaders today. No G8 or World Summit is complete without addressing issues related to climate and signing policies calling for more action to stop further deterioration. While working on a climate report, I was exposed to a lot of case studies, industrial impacts on climate and the work of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) models. It is interesting to note that paper mill activities like ditching, draining, conversion of wetlands to pine plantations, etc also have an impact on climate. Southern forests have long been victims of such disastrous actions and going forward issues relating to climate are all but obvious to have roots here. Such reports not only create awareness among the common man, but justify strong actions against corporations breaching the human code of conduct of violating gifted resources.

My internship has been an enriching experience in terms of learning, networking and sharing passion and belief to make a difference! It has reaffirmed my thoughts that success comes through hard work, but more than hard work it is the frame of mind, the desire, the determination and the perseverance that leads one to success- and Dogwood Alliance is that true example.