Geography student awarded internship at National Geographic headquarters

NEW PALTZ — Lauren Saracene, a senior geography major at the State University of New York at New Paltz, has been awarded a National Geographic Society Internship in Washington, D.C., the first in the history of the SUNY New Paltz geography program.

As a summer 2004 intern, Saracene, of Penfield, N.Y., will have an opportunity to apply knowledge and techniques she has learned in the classroom to National Geographic Society projects involving editorial research, writing and cartography.

The program accommodates 8-10 students for each academic term at society headquarters in Washington, D.C.. Saracene was selected through a highly competitive process involving 114 college juniors, seniors and master’s students nationwide.

Linda Greenow, chair of the Geography Department at New Paltz, said she was pleased to recommend Saracene for the internship.

“Lauren is an excellent student, intellectually curious, capable, and quietly confident,” said Greenow. “She knows how to articulate a problem and plan a rational path toward solving it. She is sensible, dependable, and truly immersed in geography.”

The program’s mission, as defined by National Geographic Internship Director Robert E. Dulli, is to furnish qualified students a professional learning experience through participation in various projects aimed at the diffusion of geographic knowledge.

“While on board, the interns are given opportunities to interact with people involved in many aspects of the society’s business, including writers, photographers and explorers,” said Dulli. “We are very pleased that Lauren will be with us this summer.”

Before her National Geographic Society internship, Saracene will work this spring as an intern with the Dutchess County Planning Office on a project involving Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to study a forest parcel in Dutchess County and the incidence of Lyme disease.

Note to editors: A photograph of Lauren Saracene may be downloaded from the SUNY New Paltz Web site at www.newpaltz.edu/news/images/saracene.html.