United States’ Second Gentleman Visits SUU Interns at Bryce Canyon National Park
Published: July 02, 2021 | Author: David Bishop | Read Time: 2 minutes
Douglas Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, met with Southern Utah University student interns Friday during a visit to Bryce Canyon National Park. The students are part of the IIC partnership between SUU, various land management agencies and Native American tribes. Mr. Emhoff encouraged the students to continue their pursuit of a career in public service and especially the protection of America’s natural resources.
“It’s great to see young leaders, I see that all over the country. I love to see people who are starting a career in public service, which is what I’ve seen all day today at Bryce Canyon National Park,” said Mr. Emhoff. “We need clean air and clean water to drink. That’s why it’s important to have a new generation committed to a career in public service.”
Mr. Emhoff met with IIC interns Sergio Vasquez and Kezli Floyd. They explained the importance of the IIC program to both their future careers and their interaction with youth during visits to federal parks.
“Mr. Emhoff’s visit is a great thing for both the IIC program and Bryce Canyon National Park,” said Floyd, a recent education major graduate at SUU. “His visit is great because more people will now become aware of the IIC program, do internships and learn more about land management.”
Floyd and Vasquez are two of the eleven IIC student interns currently working in Bryce Canyon. Typically more than 250 SUU students serve in internships in the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management in southern Utah, northern Arizona and eastern Nevada. Internships are offered in fields such as biology, accounting, wildlife, natural resources, maintenance, engineering, interpretation, recreation, and administration.
“IIC interns have contributed hundreds of thousands of hours to conservation work in our region’s public lands,” said Dr. Briget Eastep, executive director of Outdoor Pathways at SUU. “In addition, SUU also holds many research permits and research oriented cooperative agreements to further engage students and faculty in public land research, monitoring, and front line operations. Our partnership work has been about creating opportunities for students, faculty and staff while making a positive difference for public lands.”
Last year alone, the IIC internship program celebrated nearly 100,000 conservation hours with 182 interns and crew members earning $1.4 million in wages and benefits over the summer.
Tags: Outdoors Intergovernmental Internship Cooperative