Alyssa Burton's experience as a Biohabitats intern

Alyssa Burton

My name is Alyssa. Last December, I graduated from the University of Louisville with a Bachelor of Science in Urban Studies, with a focus on Urban Planning. I also completed a certificate program in Peace, Justice, and Conflict Resolution studies to complement my degree. My time at Biohabitats has echoed the winding path I took to get my degree and land my internship. In the past I’ve been an artist, I’ve endured food service and retail, I’ve volunteered and skated in my local roller derby league, treated parks for invasive species, and researched a solar energy program for Louisville, Kentucky’s Office of Sustainability.

Alyssa auguring a soil profile for wetland delineation.

Given my background, I never thought that I would be here in Baltimore working in the natural restoration space. I’ve never been strong in science and I’m definitely not an engineer, but I do have a passion for building sustainable communities and caring for the environment. In some ways, I feel like this internship was made for me. The focus on interdisciplinary collaboration allowed me to thrive and find my footing in a world where I thought I didn’t belong.

Alyssa coloring soil for wetland delineation.

My internship at Biohabitats, most of all, helped me round out my education and really set in stone for me the type of career I want to build for myself. Here I realized that I like having a job where I can carve my own path, take initiative on projects, and manage my time how I see fit. Working in an environment where everyone was so eager and willing to share their knowledge made showing up for work every day a breeze. If there was something I wanted to learn, all I had to do was reach out to get started. Here I dipped my toes into a little bit of everything: Proposals, master planning, stormwater infrastructure inspections, wetland delineations…the list goes on. The point is my previous experience didn’t limit what I could learn and do.

After my internship, I am looking towards an urban planning career where I can incorporate all these environmental lessons into my practice. I also want to pursue a graduate degree in city planning and continue to be a good steward to the environment in my home community.

I was born and raised in Louisville and, until now, I had never lived anywhere else. During my time here, I fell in love with Baltimore. I got to see a different perspective of all the urban issues that Louisville is dealing with and got to appreciate how Baltimore thrives in spite of all that. Biohabitats’ emphasis on the natural world and ecology also helped inform a lot of urban issues I was grappling with in my undergraduate education. The city is filled with all kinds of unexpected pockets of nature and resilience that inspired me and provided plenty of lessons to bring back home.