We are very excited to introduce two new interns who are joining us this summer to unite voices around Washington State in support of our great outdoors!
Welcome to Stewardship Intern Sarah Geyer, and Federal Policy and Communications Intern Ethan Fetz!
Sarah is a Seattle local with a passion for conservation and sustainability. She is currently a senior at the University of Washington majoring in Environmental Studies and Biology with a focus on Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation. After graduation, she hopes to attend graduate school and eventually pursue a career in environmental policy.
During her internship, Sarah is assisting in the Coalition’s stewardship work by working with state agencies to help clarify the gaps and opportunities in state land stewardship. The goal is to eventually be able to develop solutions that can help address management challenges and help keep our outdoors great.
“Environmental Studies is something I’ve always been passionate about,“ Sarah says. “I like that the Coalition integrates a lot of different interests: hunting, farming, conservation, business, etc. By allowing for collaboration between all of these interest groups, things can really get done.”
Ethan is a recent Western Washington University graduate who has worked with multiple non-profits, with an emphasis on environmental advocacy and civic engagement. He aims to combine this experience with his degree in Psychology to bring together people of diverse backgrounds and viewpoints to unify around environmental issues. In his free time, he can often be found biking, reading, wandering the outdoors, or playing music by the water.
Ethan’s position is funded by the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, which is named for Washington’s senator who originally wrote the legislation for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Ethan is researching and assisting in assembling a report on LWCF’s impact in Washington which the Coalition will release later this year.
“Public and bipartisan cooperation is critical to addressing statewide environmental issues, which is something that we all have a stake in. That’s what drew me to the Coalition,” Ethan says. “With its 50 year anniversary approaching in September, this is our opportunity to set a precedent in state-side advocacy for the LWCF, and I’m incredibly energized to be a part of it.”