Janelle’s story: from high school pathway to GIS professional
How did CoSEE’s Internship program start? A person with a newly discovered passion and an idea that sparked it all. Janelle’s journey illustrates both the possibilities created by experiential learning and the origins of CoSEE’s current internship model.
Exploration in the park and beyond
Janelle first became involved with CoSEE through the Environmental Career Pathways Program (EnCAP). A first-generation and transfer student at UW Bothell, Janelle entered EnCAP interested in studying salmon with Dr. Jeff Jensen. At that point, GIS was not an established part of her academic trajectory. In fact, Janelle had never taken a GIS course and would not do so until their final year at UWB. EnCAP gave Janelle the opportunity to encounter a new learning trajectory that opened the scope of possibility for her own identity and later career work.
Through the EnCAP program, Janelle worked with Dr. Santiago Lopez and became increasingly interested in Geographic Information Systems and in the possibilities of using spatial tools to understand environmental problems. Janelle began working on projects related to trails, invasive species, and ecological restoration. Their interest quickly moved beyond exploration to leadership. As an EnCAP intern, Janelle developed and led an extension of Dr. Lopez’s GIS module for the program’s high-school students and worked individually with multiple EnCAP high school students to map invasive species in St. Edward State Park as part of the high schoolers final project work for the program.
By the end of the EnCAP experience, Janelle approached CoSEE and asked whether they could stay involved and continue their research and project work. That request became consequential not only for Janelle but for CoSEE and future interns. Janelle became the first student in what developed into CoSEE’s credit-based undergraduate internship program.
Passion put into purpose
Working closely with Dr. Santiago Lopez and Washington State Parks staff at Saint Edward State Park, Janelle used GIS to develop more accurate and updated trail maps for the park, including mapping trails on newly acquired park land. This data was shared directly with State Parks and will hopfully serve as a jumping off point for new public trail maps of the park.
Janelle also became a public communicator and educator. They presented GIS projects and research at multiple UW Bothell symposia and designed and led two public GIS workshops for community members interested in understanding how mapping could support ecosystem restoration within their own communities. Rather than treating GIS as a specialized tool available only to professionals, Janelle helped participants use GIS tools directly on their mobile devices, making spatial analysis approachable and relevant to community environmental work.
Leading into the future
The experience ultimately helped reshape Janelle’s educational trajectory. After completing their internship and undergraduate degree at UW Bothell, Janelle entered a master’s program in Geographic Information Science at San Francisco State University and is graduating this year.
Janelle’s trajectory is significant precisely because they did not arrive at CoSEE already knowing where they were headed. They entered EnCAP interested in one area of environmental science and, through exposure to new tools, mentors, problems, and forms of participation, discovered another field that became a long-term passion and a future career pathway.
Their story demonstrates why CoSEE emphasizes broad, interdisciplinary experiential learning rather than narrowly defined workforce preparation. Career pathways are not always visible to learners in advance. Sometimes they emerge because a student is given the opportunity to try something unfamiliar, use it in work that matters, contribute something of value to a community, and discover that they want to keep going.
Janelle’s experience also changed CoSEE. What began with one student asking, “can I stay and keep doing this work?” helped launch an internship model that now engages students across GIS, ecological research, restoration, environmental education, and accessible learning. The model continues to be built around the insight embedded in Janelle’s trajectory: students find enduring interests when they are invited into real and consequential endeavors, supported by mentors and partners, and given opportunities to move from learner to researcher, educator, and contributor.