via Sentinel
METUCHEN — In today’s economy, hands-on internships can make a real difference for young professionals. And those same young people can make a real difference through national service.

That’s why Metuchen resident Lori- Ann Sciachitano, an intern with the Student Conservation Association (SCA), has arrived at Lava Beds National Monument in Tulelake, Calif., to be an intern at the visitors’ center. As such, Sciachitano educates visitors about the monument, leads cave tours, hosts both an evening program and porch talk, and helps with the general day-to-day operations of the visitors’ center.

Sciachitano, 29, is one of more than 4,200 SCA members helping to protect and restore America’s public lands this year. The SCA’s mission is to develop conservation leaders by providing high school and college students with conservation service opportunities in all 50 states, from urban communities to national parks and forests. More than 50,000 young people have served with the SCA since 1957.

“This will be my second time working with the SCA, and it is just as good as the first time. It has given me the opportunity to learn a lot about a part of the country I have never visited before and learn what it really takes to be a park ranger,” she said.

Sciachitano is about to enter her senior year at New Jersey Institute of Technology, where she is studying science, technology and society with a concentration in environmental studies. She is hoping to enter the park service upon graduation next spring.

SCA members hone a “conservation ethic” through their service, to the benefit of both the land and the individual, according to the nonprofit organization, which is headquartered in Charlestown, N.H. For more about the SCA, visit thesca.org.


Lava Tube Cave, Lava Beds National Monument

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