Intern reflection, Sophie Nichols
Sophie Nichols (UNC Class of 2023) interned at SSC during the Summer of 2021.
I am incredibly thankful for my internship at Smart Surfaces Coalition (SSC). During my time at SSC, I was able to apply knowledge from the classroom while learning more about the application of Smart Surfaces, and the challenges associated with creating more green, resilient, and equitable cities. Having the opportunity to meet and listen to SSC’s partners, taught me about the importance of reaching out to local, national, and international organizations to create a long-lasting change. In addition, my co-workers and research emphasized the importance of mapping urban inequity–– such as temperature, air quality, and income disparities–– which has inspired me to add a geographic information science minor to continue this important work. During my time at Smart Surfaces Coalition, I focused on researching the cost and benefits of implementing green roofs and green walls in Springfield Massachusetts, as well as coordinating a social media strategy to publicize a report quantifying the costs and benefits of Smart Surface adoption in Baltimore. With the help of other interns and co-workers at SSC, we were able to create a media toolkit, and reach out to more than a hundred organizations, and congressional members to publicize the report–– garnering hundreds of views on the technical report and over 17k impressions on twitter.
