Harry Watson Internship
2008 Internship Applications are due April 11th! Download the application here: 2008 Internship Application
The Harry J. Watson Internship was established in 2005, in honor of Harry J. Watson. Harry was a member of the original feasibility committee in 1992, and was appointed to the board of directors when it formed in 1993. He served on the board for 11 years, including terms as chair and vice-chair. In honor of Harry’s dedication to public health and to the regionalization of public health services, the board of directors established a summer internship.
The competitive internship is designed to teach a high school junior or senior about public health and careers in the field. Applicants are screened by a panel of public health professionals and the position is awarded based on academic achievement, writing skills, references and an in-depth interview. The selected intern spends 6-8 weeks of the summer working with our environmental health and health education departments. Activities include preparing for and participating in health fairs and other education presentations, attending meetings with our coalition partners, conducting beach water sampling, witnessing soil testing for septic installations, learning about our emergency preparedness activities and a variety of other functions.
The internship is open to departing juniors and seniors who attend high school within our jurisdiction.
Our 2005 summer intern was Chelsea Smith from Waterford.
Our 2006 summer intern was Elise Hanks from Ledyard.
Our 2007 summer interns were Christopher Soeller from Groton and Danielle LaFleur from Waterford.
In July 2007, Christopher Soeller and Danielle LaFleur joined our team. Over the course of their internships, Chris and Danielle worked on various projects in Health Education and Environmental Health. They attended health fairs, prepared educational materials, conducted investigations, and participated in public health preparedness activities.
Chris and Danielle proved to be valuable contributors to our team, while learning about public health and the various careers available to them in the field. Both say the experience has been exciting and eye-opening. Danielle reflects "It is a great experience to be working at LLHD. There is always something to do and something new to learn about the field of public health. Not only do we get to participate in the actual jobs that full-time workers would do but there is also a variety of tasks so every day is different."
View a presentation created by Danielle and Chris about their summer!
2007 Internship Presentation
Our 2007 Interns in Action!
Danielle checks the water at a local pool. Chris collects samples for testing from a local beach.
