Elina Gorenstein

Major: Linguistics
Minor: Russian

Wetlands and Stormwater Intern at Indiana Department of Environmental Management

How did you learn about this internship opportunity?

State of Indiana's website.

What is a piece of advice you would give someone in your major looking for an internship?

Keep applying! It only takes one offer to have a great experience, so don't be discouraged by the rejections.

What key responsibilities or projects have you taken on during your internship?

- Revised the IDEM Stormwater Manual and created permit timelines to improve regulatory guidance. - Rewrote guidance about oil-and-grit separators, straw wattles and erosion control, and catch-basin inserts. Drafted fact sheets about chlorine pool drainage, oil and gas stormwater permitting exemptions, and timber harvesting stormwater permitting exemptions. - Assisted in wetlands and stormwater site inspections to ensure compliance with federal and state environmental regulations. Assisted in inspection reports and pre-inspection preparations. - Prepared over 1,400 historical permit files for scanning into the Indiana Virtual Filing Cabinet.

How has your internship helped build your skills and clarify your career goals? How did being a Liberal Arts student at Purdue apply to your internship?

I applied many of my Liberal Arts skills through working with GIS software at work, as well as being able to quickly read and analyze permit files, which was a skill I honed in my Linguistics coursework through the reading of historical documents in class. I learned so much during my internship, and it solidified my desire to work in public service. In assisting in field inspections, I got to apply my classroom-built skills to a real-world challenge.

In what ways has the College of Liberal Arts at Purdue University supported your internship journey? How has your participation in our Job-Ready program specifically aided your professional development?

Being a Job-Ready recipient made my internship possible! I would not have been able to relocate for the summer without Job-Ready, and participating in Job-Ready ensured a good relationship with my supervisor even after I had completed the internship. CLA was able to guide me in my negotiations with my supervisor and assisted me in finding housing in Indianapolis.

Could you highlight a standout aspect of your experience in the Job-Ready program that you find particularly noteworthy?

Our initial meeting was great! It was so cool to hear what other CLA students were doing over the summer, and it's been great to hear how their summers went.