Taylor Houghton
Name: Taylor Houghton
Age: 21
Current City/State: Whitewater, WI
Hometown: Fox Lake, IL
Education: Environmental Science at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Trail Represented: Ice Age National Scenic Trail
Federal Agency/Nonprofit Employer: Ice Age Trail Alliance (IATA)
Internship Title: Outreach and Education Intern
Scope of Internship: Assist with or lead IATA outreach education program activities, including guiding youth-based hikes and service learning events, infusing academic standards into field or classroom-based presentations, working with educators to meet local educational needs, facilitating outreach to underserved and underrepresented populations, and assisting with grant writing and reporting.
Anything you want us to know? Growing up I always wanted to impact the Earth in some way. This internship is allowing me to do just that. It has really reassured me for my future. I never really knew what kind of work I wanted to do but now I know exactly what I want to do because of my internship with the Ice Age Trail Alliance.
Favorite Moment/Biggest Achievement of Internship: Leading Saunters hikes with children. I love educating young people about the trail and having someone look up to me. I love seeing them get excited and hearing their stories!
Future Career Aspirations: I would love to educate the public about our environment and help find new sustainable ideas that help better our Earth. Working for a nonprofit is something I would love to do!
How has the internship prepared you for the future: This internship showed me the behind the scenes that you don’t always think about. When I used to hike the trails I never thought about how it was maintained or even how it got there. You don’t always see all the hard work that goes into it. I would normally just enjoy the hike but now I have so much more appreciation for it all.
