Watershed Conservation Corps

The Watershed Conservation Corps (WCC) is a cooperative program, established through an intergovernmental agreement between SUNY Ulster and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYC DEP) Stream Management Program (SMP), which seeks to provide meaningful, educational field experiences for local UCCC students through summer internship experiences. Interns conduct assessments and implement research studies on stream channels and floodplains of the Catskill Mountains in Upstate New York and make a significant and meaningful contribution to the long-term goal of promoting healthy watershed and stream management practices. Since the program’s inception in 1996, SMP has hosted over 115 internships through the WCC.

SUNY Ulster Student Testimonials

Name: Tiffany Runge
Year of graduation at UCCC: 2010 | 4 years as a WCC intern
Environmental Science with focus in Watershed Science Bachelor’s degree from SUNY Environmental Science & Forestry

How did working as an intern with the Watershed Conservation Corps help you achieve your academic or professional goals?

Being a Watershed Conservation Corps intern served as a great steppingstone to where I am today. My initial internship is what sparked my interest in streams when I lacked a specific academic path. Subsequent internships allowed me to gain leadership skills to the point where I led the project monitoring team without supervision. My surveying experience was invaluable for when I later took a college surveying course where my experience resulted in me leading my crew. The internships were also great for forming many professional connections, including joining a professor on his stream related research project that became my capstone thesis. My last two internships directly led me to being hired into the position where I am today as I was working full time with the Ulster County Soil & Water Conservation District.