Superfund Advocate and Hartwick College Grad Joins Clean Ocean Action's Summer Crew

Rebecka Flynn - Cornell University Class of 2014 - Science and Policy Intern

Since I can remember I was always within nature, be it from riding horses competitively, swimming outside, playing softball, going to summer camps; I was always involved with nature in some manner, and it lead to me being very protective of the environment. I would constantly see housing developments built around my house, until finally the mountain that my town is at the foot of was no longer woods filled with wildlife, but instead of filled with townhouses and paved roads. Around this time I became involved more with the environmental movement, and wanting to see it protected and allowed to flourish. I also come from a town, Middlesex, NJ, which has a two superfund sites, one of which is a nuclear site related to the Manhattan project.  The fact that this site was still not cleaned up despite it being from the 1940’s, angered me, and waked something in me that wanted to advocate for the people and give them a voice.

Currently I am in a Masters of Public Administration program at Cornell University with a focus on Environmental Policy. For my undergraduate degrees I went to Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY.  While at Hartwick, I also was the President of the Environmental club on campus, Grassroots, and was on the student-faculty committee dedicated to environmental sustainability and programming on campus.

I wanted to intern at Clean Ocean Action because of the dedication the organization has to ensuring that there are clean oceans for current and future generations. Here at Clean Ocean Action, I am the Science and Policy Research Intern. I am writing position papers for Clean Ocean Action on several different issues ranging from dredging to LNG to clean beaches.   It is something I am passionate about and am excited to come to work every day to help in Clean Ocean Action’s fight against ocean pollution.