Portsmouth DPW Summer Internship Program Supports Projects in Five Areas

The City of Portsmouth’s Department of Public Works team has hosted interns to work on various City initiatives for over six years. This year, the Department hosted five interns, one in Parking and Transportation, one in Water Resources, one in Stormwater and two in Parks and Greenery. According to DPW director Peter Rice, their work has provided benefits both to the students and to the Department. “The DPW Internship Program offers practical real-world experience for the students while giving the staff directing their efforts both practical support and the opportunity to mentor the next generation who will be responsible for DPW initiatives in the future. The program is a direct demonstration of the standards Portsmouth upholds.” 

Kristen Antunes, a senior at Worcester Polytechnic Institute pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, spent the summer in Portsmouth as a Parking & Traffic Intern, assisting Eric Eby, Parking and Transportation Engineer. Her work involved gathering and analyzing traffic data from around the city using Miovision Traffic Cameras and a Black Cat Speed Radar. She also worked on projects studying pedestrian activity, downtown parking, and turning movement counts at various intersections that are used to assist in decision-making to ensure safety and efficiency for pedestrians and drivers. She intends to pursue a traffic engineering career when she graduates.

Sarah Jakositz, a 2018 UNH graduate with a degree in Environmental Engineering and now graduate student at UNH, expects to receive her M.S. in Environmental Engineering and Graduate Certificate in Data Science in December 2019. She spent the summer with Portsmouth DPW as a Water Resources Intern. According to Sarah, "My internship at the Portsmouth Drinking Water Plant has allowed me to gain an inside look into a treatment plant’s day-to-day operations. I have had the opportunity to work on numerous projects, from monitoring water quality in the Bellamy watershed and designing a database for PFAS data, to attending construction meetings and assisting with regulatory sampling. Perhaps my favorite part of the summer was getting to know the staff and learning from their tremendous breadth of knowledge. This experience has made me a better engineer, not only preparing me for the technical challenges of the job but also demonstrating the value of interdisciplinary communication."

Ross O’Neil, a senior at the UNH pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, spent the summer as a DPW Stormwater Department intern, working in the GIS division. He was part of the field team locating, inspecting, and occasionally sampling the City's stormwater outfalls as the City works to renew its EPA issued MS4 stormwater permit. He also assisted in pinpointing inaccessible water and sewer lines. Behind the desk, Ross worked to update GIS maps and databases pertaining to information directly gathered in the field. Ross commented he was thankful for the opportunity to gain real-world experience in such a professional environment and said that the formal and informal training provided by DPW staff has given him a “competitive edge” as he looks to enter the workforce full-time in the spring.

Suzanna Buzzell, pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology at Simmons University (Class of 2022) and Remi Gros-Santos, who will graduate from UNH in May 2020 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems, both spent the summer as interns with the Parks & Greenery Group, helping to design, plant and maintain the formal gardens of Prescott Park. As part of their responsibilities they helped lead free, public tours of the gardens each Friday in August. Suzanna’s internship applied her outdoors experience working with horses, haying a field in Strafford, and maintaining the landscaping on her family’s property, including their flower and vegetable gardens. Remi, who spent January 2019 on t UNTRM project in Chachapoyas, Peru studying native Amazon cacao varieties and conducting field research, brought both his teaching and gardening experience to the internship. He spent the summer of 2018 in Como, Italy, teaching English to 32 students at L’Albero di Momo and developing lesson plans and hikes with other teachers to teach from nature. From April 2017 through December 2018, Remi was gardener, cook and server at The Oak House in Newmarket, NH, responsible for a 1-acre kitchen garden and the preparation of vegetables from the garden.