Sometimes the right path isn’t a straight line, rather one that bends and curves. It’s those little deviations that allow you time to reflect on your journey and understand what is important to you. Environmental Science major Aaron Gover ’23 found himself on such a road to discovery.

“It can be tricky finding what challenges you to the right extent, but it's also something that you can really get behind and say this seems worth my time,” Gover explained.

Growing up in Frenchtown, Gover spent his time either outdoors down at the Delaware River or enjoying a video game with his brothers. When it came time to apply to college, he thought computer engineering would be a natural fit since he enjoyed the logical thinking and problem-solving aspects of gaming. After two semesters at another 4-year institution, he realized it wasn’t the right match. He took some time off from college to rethink his options, but then the pandemic hit. He was out of a job and looking for work.

“I found some cool jobs [in environmental science], but none of them would even consider me with a high school diploma. They all required a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science or something within that field of science,” said Gover.

After researching what a career as an environmental scientist entailed, he knew he was on the right track. Gover cheerfully explained, “I was able to study chemistry and completed algebra-based physics I and II, as well as ArcGIS – it’s computer software, but it's not perplexing. It's a happy medium of difficulty to pay off. It was a good combination of my interest in science and my appreciation of the natural environment.”

He knew he wanted to stick with the sciences and narrowed the field down to either sustainability or environmental science. After looking at a couple of other state universities, he knew Stockton was the right fit.

During his second semester at Stockton, Gover learned about a collaboration between Stockton and the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (NJDMVA) and was eager to get some real-world experiences. He started volunteering five hours a week through the Stockton University Environmental Internship Program (SUEIP) and in January 2022, he was given a paid position working 10-15 hours a week.

Through the SUEIP internship, Gover participated in numerous real-world field activities, as well as work with different industry tools and software. His work in the field afforded him the experience of documenting sites which was relayed to the professionals who devised remediation plans. He explained what documenting a site entails, “We would arrive at a location and do a visual service. We would use our best judgment to see if the stormwater in the area was draining out of the site properly to avoid any flooding that may pick up any contaminants…We'll use photographs to visually show the damage. We’ll find reports written by other companies in the past and use it to come up with the most recent finding. We can pass it on so they [the professionals] can understand what's going on or what has happened at that site. It saves them time and it gives us some experience too!”

In addition to the practical experience and soft skills he gained through the internship, he also built a network with professionals from the field, such as Conserve Wildlife and Vanasse Hangen Brustlin (VHB).  

After several semesters of hard work in internships and assistantships, Gover applied to the NJ Licenses Site Remediation Professionals Association (LSRPA) last fall. Each year, the LSRPA awards the Elmeryl Davies Memorial Scholarship to undergraduates in their junior or senior year in a four-year accredited science or engineering program. The scholarship was created to encourage students to pursue carers in the environmental field and provide opportunities to connect with LSRPA members as a way to obtain internships and full-time positions upon graduation. This past Spring, he learned he was one of two scholarship winners at the University – three awardees from Stockton to date!

“Luckily my friend and I applied and were awarded the scholarship, which is pretty cool,” he excitedly explained. “…I think it was just great because a lot of times in school, you do so much work and it gets forgotten. You write essays, do exams and you learn so many things, and you never really see much [reward] until you graduate. It was really cool to receive a monetary benefit before I graduate.”

In addition to the internship, Gover also worked an GIS assistantship with Dr. Weihong Fan. The project focused on estimating food waste from school districts across the state that is no longer viable for human consumption. They were attempting to analyze where excess may exist and correlate the data to the proximity of farms, since pigs and cattle have the ability to break down the food. He was responsible for validating the accuracy of the data to ensure it was up to date. This upcoming semester, he will be continuing the assistantship and will be tasked with mapping out the locations using ArcGIS [ArcGIS is a cloud-based mapping and analysis solution used to make maps to analyze data, and to share and collaborate].

The Payoff

Why participate in internships and extracurriculars while in school? The payoff can be BIG!

You’ve probably heard it before, but the message is still the same – participating in extracurriculars will allow you to apply the lessons learned in the classroom into real-world context, which in turn provides a well-rounded education.

When asked what his thoughts were about having an edge over others without any real-world experience, Gover replied, “It's professional work experience in the field of environmental consulting. While I didn’t come up with any hard conclusions about what remediation should be done, I'm still familiar with state regulations and protocols, data management, and making maps that are useful in terms of locating where the issues lie. It also gave me a bunch of experience with Excel, ArcGIS and industry software that I wasn't really getting anywhere else – it gave me the opportunity to problem solve a lot more.”

Working an internship during a regular semester wasn’t always an easy task. He explained, “We're pushed to work harder than a typical student because we have to do both our classes and provide deliverables to the internship. We can’t just “fit it in”. It [the report] has to be something that a professional can use later on down the line.”

Although he has one more semester at Stockton, Gover is realizing the benefits of his hard work. This summer he worked an internship at Kleinfelder [Kleinfelder is a team of engineers, construction professionals, and scientists who provide solutions for clients in over 100 locations in the United States, Canada, and Australia.] in remediation. Because of his previous work experience in the SUEIP and GIS assistantship, he was more confident taking on this new internship. He explained, “I can tell them that I'm comfortable with technical report writing and being out in the field doing surveys and field sampling. It basically gave me a jump by giving me real world experience without having what former SUEIP Intern Advisor Hallagan would call it, “a big boy job” as an environmental consultant.

Gover is scheduled to graduate this December with a B.S. in Environmental Science and will be looking to take on a full-time position in environmental consulting and remediation – possibly working for a company in green energy. He is confident the knowledge he gained through his internships and assistantship will give him a shorter learning curve, rather than learning something new on the job. “Having at least some experience is going to save the employer a lot of time and for me too,” he happily said.

➡️ Visit the Environmental Science website to learn more about our program. Information about the Stockton University Environmental Internship Program (SUEIP) and the NJ Licenses Site Remediation Professionals Association (LSRPA) and the LSRPA Elmeryl Davies Memorial Scholarship.