Summer Internships in the Wastewater Field
The Youth and the Environment Program (YEP) introduces young people from Lowell and Lawrence, Massachusetts, and New York City to careers in the wastewater industry through paid summer internships.
Massachusetts
During the six-week program in Massachusetts, youth work at local water treatment plants. They participate in operations and learn about process control, maintenance, and laboratory operations. NEIWPCC coordinators provide daily lessons on water quality, ecology, resource management, climate change, and environmental history and justice.
In addition, YEP takes the students on field trips to further enrich their environmental education and connect with experts in the field. Past trips have included:
- New England Aquarium.
- Deer Island Wastewater Treatment Plant.
- X-Cel Conservation Corps.
NEIWPCC oversees the Massachusetts YEP programs with EPA Region 1, Lowell Regional Wastewater Utility, Greater Lawrence Sanitary District, the cities of Lowell and Lawrence, and MassHire. The program began in Lowell in 1990 and expanded to Lawrence in 2019.
New York
In New York, a similar seven-week program places young adults in the city’s department of environmental protection. They work with various sectors of the water pollution control field. In collaboration with EPA Region 2, NEIWPCC administers funding to the National Partnership for Environmental Technology Education to run the internship.
For more information on the Youth and the Environment Programs, contact James Plummer at jplummer@neiwpcc.org.