Lexcy Alexis, a chemistry major, will kick off her first internship through the program this summer at a non-profit dedicated to the protection and restoration of wildlife and plants. Junior Lexcy Alexis, a first-generation college student from Grenada who is majoring in chemistry, has been named a Jeannette K. Watson Fellow. The three-year program provides funded summer internships, mentorship, and access to a host of networking and other career opportunities to freshman and sophomores at 12 New York City colleges and universities. Alexis, who is minoring in Earth and Environmental Science, will start her first internship virtually this summer as an outreach intern for Defenders of Wildlife: Alaska, a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection and restoration of wildlife and plants in their natural communities. She will be helping to create content for their communications, including for events, social media posts, and action alerts. The internship is right up her alley. She says she fell in love with nature during her childhood in rural Grenada, where she did a lot of exploring with her brother. “We were curious about why things work in nature, and we were energetic about finding answers,” says Alexis, who would like to eventually teach environmental science. Her curiosity developed into a passion for environmental science and sustainability. “Most of nature’s bounty is being negatively impacted by human error,” she says. “We need to open our eyes and actively work to preserve the earth”. The Watson fellowship selects students early in their college career and exposes them to a broad network of business, government, and non-profit organizations in order to round out their college experience. Interns also select an internship abroad, usually in their last year of the program. Alexis, also a Kurt Hahn Expeditionary Learning School and Opportunity Network Fellow, says she is most excited about the group of like-minded peers she joins as well as the opportunity to work with mentors.
