2026 Land Stewardship Interns!
Avalonia is pleased to welcome Kennedy Holsapple and Amelia Newstadt as our new Land Stewardship Interns for the 2026 summer season!
This internship program is once again generously sponsored by the Southeastern New England Educational and Charitable Foundation (SNEC) and, much like ht e previous two years, promises to offer interns with meaningful and practical experience in land conservation. Starting on June 1st, Kennedy and Amelia will participate in long and short-term stewardship projects, participate in a variety of meetings and outreach events, and get to know the workings of land trusts through the lens of a day-to-day conservation practitioner, whether that be preserve monitoring, restoration and/or invasive management, trail design and maintainence, or any number of other stewardship related activities.
Greetings! My name is Kennedy Holsapple, and I’m a rising senior at St. Michael’s College in Colchester, Vt. I am currently pursuing my B.A. in Environmental Studies and Digital Media & Communications. I am thrilled to be working with Avalonia this summer and to learn more about the different dimensions of environmental work in Connecticut. I am particularly interested in species biodiversity and conservation, the impact of climate change on local ecosystems, and how different forms of media portray environmentalists and conservation efforts. I am a collegiate cross-country runner, so I love to experience nature through sport. I also love leisurely nature walks, birding, and skiing!
Hello, my name is Amelia Newstadt, and I’m a rising senior at Connecticut College, a double major in Environmental Studies and Theater, specializing in costume design. In addition to this, I am a select scholar in the Goodwin-Niering Center for the Environment. My areas of interest include material reuse, invasive plant species activity, and sustainability in day-to-day life. I’ve spent time with environmental nonprofit organizations, and I’m very excited to be at Avalonia Land Conservancy this summer, working in the environmental field in a hands-on capacity. Recreationally, I enjoy hiking, reading, and shopping second-hand.
If you run into either Kennedy or Amelia on the trails, please welcome them to Avalonia!