"CREATE Bridges" Creates Internship Opportunity

Recent RST graduate and former ORPR intern Alo Pulido (L) poses with Dr. Laura Payne, director of the Office of Recreation and Park Resources.

In the fall of 2020, Alo Pulido was in RST’s Orientation to Internship class and looking for an internship opportunity for the spring when she decided to contact Dr. Laura Payne, with whom she’d previously taken a class. It was a tough time for finding internships, as organizations and businesses continued to wrestle with the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Payne offered Alo a position as a special projects coordinator with the Office of Recreation and Park Resources (ORPR). Over the course of the semester, Alo participated in a wide range of research-related activities. She entered, coded, analyzed, and reported on both quantitative and qualitative data, learning in the process programs such as Excel, SPSS, and Qualtrics. She assisted with writing research-based reports and creating PowerPoint presentations. “Most notably, I made a presentation on the COVID-19 Organization Resilience Survey that ORPR conducted with the Illinois Park and Recreation Association,” she said.

Alo Pulido (at right) takes notes after making a presentation to members of the CREATE Bridges Regional Steering Committee.

She also assisted with an inventory of tourism, outdoor recreation venues, and points of interest related to the CREATE Bridges project, a collaboration with Illinois Extension that has the goal of enhancing Illinois’ five most southern counties. This comprehensive index of attractions will form the basis of an interactive, multi-layer GIS map that visitors can use to plan their trips.

When the spring semester ended, Dr. Payne extended Alo’s internship through the summer. They traveled to the five counties included in the CREATE Bridges project to explore the region’s recreation and tourism offerings. They also met with community and business leaders and discussed COVID-related challenges and grant opportunities for parks, recreation, and tourism.

“Throughout my time with ORPR, I learned what goes on ‘behind the scenes’ of survey research,” Alo said. “My experiences will definitely translate to my professional career. I’ve done so much that was out of my comfort zone, and I know that will help me in future projects.”