Meet Austin Wood (she/they), a junior in Urban Planning & Emergency/Hazards Management at Old Dominion University.
This summer, Austin is getting a taste of public service as a Municipal Intern II with the Department of City Planning.
Get to know Austin with a Q&A:
What's your internship project? My internship project has been mapping the Zoning Action File in ArcGIS, which is comprised of about 6,000 individual zoning ordinances including Conditional Use Permits, Parcel Rezonings, Right of Way Variances and more. All this data is expected to be taken out of Excel and converted to a map layer file for use by the planning department to visualize current and historic ordinances.
Can you share something you've learned about working in local government? One thing I’ve learned about working in local government is how close to home it can be! Many of the roads, parcels and businesses we deal with daily are familiar to us personally or are at least geographically familiar to us. Many of the applications and permits from the city will immediately affect the conditions of places we frequent, and the wellbeing of the neighborhoods of Norfolk. To sum it up, I’ve learned that the careful eyes of hundreds of city employees are responsible for true immediate change for the citizens of Norfolk, the most important part of the local government.
What’s the best part of your internship so far? The best part of my internship thus far has been being able to connect with so many great people and learn about their areas of expertise. No two members in my department, and the internship as a whole have been alike. Everyone I’ve met has brought unique insights into my learning experience that I have been able to use to better understand myself and my future career goals. There also hasn’t been a dull moment on any of the boards I’ve had the opportunity to listen in on!
How do you like to unwind after a day at work? After work, I typically like to unwind by spending time with friends or going on long walks around the Old Dominion campus, but more recently I’ve been in the process of visiting every Norfolk mermaid statue, which has led to some super great experiences and discoveries in the city!
Stay tuned for more NEL intern spotlights this summer!