Main Content
An initiative by the Land and Water Conservation Fund connects Rutgers Landscape Architecture students with leading organizations designing and stewarding parks, public spaces, and community landscapes.
The Public Design Internship Program places Rutgers Landscape Architecture students in professional offices dedicated to the planning, design, and stewardship of public landscapes. The program provides immersive professional experiences in community engagement, conceptual design, and public-sector practice while helping partner organizations advance projects that benefit communities through:
- Community engagement
- Public space design
- Park and open space planning
- Conceptual design
- Public-sector collaboration
- Landscape stewardship
More than simply filling traditional internship positions, students collectively investigate this important question:
How do landscape architects create better public places through design, community engagement, and stewardship?
One intern might investigate techniques for facilitating community meetings in Philadelphia; another might discover how territorial government shapes park management in a U.S. territory. Together, they’re building a broader understanding of public design practice. The common curriculum takes place within a public design living classroom learning network.
Impact
- Number of interns placed: 11
- Communities served: 9
- States and territories represented: 8
- Professional partners: 8
- Public projects supported:
Experiences
Gene Sinnung (2026)
Organization Marvel International, Puerto Rico Bio Gene is a fourth-year landscape architecture student with an interest in forestry and education. He aspires to do hands-on work with underserved communities as…
Lola Wong
American Samoa Tautua nei mo se taeao manuia Serve now for a better tomorrow. Lola Wong graduated with a BSLA and is pursuing an MLA as part of the dual…