We are grateful for our eighth year with terrific summer interns that exuded enthusiasm, curiosity, and a willingness to help wherever we needed them. They assisted our staff on the water, under the water and in the lab, and they helped educate our community at the boat wash, on the Discovery Boat, at the farmers market, and at our annual meeting. They all have lifelong ties to Glen Lake and are committed to our mission of preserving and protecting the water quality, natural resources, and quality of life in the Glen Lake / Crystal River Watershed through leadership, education, and collaboration.
Our intern program began in 2017 and is made possible by generous annual donations from Jim & Susan Dutmers, Tom and Monica Dutmers, and Bill and Rita Witler, in honor of their mothers, Patricia Johnson Dutmers and Elva Witler.
Suha grew up spending summers on Glen Lake. She currently works as a Certified Nursing Assistant at Grand Traverse Pavilions. In high school, she was a four-year varsity springboard diver for Traverse City West Senior High School and a YMCA national diver. She has been a volunteer USA springboard diving coach for the past ten years and will soon be a certified scuba diver. She has an Associate of Science & Arts degree from Southwestern Michigan College and is currently working toward an Associate of Digital Media Arts degree from Washtenaw Community College as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications / Conservation from Eastern Michigan University. Her dream job is to work for National Geographic as a wildlife conservation documentarian.
For the GLA, Suha was instrumental in snorkeling and underwater videography in a quest to find Eurasian watermilfoil and other invasive species, plankton sampling (towing a plankton net to bring up microorganisms), and charting fish species and locations.
“Suha has a positive, enthusiastic spirit and was very willing to help with whatever we asked her to do,” said Rob Karner, GLA Watershed Biologist. “She arrived each day with her dive suit, snorkel and fins ready to go and was eager to jump in the water and start working. She is very competent athletically and was instrumental in gaining video footage and data to help us catalogue a variety of species in Glen Lake.”
“My favorite part of my internship was snorkeling in Glen Lake and diving to the bottom to search for plant samples,” said Suha Augenstein. “I also enjoyed looking for different species of fish and charting what types of plants they congregate around. I learned so much from Rob Karner and Joe Blondia and I am very grateful for this opportunity.”
Know someone that is interested in a 2025 GLA internship? Send an email to contact@glenlakeassociation.org to receive an application. In addition to the activities noted, our interns may also have the opportunity to work on videography, video editing, social media/communications, grant-writing, community relations, and/or education.
GLA Intern Suha Augenstein / Photo by Rob Karner
GLA Intern Suha Augenstein, Dennis Wiand (owner of Zero Gravity), and Intern Sam Morawski / Photo by Rob Karner
