Lukasik-Drescher Interned with Friends of Saguaro National Park
10/12/2023 3:10:00 PM | Women's Rowing
Electrical engineering major applies studies to benefit her home state
Sacred Heart University rowing sophomore Doria Lukasik-Drescher was featured on the SHU student spotlight website.
Lukasik-Drescher used the knowledge and skills she acquired in her studies at SHU to benefit Saguaro National Park in Tucson, AZ, over the summer. As part of her adventure, she interned with Friends of Saguaro National Park through the National Science Foundation's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) program and even got to work closely with a SHU alum.
Lukasik-Drescher, 20, of Marana, AZ, learned at the end of her freshman year that she was chosen for the federally funded S-STEM scholarship, which provides annual tuition assistance for academically talented students. The electrical engineering major in SHU's School of Computer Science & Engineering and member of the women's rowing team was thrilled to learn about the grant and the internship experience that came along with it.
For more than two months, Lukasik-Drescher worked with Friends of Saguaro National Park, a nonprofit group created to help protect the Sonoran Desert, where the park is located. "I was really excited for this opportunity," Lukasik-Drescher said. "It was a chance to get an internship and do volunteer work to help a community."
She aided the national park with facilities and trail maintenance, as well as resource management. She helped design and install lighting systems on work trucks and buildings and assisted in setting up Wi-Fi at the park's visitor center. She also helped maintain and rehabilitate trails, completed a high-elevation research survey and participated in community outreach and engagement events with members of the Tohono O'odham and Pascua Yaqui tribes.
Lukasik-Drescher worked long days in the hot sun helping her colleagues develop pollinator habitats and create walking paths. She camped out in the wilderness, learned about diverse plants and animals, and often helped come up with solutions to problems on the spot. All of it fit in with her future plans. "As an engineer, it will be my job to innovate, to create, to make life easier for people," Lukasik-Drescher said.
This was her first college internship, and Lukasik-Drescher said she was grateful for the S-STEM program and her professors and advisors for urging her to apply.
"A federal grant scholar gave back to her community in Arizona by working at a national park and showing kids how what it is like to be an engineer," said Tolga Kaya, professor and director of the engineering program in the Jack Welch College of Business & Technology. "She is a role model to future generations and I'm sure her hard work will be remembered."
Players Mentioned
