{"id":7129,"date":"2021-11-16T09:28:56","date_gmt":"2021-11-16T15:28:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=7129"},"modified":"2021-11-16T09:28:56","modified_gmt":"2021-11-16T15:28:56","slug":"uw-la-crosse-summer-internships-with-jf-brennan-create-hands-on-experiences","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/uw-la-crosse-summer-internships-with-jf-brennan-create-hands-on-experiences\/","title":{"rendered":"UW-La Crosse summer internships with JF Brennan create hands-on experiences"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Photo
Peyton Paulson, a senior geography major at UWL, traveled across the Midwest conducting bathymetric surveys as part of an internship with JF Brennan this summer. The internship helped him land a full-time job with the La Crosse-based company following his graduation in December.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Peyton Paulson\u2019s summer included visits to seven states and two Great Lakes. But he wasn\u2019t your usual tourist, and this wasn\u2019t your usual road trip.<\/p>\n

Paulson,\u00a0a senior geography major at UWL<\/a>, was conducting bathymetric surveys for JF Brennan, a La Crosse-based company specializing in construction, environmental services and harbor management.<\/p>\n

As part of his summer internship with Brennan, Paulson helped the survey team gather data about various bodies of water \u2014 information that can be used for everything from studying aquatic life, to predicting currents and rip tides, to monitoring the effects of climate change.<\/p>\n

Paulson\u2019s work with Brennan served one other purpose: It helped him discover his passion and land a full-time job following his graduation in December.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to gain some real-world experience that was related to my field of study \u2026 and found JF Brennan while looking around on the internet,\u201d Paulson says. \u201cThe goal of this internship was to find a career that interested me and would allow me to put the skills I learned in school to use. I accomplished that goal and more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paulson\u2019s travels took him to Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, South Dakota, Nebraska and Missouri, as well as to Lake Huron and Lake Superior.<\/p>\n

He learned how to use single-beam and multi-beam sonar, GPS equipment and hydrographic\/dredging software integral to Brennan\u2019s work. He also helped on dredging projects in West Salem, Albert Lea and Duluth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best thing about this kind of work is that every job is a little different, and there is always more to learn,\u201d Paulson notes. \u201cI also enjoy that much of your workday is spent outside on a boat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike Wyatt, survey group manager for Brennan, says Paulson has been an exemplary worker, as have a handful of other UWL alums who have gone on to work with the company.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeyton brought a positive attitude to work each day and was eager to learn and contribute,\u201d Wyatt says. \u201cI\u2019d say his strengths are his ability to learn and catch on quickly, his work ethic and his ability to not stare at his cell phone anytime there is a spare moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe we have six (UWL geography grads) in the survey engineering group. I think their background in geospatial data gives them an edge over others who haven\u2019t had as much exposure to coordinate systems and mapping.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paulson even told one of his classmates, Gavin Bush, about the internship with Brennan, which led to Bush being hired for the summer as well.<\/p>\n

In the office, Bush assisted with making charts and figures for upcoming job proposals.<\/p>\n

In the field, he helped compile daily reports and even performed some surveys.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really enjoyed the opportunity to get out into the field and get some hands-on experience,\u201d Bush says. \u201c(That\u2019s) something that was harder to do in a classroom setting.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Peyton Paulson\u2019s summer included visits to seven states and two Great Lakes. But he wasn\u2019t your usual tourist, and this wasn\u2019t your usual road trip. Paulson,\u00a0a senior geography major at UWL, was conducting bathymetric surveys for JF Brennan, a La Crosse-based company specializing in construction, environmental services and harbor management. As part of his summer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":7131,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[104],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-7129","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-la-crosse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/7129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7129"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=7129"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=7129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}