University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point senior Stacey Schultz, Sheboygan Falls, remembers reading and collecting National Geographic as a young girl and imagining how great it would be to work for the magazine.

This summer she will live that dream.

The geography major will graduate on May 20, then fly to Washington , D.C. the following day to begin a full-time summer internship with National Geographic�s cartography department. She was one of 10 students chosen from 500 applicants for the summer job.

"I�m excited about this opportunity," she said of the internship, which is a paid position and includes travel expenses. Although she�s not been told her exact duties, she said she would most likely be researching maps, collecting information for map publication on the Internet and working with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), databases of map information. She will work there through August 24.

Two years ago, another UWSP geography student, Tammy Trinoskey, received the internship and is still employed by National Geographic. Although Schultz said she would consider taking a permanent job if one became available, she has applied to graduate schools in anticipation of continuing her study of geography and geomorphology, which tracks the changes of earth over time.

"I enjoy learning about geography and getting others excited about the world around them. Geography is everywhere," Schultz said.

"This is a very prestigious program," said geography Professor Karen Lemke of the internship experience. "One of the main reasons Stacey was a good candidate is that she has constantly sought opportunities to further her geographic education and knowledge outside the traditional classroom."

One of these opportunities was winning a UWSP undergraduate research grant to travel to Apache, Okla., last April to do research on the Chiricahua Apache tribe. One of few geography students to win an undergraduate grant, Schultz later presented her findings on the Chiricahua people and their relationship with the land at UWSP�s first Letters and Science Student Research Symposium.

Schultz added that her volunteer work at Yellowstone also included hiking in secluded areas of the park, maintaining hiking trails, and controlling crowds around wild animals.

At UWSP she traveled on a semester abroad program to Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia. She works for the geography department as a tutor and faculty assistant, is a member of Gamma Theta Upsilon, a national geography honor society, and is secretary of the Geography Club. Last year she earned the department�s Potential as a Geographer Scholarship.

Schultz is the daughter of Rodney and Judy Schultz, W2704 Riverbend Court, Sheboygan Falls, and a 1997 graduate of Sheboygan Falls High School.

-30-

ch/vc/Schultz internship