Rebekah Novak (Taylor University, Class of 2025) first came to Au Sable's Great Lakes Campus during the summer of 2024, where she studied Stream Ecology and Restoration Ecology. She later returned as a participant in the Church and Community Conservation (CCC) Internship, a partnership between Au Sable and A Rocha USA. This spring, Rebekah joined the Au Sable team as our Environmental Education and Greenhouse Coordinator. We recently caught up with her to reflect on her experiences and learn what brought her back to campus.
What is your relationship to Au Sable? How did you end up coming here, and what impact did the experience have on you?
My first experience with Au Sable was during the summer of 2024, when I took Stream Ecology and Restoration Ecology. My junior year of college had been incredibly challenging, and despite my best efforts, my plans for a summer internship or job fell through. Feeling discouraged, I decided to enroll in a few classes at Au Sable's Great Lakes Campus.
My professors not only helped me develop practical conservation skills, but also demonstrated what it means to be a faithful steward of creation.
At the time, it felt like a setback, but God used Au Sable and the people there to grow me in both my faith and my understanding of the environment. My professors not only helped me develop practical conservation skills, but also demonstrated what it means to be a faithful steward of creation. The friendships I formed and the supportive community I found here made a lasting impact on me.
Can you tell us about your experience in the Church and Community Conservation Internship?
During the first portion of the internship at Au Sable, I had the opportunity to dive headfirst into environmental education—and I absolutely loved it. Getting to work with students and help them develop a passion for the environment was incredibly rewarding. My favorite topic to teach was macroinvertebrate identification; it's something I wish I had learned as a child.
One of the greatest blessings of the internship was getting to know the other interns. Days spent wrangling students, planting gardens, and having long conversations in the living room created some of my favorite memories from the program.
For the second portion of the internship, I was based in Grand Rapids, where I worked with church congregations to support their conservation goals. I loved having one-on-one conversations with church members and seeing how deeply many people care about creation. Through both experiences, I discovered how much I enjoy connecting with others and sharing my passion for environmental stewardship.
What brought you back to Au Sable, and what are you excited about in your new role?
A lot of things brought me back to Au Sable: the beautiful campus, the wonderful people, the opportunity to continue developing my restoration skills, and the chance to further explore environmental education.
Being away from the fifth-grade students over the winter made me realize just how much I missed teaching and investing in their lives.
Being away from the fifth-grade students over the winter made me realize just how much I missed teaching and investing in their lives. I'm excited to spend more time in environmental education while learning more about greenhouse management and native plant propagation.
Over the past few weeks, I've had the opportunity to teach lessons, plant gardens with students, and care for the plants in our greenhouse. (I've also had the chance to annoy Paul almost every day, which has been pretty fun!)
This summer, I'm looking forward to watching sunsets over Big Twin Lake, spotting muskrats and beavers around Beaver Pond, and getting to know the students, staff, and community members who call Au Sable home.
