Hello! 

I am Katherine Koenig and in this last statehouse session I was the policy advocacy intern for Save the Dunes. I am currently a master’s student at Indiana University Bloomington where I am studying Public Affairs and Environmental Science. 

I wanted to intern with Save the Dunes because of their dedication to protecting public lands and because of their partnership with the Indiana Dunes National Park. While at the Statehouse, I advocated for protecting the Indiana Dunes State Park and the Indiana Dunes National Park, along with helping to promote clean water and air in Indiana. 

Some of the bills I worked on include Senate Bill 277, where we worked to help decrease some harmful language related to water pollution. Changing this language was especially important for us, especially with the dunes being connected to Lake Michigan. We also worked to protect the Indiana Dunes National Park by advocating for the potential building of the Chicago Bears’ new stadium to be in a location that was not located in the National Park. 

This internship was a learning experience for me where I was able to connect with senators and other environmental organizations. The support that the environmental organizations gave me, along with the Save the Dunes staff (especially Harshini) helped prepare me to feel confident at the statehouse and that I had a team of others working towards a shared goal of helping protect the environment. 

One of the main aspects I learned in this internship was to not be afraid to put myself in uncomfortable situations when working to protect public lands. At times I faced push back in the statehouse and navigating these conversations, which more often than not were misunderstandings about policy, was one of the greatest learning experiences I could have gotten. 

Interning for Save the Dunes has helped me grow more confident in my understanding of the Indiana Dunes State Park and Indiana Dunes National Park, and I am very grateful to have been able to have this opportunity to advocate for the dunes.