“I have benefited from Yellow Jackets helping me along the way, so I am always happy to give back to Randolph-Macon College in any way I can,” says Stephanie Parker Golembeski ’97.

And give back she does.

Golembeski stays connected to RMC by attending Homecoming and other alumni events, sharing her business expertise at Boot Camp, and mentoring student-interns at Froehling & Robertson, Inc. (F&R), where she is the Business Development Director in Richmond. Established in 1881, F&R is the oldest independent consulting engineering/testing firm in the United States. F&R specializes in geotechnical engineering, construction materials testing/special inspections and environmental consulting.

During January Term (J-term) 2020, Golembeski mentored Benjamin Woodfin ’20, an environmental studies major and ethics minor who interned in F&R’s Environmental Department in Richmond. As she has for the past decade, Golembeski worked with RMC Environmental Studies and Geology Professor Michael Fenster to arrange the internship.

College and Beyond: Partnerships   
Golembeski and Fenster first met when they collaborated on a Schapiro Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) project. At the time, Fenster taught at UVA. Golembeski, who majored in environmental studies and minored in biology, says, “After I graduated, Mike joined the faculty at RMC and eventually became chair of the environmental studies department. We have kept in touch, and I have hosted interns from his department for the past 10 years. It’s been a great partnership—one that illustrates RMC’s tight-knit community.”    

Fenster says, “In my humble opinion, this is how it’s supposed to work… partnerships, networks, students working as professionals, real-world mentors, and established and new relationships all working together synergistically for the good of the whole, each other and the environment. I am especially grateful to Stephanie and F&R for their continued willingness to work with our interns and employ our environmental studies students.”

From Classroom to Fieldwork
“Professor Fenster is my academic advisor and was my internship mentor,” says Woodfin, who has taken eight of Fenster’s classes. “One thing that really stood out to me during my time at F&R was how much my environmental studies courses prepared me for my internship. I arrived at F&R already having experience in collecting water samples, filling out chain of custody forms with Air Water and Soil Laboratories, and calibrating devices to measure pH levels.”

At F&R, Woodfin shadowed Environmental Scientist Lucas Powell ’15, learning about collecting soil and groundwater samples, collecting wastewater samples from industrial sites, and performing Phase I Environmental Site Assessments, underground storage tank removal, and asbestos sampling.   

“Ben got to see firsthand what he has learned in his classes,”says Golembeski. “There really is no substitute for experiencing things personally. You can read and learn about things in class but it’s a whole different level to experience it. You may think you want to do something, but you don’t know for sure until you actually do it—especially in the environmental field, where so much of the work happens outdoors.”

Opportunities and Surprises
“It was an amazing experience to work in an office where two of the seven employees are Yellow Jackets,” says Woodfin. “It was a cool opportunity to compare college experiences and see how the college and curriculum have changed over the years.”

The biggest surprise about the internship? “Each week, the fieldwork we originally planned on doing was shifted around,” he says. “The lack of a set-in-stone schedule was a little uncomfortable at first, but I quickly began to appreciate the team’s flexibility. The department worked together to ensure everything got done. My internship showed me that environmental consulting is the type of work I’d like to pursue after graduation.”

On campus, Woodfin serves as president of the Eta Chapter of Kappa Sigma (a social fraternity) and is a member of the Leadership Fellows program.

“I would tell students who are considering an internship that it was the most rewarding experience I have had at Randolph-Macon College. Traveling to Iceland—in conjunction with Professor Fenster’s Geology of Iceland course—is a very close second!”