Olivia Brogan | AECOM

This summer I interned with the Cultural Resource Group at AECOM. The group overall includes archeologists, GIS specialists, historians, and architectural historians. Over the course of the summer, I had the opportunity to work on tasks with people on each of the different teams. On a day-to-day basis I worked predominantly on researching and organizing data and went into the office three days a week. Being able to go into the office created a very positive environment for me to learn more and interact with everyone. Throughout the summer, I rotated between two of AECOM’s offices: one located in Conshohocken, PA and the other in Burlington, NJ. Both offices housed members of the cultural resource group, so I was very lucky to be able to meet people in both offices.  In most of my tasks, I was able to draw on skills I had learned in classes during my 1st year at Penn. I drew on a lot of skills I learned in HSPV 6000, predominately deed and census research. Through this internship, I was able to improve skills that I had begun to learn during my 1st year at Penn, such as to reading probate inventories and describing historic architecture. I had the opportunity to work some really great people who were always more than happy to answer my questions about work tasks, their career path, or about what I can do moving forward to aid my career goals and interests. Furthermore, there were a couple of people who had gone through Penn’s historic preservation program, so I enjoyed being able to get to know some alumni and see how they have applied their skills and education to their roles at AECOM.