Samantha Ketter and Jesse Young, IPED class of 2026, have the opportunity to intern at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Samantha works as a Programme Assistant at the UNDP. As a Programme Assistant, she began on a team focused on National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), where she worked on projects related to implementing NBSAP-aligned conservation efforts. She compiled information on new institutional and non-state members, reviewed project proposals, extracted details from the current website, worked on a new structure, and assessed updated website images. Samantha has recently transitioned to a UNDP Nature Hub team, where she is responsible for reviewing the restoration policies of member countries. Her current assignment involves researching national and regional restoration initiatives, analyzing country-specific goals, and compiling relevant policy and project information. She analyzes restoration commitments, identifies trends in policy implementation, and helps refine strategies to strengthen global restoration efforts.
Meanwhile, Jesse is working on maintaining and updating the UN Biodiversity Lab (UNBL) global layers toolkit, which public and national government agencies can use to help plan sustainable development goals. Also, he provides miscellaneous support for conference presentations, and translations of materials the UNBL website.
