Spotlight: Michael De La Parra Gurr, 2026 Interpretive Center Summer Intern

The Interpretive Center’s newest alumnus is Michael De La Parra Gurr, who recently completed a Fairmount Water Works Educator Internship as part of his senior year project at Temple University.

Driven by passions for ecology, urban studies, and people, Michael found the internship fit perfectly into his senior year. The experience allowed him to build on his environmental knowledge and apply theories learned in the classroom to interactions with individuals from all walks of life.

Read Michael’s full interview below.

What passions influenced you to join the Fairmount Water Works team?

I have three passions that guide my work: ecology, urban studies, and people. I was excited to start here at Fairmount Water Works because I saw it as the perfect intersection of my interests. Water, as I see now, is inherently intersectional and is a key part of any system or industry.

What is your favorite memory of working at Fairmount Water Works?

My favorite memory that I have from working here is the day I spent with the Mussel Hatchery team out on the Delaware River doing mussel surveys – it’s an experience that can’t really be replicated. I also have good memories of working with the education team. Interesting conversations were never hard to come by.

What skills did you gain or strengthen from your internship?

My internship was the perfect complement to my senior year for many reasons. I was able to apply theory from my communication, management, and leadership courses. As an educator, these are concepts you apply on a daily basis, and our role at Fairmount Water Works allows us to interact with all varieties of people and personalities. Being able to grow and test my environmental knowledge was also very meaningful, and I learned so much about our watershed ecosystem.

What advice do you have for future Fairmount Water Works interns?

My advice for future interns is to not feel the need to silo yourself into any field or industry. What I have found most beneficial is to seek experiences that fuel my curiosity and help me develop new ways of thinking.

Choose one word to sum up your internship at Fairmount Water Works.

If I had to choose just one word to describe my internship, it would be intersectional. As cliché as it sounds, I couldn’t think of a better way of exemplifying what our watershed means, what Fairmount Water Works represents, and what the way forward should look like.