Nate Winstanley ‘04

Major:

American Studies

Winstanley is known for his active service as Class of 2004 representative in College Council.

As a senior American Studies major, he found this Winter Study to be a great opportunity to explore his interests. Winstanley worked with the New York City Mayor’s Office of Environmental Coordination (MOEC). MOEC coordinates city agencies’ environmental review responsibilities, assesses the overall environmental effects of any city project, and advises the mayor on environmental policy.

“I read a lot of legal documents and had to go over the Environmental Review Code thoroughly,” said Winstanley. “It’s not just about trees. It’s assessing, for example, the impact of 5,000 new residents on the surrounding environment.” According to Winstanley, “environment” here meant the entire surrounding area, including schools, residential structures, etc. When engaging in construction projects, the city had to follow strict “shadow policies,” literally. There are apparently many restrictions on where and how long certain shadows of buildings and trees fall on the ground, so as to promote an optimal environment. “It’s amazing, the amount of regulation there is,” Winstanely said.

Winstanley worked 3-4 full days every week during the month. He shadowed his boss and attended environmental review policy meetings regularly. He also went to public hearings. “It was a great experience. I had never done law stuff before, so it was interesting to see what people in that area do,” he said.

Outside of his internship, Winstanley was excited about the chance to do some exploring. “I went to museums, watched Rent on Broadway, and enjoyed the seminars given by Professor Jackall,” he said. Jackall would sometimes set up seminars with guest lecturers. “Once, we had two former detectives come in and give us a tour of the old crackhouses in the south Bronx area,” Winstanely enthused.

“Professor Jackall knows so much about New York. He told us so many stories. You can tell that he loves New York, he loves what he does, and it shows,” Winstanley said. “He’s also obsessed with good food, so we had many of our classes over dinner. I found it interesting to talk about how different our experiences were.”

Winstanley also expressed his support for a full semester version of the Williams-in-New-York program. “It’s such a great idea,” he said. “Williamstown is a great place, but New York has resources that you can’t get anywhere else. Williams still wins out, but it is always interesting to mix it up.”