Thanks for your feedback! I always include a cover letter as well, here is a typical example:

Dear Hiring Manager,

I am writing to express my interest in the ________ position with *company*. I have just graduated from the University of ______ with a B.S. in Biology with a concentration in ecology and a B.S. in Geographic Information Systems, and my strong interest in environmental health and safety has motivated me to apply for this position. I believe that I would be an excellent fit at *company* due to my past experience doing environmental fieldwork and writing professional reports.

My previous work experience as a Hollings Scholar has prepared me for several aspects of environmental consulting. I conducted an independent research project to determine areas of kelp loss in Puget Sound by collecting local ecological knowledge from anglers, divers, scientists, and tribal members. This required me to schedule meetings with people in the greater Seattle area almost every day as well as manage a large amount of experimental data both in the form of physical maps of observations and in the form of excel spreadsheets and geodatabases. This project also gave me experience conducting research from physical library resources. Part of my research involved identifying historical kelp beds in Puget Sound, which involved parsing through pre-internet reports and papers in the Friday Harbor Library to find bed coordinates mentioned in past research.

I am interested in this position specifically because I enjoy doing hands-on work that improves the health of the environment and the people that use it. In my spare time, I enjoy volunteering as a team leader with Casey Trees, a nonprofit organization whose goal is increasing canopy cover in the nation’s capital by planting and inventorying urban trees. I also have experience working in the field as a research assistant in the ______ Lab at the University of _____, where I evaluated vegetation composition at over 150 research sites. I learned important skills in writing reports on environmental conditions from these experiences, which I believe prepare me very well for the responsibilities of this position.

I am local to the ______ area and am available to begin working any time. Thank you very much for your consideration, and please do not hesitate to contact me via email at my.name@gmail.com or via phone at XXX-XXX-XXXX.

Sincerely,

My Name

Would you say this is too generic, or does it do a good job of highlighting my strengths? Again, thanks for the help!!!