Eleven students worked this past fall in organizations ranging from the U.S. Department of Justice to Defenders of Wildlife, gaining experience not available in a classroom setting through the (PCIP).
Internships empower our students to translate their liberal arts education into real-world experiences and further develop their interpersonal and technical skills, says , assistant director for experiential learning and career advising in the .
The internship program is a valuable resource for students pursuing opportunities that historically have been unpaid, providing a generous stipend. The students also receive support in finding internships and navigating the experience, says Contreras.
These immersive opportunities are critical in their career development, she notes, helping each individual gain insight into their industries of interest, develop meaningful connections with industry professionals and inform them of their next steps.
Gage Wrye 25: Leading a team developing AI models
Gage Wrye is a U.S. Navy veteran majoring in computer science. During his fall internship he served as a machine learning research lead at the University of California, San Diego in the mangrove monitoring team within the Engineers for Exploration lab. During the summer Wrye had worked in the lab developing a visual classification model for mangroves. They liked what I did, so they gave me the opportunity to continue as a team lead, he says.
Wrye led a group of undergraduate and graduate students developing AI models. They are investigating methods for satellite super-resolution so that we can generate high-resolution images from satellite imagery, he says. This work aims to enable accurate monitoring of vegetation from space.
Wrye notes that he had never led a team before this internship. The experience helped him learn how to guide research through a team he builds and organizes. He plans to pursue a doctorate and to continue doing research.
May Ling Roberts 25: Building awareness of wildlife needs
May Ling Roberts used her internship to help protect imperiled species across the continental U.S. through the conservation of habitats and by researching and developing policies that state and local organizations can implement.
I resonate with opportunities that are highly impactful and use applied sciences to achieve a goal, says Roberts, who is majoring in biology and environmental analysis. I enjoy applying ecological research towards changing land management strategies to be more aware of wildlife needs, she adds, noting that collaborating with stakeholders has been rewarding.
Maya Zhan 26: Improving data privacy
Maya Zhan, a philosophy, politics and economics major, secured a remote internship with the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Dont Sell My Data campaign following a discussion in which she shared her understanding of data mining and its implications for a society that values political freedom.
I wrote articles for PIRGs data privacy initiatives, developed advocacy strategies and wrote think pieces about our decentralized digital landscape, Zhan says. I have written about how pharmaceutical and telehealth companies pay influencers to advertise on social media without proper disclosure. She also authored a think piece about how the TikTok algorithm impacts the way we consume information.
In her future career, Zhan aims to work in public policy research, political advocacy and magazine journalism. Her internship gave her the opportunity to combine political strategy and research with the freedom to explore my own ideas. It has, she says, taught me the necessity of accounting for different ideological perspectives when framing salient issues.