This summer, NCEI hosted more than 20 interns across our locations
This summer, NCEI is proud to welcome more than 20 interns with backgrounds in fields such as geophysics, biology, meteorology, economics, and legal studies. The interns garnered the opportunity to work alongside and study under NCEI professionals specializing in various disciplines.
In addition to NASA DEVELOP and NCICS, NCEI is proud to partner with EPP/MSI, Hollings, Lapenta, and REU programs to give our interns access to information and materials. The interns in these programs and their projects are highlighted below:
José E. Serrano Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions (EPP/MSI)
EPP/MS supports the training and graduation of students, with a particular focus on increasing participation from traditionally underrepresented minority communities, while also developing eligible candidates to ensure a diverse future workforce for NOAA and related enterprises. This includes advancing post-secondary education and research capacity in atmospheric, oceanic, and environmental sciences, as well as remote sensing technology at minority-serving institutions through competitive awards.
Meet the students working with EPP/MS:
Suzanne West - Mentored by Jared Rennie, Suzanne’s project centered around cloud-based socioeconomic and climate web application at the U.S. census tract level. Suszanne studies Economics and Legal Studies at St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas.
Devin Shaw - Mentored by Rick Saltus and Manoj Nair, Devin worked on Machine-learning prediction of magnetic anomaly maps to aid Alternative Positioning and Navigation. Devin studies geophysics at the University of California Riverside.
Kalimah Muhammad - Mentored by Hernan Garcia, Courtney Bouchard, and Zhankun Wang, Kalimah’s project centered around ocean and coastal O2 variability. Kalimahe is a biology major at Howard University.
Sophie Welch - Also mentored by Hernan Garcia, Courtney Bouchard and Zhankun Wang, Sophie’s project focused on ocean and coastal O2 variability. Sophie studies Marine Biology and Environmental Science at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The William M. Lapenta NOAA Student Internship Program
In 2019, NOAA established the William M. Lapenta Student Internship Program to honor Dr. William Lapenta’s contributions and to support the next generation of scientists. This program offers paid summer internships for second and third-year undergraduates and graduate students, providing hands-on research and operational experience across NOAA’s divisions to prepare them for future roles in NOAA’s mission-driven workforce.
Meet the students working with the Lapenta program:
Mitchell Zotter - Mentored by Ryan Berkheimer, Mitchell developed storm-event-database oriented scientific and stewardship process recipes in jupyter notebooks, along with associated inline training materials, leveraging the new enterprise NOAA Open Information Stewardship Service. Mitchell studies meteorology at the University of Wisconsin Madison.
Julia Lewicki - Mentored by Jennifer Webster and Ebenezer Nyadjro, Julia investigated microplastic ocean/coastal transport connections and potential impacts using NCEI data. Julia studies Environmental Science and Terrestrial Resource Management at the University of Washington.
Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship
The Hollings Scholarship Program offers students up to $9,500 annually for two years, along with a paid summer internship at a NOAA facility. The program provides hands-on experience in NOAA-related fields, travel funds, and housing subsidies, significantly influencing scholars' academic and career paths.
Meet the student working with the Hollings program:
Steven Roche - Mentored by Rick Saltus and Manoj Nair, Steven worked on Magnetic Navigation Algorithm Development. Steven studies geophysics at Boston College.
Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)
The Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program facilitates hands-on research opportunities for undergraduate students in any field supported by the National Science Foundation. REU projects engage students in significant roles within existing research initiatives or in research projects tailored specifically for the program.
Meet the student working with REU:
Wilson Moyer - Mentored by Sam Califf and Manoj Nair, Wilson is investigating magnetic mapping between the high-latitude ionosphere and equatorial magnetosphere using energetic particle measurements and magnetic models. Wilson studies space physics at Princeton University.
Other
Atharva Bhalke - Mentored by Liqing Jiang, Atharva worked on developing oxygen quality control tools. He studies computer science at the University of Maryland.
