Tag Archives: 2018

A Postcard From: Mariam Haider ’18

Posted on by

Name: Mariam Haider
Class Year: 2018
Major: Biology
Hometown: Hanover Park, Ill.

Internship Placement: Summer Science Research
Job Title: Research assistant
Location: Bryn Mawr College

What’s happening at your internship?

I am researching under Dr. Monica Chander on an endogenously produced redox-active antibiotic in the bacteria Streptomyces coelicolor. We are looking at a transcription factor, SoxR, which regulates a small set of genes that protect the bacteria from self-toxicity by the antibiotic. My project is to distinguish what molecule(s) may activate SoxR in the antibiotic biosynthesis pathway.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied for Summer Science because it’s an excellent stepping stone into the research field, and I have been fortunate enough to work on an interesting topic in Dr. Chander’s lab. Dr. Chander’s lab tackles experiments in a multidisciplinary fashion and I want to learn how to research by her example.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced at your internship?

My biggest challenge is asking for clarification when I do not understand something. This issue has always been a struggle for me, and I am learning daily how to overcome this challenge in lab.

What is most rewarding about your internship?

The most rewarding thing about my internship is finishing an experiment and understanding that my work for this summer and this year will be read by future researchers with Dr. Chander, and hopefully will be of some aid.

A Postcard From: Hezel Gadzikwa ’18

Posted on by

Name: Hezel Gadzikwa
Class Year: 2018
Major: Mathematics
Hometown: Guruve, Zimbabwe

Internship Placement: Research Assistant
Location: Bryn Mawr College

What’s happening at your internship?

This summer, I am a research assistant for a professor at the University of Pennsylvania in the Finance department. The first part of my research was mostly “data scrapping” for a research paper on the effects of mergers and acquisitions on stock prices. The last part of my internship involves a substantial amount of literature review on covered interest rate parity. After the 2008 great financial crisis, CIP, which has been described as the closest thing to a physical law in Finance, was lost, and my research focuses on the reasons as why this “law” that was used in International currency trade has deviated.

Why did you apply for this internship?

After having a very interesting semester in my financial derivatives class at the University of Pennsylvania, I decided to further satisfy my curiosity as to the role that the financial sector played in the crash of the stock market in 2008. The great financial crisis had many negative impacts and has caused significant monetary policy changes worldwide.

What is something you have learned from your internship that you didn’t expect?

I never really anticipated how frustrating research can be when you are definitely trying to come up with a convincing argument as to why what you think is important. Literature reviews and discerning what is important also requires extensive research and understanding of what you are studying. So in order to understand a concept, I have to research various projects and also look into what other professionals have to say about it.

What is most rewarding about your internship?

After graduating from Bryn Mawr in 2018, I plan on going to graduate school and I think getting some research experience is key to being a successful graduate candidate. I also love how much I learn about the different companies I research and the continuous enrichment of my finance knowledge.

A Postcard From: Victoria Culton ’18

Posted on by

Name: Victoria Culton
Class Year: 2018
Major: International Studies
Hometown: Atlanta, Ga.

Internship Placement: Control Risks
Job Title: Global Risks Analysis Team Intern
Location: New York, N.Y.

What’s happening at your internship?

Control Risks is a risk management consultancy that mainly focuses on security and political risk. I work on the Global Risks Analysis team, and I just finished a threat assessment for a client’s building. For the threat assessment, I gather data and make a report summarizing my analysis of the potential direct and indirect threats to the client. I also recently researched lawyers for a client that could potentially need legal counsel.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied to this internship because the focus of the company aligned with my interest. I knew I wanted to work for a consulting agency this summer to gain experience in that field. Control Risks was perfect. It has elements of political science, international affairs, and business. When I saw they had an internship for the Global Risks Analysis team, I knew I wanted to work there.

Living in a new city? What has that experience been like for you?

Living in New York City has been a great experience. I lived here last summer for the first time, but since returning I have been able to explore more of the 5 boroughs than I had originally done. I love how easy it is to get around the city and how close in proximity everything is.

What is most rewarding about your internship?

I think the most rewarding part of my internship was the most recent threat assessment, which was a team effort. This assessment was really important to my supervisor and it took a lot of hours to complete. When we finished and I was able to look back and see all of the work that we had completed, I was really proud of myself.

 

A Postcard From: Nayanthi Peiris ’18

Posted on by

Name: Nayanthi Peiris
Class Year: 2018
Major: Economics
Hometown: Colombo, Sri Lanka

Internship Placement: Global Fund for Children
Job Title: Programs Intern
Location: Washington, D.C.

What’s happening at your internship?

At the Global Fund for Children (GFC), the interns are immediately fully incorporated into the systems and processes. Thus, I have been able to attend staff meetings and be a part of the work that goes into running a nonprofit and GFC in particular, which has provided me with the great opportunity of gaining an insight into the inner workings of a nonprofit organization. I have also been able to attend an event at the World Bank on the economic impact of child marriage, which was extremely enlightening.

This summer there are two interns at GFC and we have been assigned a few joint projects to tackle together as well as individual projects that were assigned to us based on our interests. Accordingly, I have been working with the Asia regional team conducting preliminary scouting research on South Asia. I will also be writing a few blog posts to highlight the work of GFC’s grantee partners in the region.

Moreover, I have also been working on creating a composite index and conducting regression analysis to measure the effectiveness of the specific services GFC provides to their grantees.

Some of the joint projects include putting together certificates and welcome packets to send to all of GFC’s partners for the financial year 2016 and taking on a project to assess and propose methods to improve the level of health and wellbeing in the workplace.

Why did you apply for this internship?

In the process of researching and applying for internships, I came to realize that I had been subconsciously filtering out most for-profit companies and that a vast majority of the places I had chosen to apply to were in the nonprofit arena. I then remembered that a couple of my friends had told me about their summer internship at Global Fund for Children and that it was a LILAC affiliated internship. I started looking into GFC and the work they do and was drawn in by their model of fundraising and financing grassroots organizations on the ground. On speaking to my friends who had done this internship and hearing them speak so positively about their experiences, I decided to apply.

Living in a new city? What has that experience been like for you?

Living in D.C. has been an exciting experience so far. Although my time here has been riddled with more than its fair share of housing complications, I have also been able to reconnect with some former Mawrters, and explore parts of D.C. I had not been to before. Although the complications that arose regarding my accommodation for the summer were extremely taxing at the time, in retrospect I came to the realization that it resulted in me improving my problem solving skills.

For the remainder of my time here I look forward to further exploring the city, meeting up with new and old friends and finding more great restaurants.

Can you talk about the skills you are learning and why they are important to you?

Through my work at GFC I have been able to further improve my statistical and data analysis knowledge. Prior to this internship I had taken a couple of classes on statistics and econometrics, and I was extremely excited by the prospect of being able to apply that knowledge to solve real world problems. I am hoping that this practical knowledge will come in handy when I write my thesis next semester as well as when I am on the job search next year.

Due to the independence we are given as interns and the level of self motivation that is required, I have also been able to work on getting rid of my tendency to procrastinate as well as develop capabilities such as setting my own deadlines and meeting them.

Overall, my experience at GFC has been a great experience thus far and I look forward to learning more during my remaining weeks with GFC.

A Postcard From: Theresa Diffendal ’18

Posted on by

Name: Theresa Diffendal
Class Year: 2018
Major: Comparative Literature
Hometown: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Internship Placement: Au’Loni Magazine
Job Title: Editor and Staff Writer
Location: Philadelphia, Pa.

What’s happening at your internship?

As the Editor and Staff Writer for Au’Loni Magazine, I am primarily responsible for writing 3-5 articles a month to be submitted to and then published on Au’Loni’s website, aulonimagazine.com. Au’Loni Magazine is dedicated to highlighting game-changers, entrepreneurs, and innovators in every industry, so my articles largely center on small business owners, startups, and events that would interest or benefit them. For instance, I have interviewed an 8-year-old who owns her own lemonade business, the youngest individual to own a sports franchise in the U.S., a man who only employs formerly incarcerated individuals, and an event held by Philadelphia Assembled on co-ops for economic sovereignty in gentrified areas. I am also responsible for running a mini social media campaign; I post on the company’s Facebook and Instagram accounts two or three times a week.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I am interested in pursuing a career in journalism after college and, as it is the last summer before I graduate, I knew I wanted an internship that would allow me to write articles and be published. I was aiming for more of a news internship, but I’m happy to have published works on topics on which I haven’t writer before.

Was this internship what you expected it to be?

I expected the internship, as the magazine is for and about entrepreneurs, to glorify making lots of money. I did not necessarily want to write about those who profit from capitalism and the exploitation of others. So I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find that my boss has encouraged me to research those who have a philanthropical side, such as the man who owns a sports franchise and uses his revenue to aid his hometown of Flint, Mich., during the water crisis, or under-represented communities, such as people of color and those disenfranchised by the school-to-prison pipeline.

A Postcard From: Helen Whitty ’18

Posted on by

Name: Helen Whitty
Class Year: 2018
Major: Geology
Hometown: Silver Spring, Md.

Internship Placement: Paleomagnetism Laboratory
Job Title: Research Assistant
Location: Bryn Mawr College

This summer, under the guidance of my mentor, Professor Arlo Weil, I’m continuing to explore questions regarding micro-scale deformation in sedimentary rocks caused by tectonic stresses. Last summer, I traveled to Argentina to collect data and rock samples from two systems of mountain ranges, called the Sierras Pampeanas and the Precordillera. Since then, I’ve been running numerous magnetic experiments on the cores we collected, in an attempt to determine what factors control the deformation styles seen in these orogenic systems. As this is a position I hold during the school year, it’s great to be able to continue my research throughout the summer, thanks to the Summer Science Research program here at BMC.

The most exciting part of this summer so far has been the way in which it has shaped my understanding of geologic research and why we pursue it. Two years ago, when I started working in the paleomag lab, I quickly became enchanted with the idea of scientific research as a possible career path for myself. My work there gave me a sense of pride. My self-confidence skyrocketed. Eventually, though, I began to question what impact, if any, the results of such research would have on my community. I began to feel like I was putting a lot of my resources into a pursuit that means very little to anyone other than me and my boss and a few other structural geologists.

But, this summer, through conversations with both avid rock-lovers and non-geologists alike, I’ve uncovered several satisfying justifications for why I have not been wasting myself on this research. And these realizations have led me to new questions — about the ways in which scientists communicate their findings, as well as how we approach scientific education in elementary and middle schools — which have ushered me into new networks of people who are exploring ways to make science education more accessible for young folks, especially for those who belong to demographics that are continually underrepresented in STEM fields. Now, more than ever, I’m excited to fold these questions into the process of writing my senior thesis, which will be a challenging yet personally meaningful culmination of my time spent in the paleomag lab.

A Postcard From: Diamond Ray ’18

Posted on by

Name: Diamond Ray
Class Year: 2018
Major: Linguistics, Minor in Spanish
Hometown: Philadelphia

Internship Placement: American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania  (ACLUPA)
Job Title: Intern in Legal Intake, Duvall Project, and Development
Location: JFK Boulevard, Philadelphia

What’s happening at your internship?

I actually just finished my internship earlier this week. While there I did many different things. I worked with legal intake, which involved me reading legal complaints and summarizing them for the legal department. I often read letters, emails, and had phone conversations with people who felt that their constitutional rights had been violated. This aspect of the job was both interesting and emotionally exhausting. I learned how to speak on the phone with people who felt that they had been wronged by their country. Although I was afraid at first I became comfortable engaging in these sometimes unforgettable exchanges. I also worked with reproductive rights which, which was the Duvall Project. This included collecting data on state representatives and legislation as a means of strategizing the next steps in lifting abortion bans and other issues associated with women’s health. I tabled at the HIV/AIDS Prevention Summit and the Prison Healthcare and Reentry Summit at the convention center. Lastly, I helped the development department by taking minutes at the bi-monthly ACLUPA executive board meetings.

Why did you apply for this internship?

As a low-income Black undergraduate from Philadelphia, I have experienced the positive and negative effects of government legislation for the better and worse. I have worked with advocacy and social justice before as a Community Diversity Assistant, and as a facilitator for Dimensions of Diversity. These experiences taught me that civil rights and social justice were always important to me. I applied to intern with the ACLU because I was interested in learning the nuts and bolts of this type of work on a statewide scale.

Was there anything special about how you found this internship?

Prior to hearing about this opportunity I had never heard of the ACLU. Immediately after starting I learned how instrumental the organization was and continues to be in protecting the civil rights of Americans.

Can you give us three adjectives and three nouns that describe your internship experience?

Deliberate, relentless, patient and freedom, dissent, power

A Postcard From: Christa Schmidt ’18

Posted on by

Name: Christa Schmidt
Class Year: 2018
Major: Psychology and International Studies
Hometown: Hong Kong

Internship Placement: Children’s Bilingualism Research Center, The Chinese
University of Hong Kong
Job Title: Intern
Location: Hong Kong

What’s happening at your internship?

Since mid May I’ve been working at the Children’s Bilingualism Research Center at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. The overall purpose of the institute is to research language acquisition for children in the languages Mandarin, Cantonese, and English. Although the days are long, I really look forward to going to work everyday because everyday we’re doing something interesting and new! I’ve been put on a couple different projects, which have really showed me the different facets of research in this field! For example, we did language testing on kids from a kindergarten in Hong Kong on all three languages. I was very fortunate to administer one of the tests and we’re still working on the results from this test. Another project that I’ve tagged along on is that they’re creating a Mandarin playgroup curriculum and I’ve been assisting one of my coworkers on this. Although I’m not as involved in this, it’s been intriguing to see what it’s like to create a curriculum from more of a research standpoint.

Why did you apply for this internship?

Being a psychology major, I’ve been intrigued by the possibility of pursuing research as a career. I really wanted to get a research internship this summer so that I could get a glimpse into the research world to see if this is something I enjoy. From this experience, I can say I’m definitely interested in pursuing research and would really like to continue this path. I applied to this specific institute because they are on the only institute specifically researching these three languages, where these languages hold a special place in my heart. I’ve studied these languages almost all of my life and this internship allowed me perfectly to combine my language and research interests.

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

To be really honest, every part of this internship has been my favorite part. From going out to do recordings, to running tests on kids, to being in the office doing transcriptions, I really can say that I have enjoyed every part. It’s all been just like a roller coaster with no down point and a ride that I don’t want to end. Of all the work that I’ve been doing, I really can say that I’ve enjoyed it all. Outside of the work I’ve taken part in, I have really enjoyed the people I’ve been working with. My bosses and coworkers have been nothing but helpful, positive, supportive, understanding, empathetic and just such nice people. They have created a work environment that is inclusive and inviting, making me excited everyday to go in to see them all. I really appreciate the guidance and support I’ve received from them all.

Was this internship what you expected it to be?

I don’t have any experience working in a lab before this summer, so I didn’t really have any preconceived thoughts to create an expectation for this internship. However, one thing is that the ways they acquire research is different than what I’ve been exposed to from my classes at BMC. For example, one way that they conduct their research is through recording kids and transcribing the data. Before starting this internship, I didn’t know researchers used this type of methodology. It’s difficult work, but interesting!

A Postcard From: Catherine Bunza ’18

Posted on by

Name: Catherine Bunza
Class Year: 2018
Major: Growth & Structure of Cities
Hometown: Ridgewood, N.J.

Internship Placement: New York Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center
Job Title: Data Analyst Intern, Population Oral Health
Location: New York, N.Y.

What’s happening at your internship?

At NYPH and CUMC, I am extremely excited to have jumped on board with staff in Population Oral Health in conducting research in finding a correlation between the growth of hookah lounges and stores in Northern Manhattan with the recent influx of gentrifying populations in those neighborhoods. Hookah, also known as shisha, nargile, hubble-bubble, or waterpipe, is an alternative tobacco product that is commonly flavored and smoked socially. It remains largely unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration despite recent federal efforts to ban flavored tobacco. Hookah use is on the rise within younger populations, as using hookah has nearly 36 times more nicotine and higher concentrations of heavy metals than cigarettes. Although smoking of cigarettes has been steadily decreasing within younger populations, in recent years, there has been a surprising increase in the purchasing and utilizing of hookah and hookah paraphernalia within the population of young Dominican men in Northern Manhattan, especially in the Inwood, Washington Heights, and Central Harlem neighborhoods. In my internship, I have also had the opportunity to learn how to use GIS (Geographic Spatial Information) for analyzing relevant data sets. By using and transforming data in GIS, I have been able to establish relationships with this growth in hookah use and hookah stores in specific neighborhoods in Northern Manhattan.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I am interested in evaluating how the health of populations are influenced by other factors, particularly social determinants of health, within urban environments. This position at NYPH and CUMC has given me the opportunity to expand my knowledge of how social determinants of health influence urban populations, especially when evaluating new trends in these populations. I have also never had the opportunity to engage with this topic of smoking and alternative smoking trends in previous courses at Bryn Mawr and within the consortiums, so to be able to obtain hands-on experience in this field has been immensely valuable to my future studies in public health.

What is something you have learned from your internship that you didn’t expect?

When starting this internship, I did not expect the severity of hookah use within younger populations and the severity of infiltration of hookah use in Northern Manhattan neighborhoods. It is important to understand the shift in smoking trends, as hookah and alternative tobacco use will become an increasing problem for youths as most people do not understand the health effects of hookah. In fact, nearly 72 percent of teens do not understand the damaging health effects of hookah use and many teens believe it is socially acceptable to smoke it.

Can you talk about the skills you are learning and why they are important to you?

During my summer internship, I have gained invaluable skills within this field of public health, particularly in how to compartmentalize my work and how to become more attentive to detail, as I am working with specific data sets of populations and neighborhoods. Additionally, I had the opportunity to learn GIS, where I was able to learn the operating system and how to apply the mapping of hookah and alternative tobacco use stores within this system for analysis.

A Postcard From: Emily Kampmeyer ’18

Posted on by

Name: Emily Kampmeyer
Class Year: 2018
Major: Geology
Concentration: Geochemistry
Hometown: Harleysville, Pa.

Internship Placement: Bryn Mawr Summer Science Research
Job Title: Research Assistant
Location: Bryn Mawr College

Ferrihydrite synthesis, pre- and post-filtration. The vial is full of ferrihydrite — the culmination of this summer and last summer’s synthesis efforts

What’s happening at your internship?

Hello from the exotic, far-away land of Park Science’s Geology wing! This summer I have been working on a few projects. One is synthesizing ferrihydrite and goethite in the lab, in order to mimic minerals on Mars. It is in the plans to submit different ratios of the minerals to study under X-ray Diffraction (XRD). Another deals with digitizing the mapped points of samples of Bryn Mawr’s Rock and Mineral Collection. The maps themselves are up to century old, sometimes ripped and taped up. This side project categorizes them all into a single Google Earth file to ensure that the sample locations and information outlive their deteriorating physical counterparts. The third project is still in the preliminary research stages — synthesizing ultramarine blue paint pigment with coal fly ash (a waste byproduct of coal-fired power plants). I’m currently amassing a methodology and figuring out what materials I need in order to perform the experiment. Luckily, through the magic of networking in academia, I’ve been able to get in touch with a governmental employee who deals with regulating the ash!

Why did you apply for this internship?

Out of the three projects, the pigment synthesis is the one I am spearheading on my own. This internship gives me the opportunity to pursue my own brand of research. In this specific instance, it allows me to bridge the gap between science and art (to an extent), which is a topic I am very passionate about. As someone who is still debating whether or not to move on to graduate school, I felt it would be practical to test out whether or not research was what I wanted to do with my life. Regardless of that outcome, the experience is invaluable.

What is something you have learned from your internship that you didn’t expect?

I’ve learned to be patient, and to not expect results immediately. From the photo, you can see that even with the combined efforts of the current and last summer’s research, there has been a very slow accumulation of product. There’s only 23 grams, so far (5 of which have been my contribution). It’s completely possible that we will not be able to reach all of our research goals this summer. It’s been a process learning that while that fact is frustrating, it’s OK! Good science is not rushed science. Sometimes you just have to take what you get.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced at your internship?

The biggest challenge has been working independently, which is something I hadn’t realized would be an issue. Last year I worked on mostly the same projects, but within a group. This summer, it’s slightly more difficult because I have to make my own deadlines and stick to them or else I’ll fall apart. There was a sort of power in the group-held accountability that I had not realized was very important to my work ethic. But it’s something I can work with.