 |
|
| Vol.25, No. 01 | Sept. 3, 1999 |
|
|
| Vol.25, No. 01 | Sept. 3, 1999 |
In a quiet lab at Columbia's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Michelle Hsia empties a syringe of phytoplankton into a glass flask connected to a coulometer to measure the amount of carbon dioxide in the liquid. Hsia moves quickly and accurately, the model of a confident scientist.
But Hsia does not have a degree in science—and last May, she had never heard of a coulometer.
Hsia was one of 16 college juniors and seniors who participated in the summer internship program at Lamont. The program draws students from colleges all over the country—such as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where Hsia is enrolled—to spend nine weeks with some of the most premier earth scientists in the world. The students gain valuable lab experience, and the scientists get bright, inquisitive students in their labs.
Working with a renowned marine biologist, Hsia analyzed how much carbon dioxide phytoplankton absorb during day and night cycles. Her project may contribute to future research on the relationship between oceans and global warming. Hsia is not atypical. The interns do such successful scientific research that nearly one-third of them end up publishing abstracts and papers with their advisors, something that even first or second year graduate students may not do with frequency.
This summer's interns were chosen from a pool of 160 applicants. With advisors' research funds and a National Science Foundation grant, the interns were paid just under $2,500 and given free housing on Morningside campus. Their research projects included: studying airborne pollution in New York City neighborhoods, analyzing a sediment core from near the Galapagos Islands and finding clues about past El Niños.
Wendy Wilson, a geology major and computer science minor at Wellesley College, studied how the shape and structure of volcanoes can be used to predict certain volcanic hazards, such as tsunamis, or tidal waves, which can travel thousands of miles and cause extensive damage on coastlines far from the volcanic eruption.
Dallas Abbott, Wilson's summer advisor, has coordinated the Lamont intern program for 10 years. "I'm a verbal thinker, so I get more work done in the lab when I have interns working there. They ask great questions and always find new things in the data," she said.
"Wendy's dual interest in geology and computer science made her perfect for this project," continued Abbott, who is a Lamont researcher and Barnard professor of environmental science. "I'd be thrilled if she came to be a graduate student here."
The internship program was established in 1980 with two goals: to bring motivated students with energy and fresh ideas into a research environment, and to attract them to return as graduate students.
Abbott said that although only a few students per year ended up applying to Lamont as graduate students, many interns do recommend Lamont to their friends and classmates. Every year, she said, the pool of graduate applications reflects the benefits of the intern program, even if most of the communication is by word-of-mouth.
When Wilson decided to apply for the internship, she mentioned it to several of her professors at Wellesley.
"Everyone seemed to have a connection to Lamont," she said. "One of my professors had Dallas as a student when she was at Wellesley, and another professor had actually interned herself here while she was in college. I was strongly encouraged to come here, not just for the opportunity of working closely with Dallas, but because it was fun. And I can definitely say I'm having a fabulous time."
Fun was an assured benefit of the internship, many students agreed. In Columbia housing for the summer, they lived in suites nearby each other. Every Tuesday night they had "Suite Feasts," where students from one suite cooked for the rest of the group.
"It started when I bet one of the other interns that my barbecue chicken was better than his," said Alana Morris, a pre-med major at Xavier College who did a geochemistry project testing air quality in certain city neighborhoods. "We turned it into a tradition."
The group had their final presentation on August 4, and were sad to leave Columbia and Lamont.
"I'm glad I had the opportunity to work in this kind of environment," said Wilson. "I definitely feel this has been my favorite summer in memory."