The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) said farewell to a cadre of its latest cohort of summer science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) interns with a poster showcase and certificate presentation ceremony, July 25.
Upon their arrival to campus, incoming summer interns are partnered with volunteer university faculty, and assigned projects that focus on areas of national security, such as computer science, space systems, renewable energy, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR), and the modeling of virtual environments, among many others.
The results of their research were shared with NPS faculty, staff and students during the showcase by way of posters set up in the courtyard of Glasgow Hall.
After the catastrophic wildfires that recently ravaged the state of California, Annabell Norman, a Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program (SEAP) intern from York School, investigated global climate system patterns and how they are associated with dry/wildfire-favorable and wet/wildfire-unfavorable conditions.
“I was interested in the meteorological influence on national security,” said Norman, who researched what global variables might be used to predict these conditions at subseasonal to seasonal lead times.
“I feel like this internship gave me a great foundation for future research,” she continued.
Following the poster presentations, all interns and observers filed into a nearby lecture hall for a few in-depth presentations by select interns. University President retired Vice Adm. Ann E. Rondeau and NPS Dean of Research Dr. Jeffrey Paduan briefly spoke to the interns about their summer at NPS and what the future holds before presenting each with a certificate.
NPS' STEM internship program partners with the Office of Naval Research to bring high school and college students onto campus for 6-10 weeks over the summer through Naval Research Enterprise Internship Program and SEAP. In addition, the university hosts Midshipmen from the U.S. Naval Academy as well as cadets from the U.S. Military and Air Force academies, and maintains active relationships with California State University Monterey Bay and regional high schools. NPS also has a long-standing partnership with nearby Hartnell Community College providing opportunities for students from the Salinas Valley.