**Title**: Energy in the North - Annalise Klein
**Date**: August 21, 2024
**Participants**: Amanda Byrd, Annalise Klein

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;26;11
[Annalise Klein] I used to be a science teacher and there's this classic activity you do and you tell them to draw scientists. And the thing everyone always draws is old man in a lab coat. 

[Amanda Byrd] This week on Energy in the North, I speak with a program architect analyst, crime analyst leads the Alaska Center for Energy and Power's Workforce Development Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She's been working hard to get ready for the influx of 17 new interns for access to internship programs. 

[Annalise Klein] This is the third year that I've been working on the internship program. It's a ten week research program, and it's for undergraduates who are in school in the United States, and they're paired with an eight step mentor to work on some sort of research project. And we have two tracks now, so one is be off track. And that's the traditional one that we've been doing for several years. We they're mostly upperclassmen and they're going to be working on a research project based on applying skills that they've already attained in school. The other one is our Our You program, our research experiences for undergraduates that's funded through the National Science Foundation. And that one is really aimed for students who are coming out of their freshman and sophomore year who haven't ever done a STEM internship before. And so for that one, about 70% of their time is working with their mentor on a project. And the other 30% of their time is doing professional development, the struggles that they might go through, working on a project and how different it is from just a science class that they're doing in college.

00;01;41;25 - 00;02;12;10
[Amanda Byrd] So you mentioned pairing an intern with a mentor. Why is that important? 

[Annalise Klein] You know, there's I used to be a science teacher and there's this classic activity. You do and you tell them to draw scientists. And the thing everyone always draws is this old man in a lab coat. And so having mentorship and having that one on one opportunity over the course of ten weeks to build a relationship and to understand, you know, how did how did you get to where you are professionally? And then also how did you get to where you are right now on a certain project? I've learned about the research cycle or the scientific method in school, But, you know, what does the grant proposal process look like? How do you know what equipment to order? How do you know what data to collect and how to organize it? So it allows students to really get up close and personal to the research that's going on at the university in Energy in Alaska. And it also, I think, expands their idea of the type of energy work that is being done. 

[Amanda Byrd] So this seems a lot of work and risk for the mentors involved. How do they feel about working with a young college student?

00;02;54;01 - 00;03;18;25
[Annalise Klein] The mentors that we have are so excited and willing to engage with students and invest. And so I think having that really close relationship with that mentor is really exciting. 

[Amanda Byrd] So the AUSI program is funded by the Office of Naval Research, and the REU program is funded by the National Science Foundation. What do they and what do you hope to get out of these internship programs?

00;03;18;29 - 00;03;45;22
[Annalise Klein] What I really want out of this program is for students who are in Alaska, who are from Alaska, to be able to see a pathway for themselves in energy in Alaska, if that's what they want. We're providing the competitive opportunity for them, both financially and also intellectually, a way for them to learn and also feel proud and to identify the things that they can contribute based on their lived experience.

00;03;45;24 - 00;04;07;16
[Amanda Byrd] Annalise Klein is a program architect at the Alaska Center for Energy and Power. I'm Amanda Bird, teach storyteller for the Alaska Center for Energy and Power. Find out more stories and information about ACEP at uaf.edu/acep.