2022 ACEP Summer Internship
The office is quiet now that our interns have left, but their impacts on ACEP’s research are still very much present. Earlier this summer ACEP welcomed 18 talented students from around the country as part of the summer internship program. Interns had the opportunity to work closely with their ACEP faculty member mentors on specific energy research projects and participated in hands-on research with fieldwork, field trips, and professional development throughout the summer.
Interns had the opportunity to collect and use real data to inform their research work, which is not something that your typical student gets to experience.
“It was eye opening to travel to an Arctic community and be able to see firsthand the behind-the-scenes energy infrastructure that exists and collect on-the-ground data that informed models I was working with.”
Guernsey recently had the opportunity to travel to Kotzebue to collect energy infrastructure data in order to inform her research back in the office.
Interns shared the excitement of taking part in research that affects real-world issues and gaining an out-of-the classroom perspective.
“The opportunity to learn about problems in the real world and see how all these amazing professionals are working together to find solutions was inspiring to see,” said Melody Cosme Morales. “I was able to see things outside of the book and learn how to apply what I learned to real-life energy projects.”
Cosme Morales comes away from her internship with the ability to run different types of optimization models and customize them for different scenarios.
At the end of the internship, interns presented on their projects to their peers and ACEP community as a way to celebrate and share their research findings.
“Seeing my project through from beginning to end and being able to give presentations about my work was really satisfying,” said Cam Twarog. “Intimidating as it was, I am proud of giving a presentation to a group of energy experts from all over the state.”
Twarog presented on his research not only to his peers during his internship but also to a group of statewide renewable energy stakeholders.
Many interns are Alaskans, and they felt a great sense of connection to their work because of the real-life impacts it has on their home state.
“As a lifelong fisherman in Alaska, it is rewarding to be applying my skills to something that directly benefits the future of my home state,” said Maximus Johnson.
This summer Johnson had the opportunity to gather energy use data from a prototype electric gurdy onboard a gill net vessel in Sitka, Alaska.
It was incredibly fulfilling to watch our interns develop their research skills as well as cultivate a strong cohort among themselves and the researchers they worked with. ACEP wishes all of our interns the best of luck in their future pursuits!
The ACEP Undergraduate Student Internship program is generously funded by a grant from the Office of Naval Research.
For more information on the AUSI program and the various projects, please contact Jeff Fisher at jfisher3@alaska.edu and visit http://ausi.alaska.edu/.
The faces of ACEP's 2022 summer interns. Graphic by Jeff Fisher.