Tag Archives: 2020

A Postcard From: Claire Eckstein Indik ’20

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Name: Claire Eckstein Indik
Class Year: 2020
Major: Psychology
Minor: Neuroscience
Hometown: Ardmore, Pa.

Internship Placement: University of Pennsylvania
Job Title: Research Assistant
Location: Philadelphia

What’s happening at your internship? 

This summer I am interning at the Perelman School of Medicine in the neurology department. I am currently working on two projects under Dr. David Raizen, who studies the regulation and function of sleep in the model organism C. elegans.

C. elegans or Caenorhabditis elegans, a transparent nematode, is a powerful model organism for unraveling the mystery of sleep. In fact, working with a simple nematode with a mere 302 neurons is ideal for early stage research of sleep mechanisms and function.

For the first project, I am studying an antimicrobial peptide encoded by the nlp-29 gene that has been found to induce behavioral quiescence when overexpressed. Recently, NPR-12 has been identified as a receptor for NLP-29 peptides. Together they have been shown to play a role in a dendrite degeneration phenotype. I will be investigating whether this receptor is also relevant to the behavioral quiescence phenotype. In order to do this, I will cross a heat shock inducible nlp-29 into the npr-12 mutant. If NPR-12 is the mechanism by which NLP-29 causes quiescence, then I predict that in an npr-12 mutant, the effect of over-expressing nlp-29 will be abolished. Additionally, it is possible that npr-12 mutants have a sleep phenotype. Therefore, I will also be comparing sickness-induced sleep of npr-12 mutants to that of wild-type animals. For the second project, I am monitoring behavior in a C. elegans model of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Particularly, I am interested in the animals’ feeding behavior and movement after exposure to cellular stress.

Why did you apply for this internship?

Ever since I was young, I was curious about sleep. I dreaded closing my eyes in bed at the end of each day and never understood its purpose. Upon entering college, my interests in neuroscience grew and I became motivated to pursue sleep research. I was amazed to learn that animals spend one third of their lives sleeping, but the molecular basis underlying sleep/wake regulation remains a mystery. This led me to work in Dr. Raizen’s laboratory last summer. I was able to learn wet lab skills, such as how to identify C. elegans at different larval stages, conduct behavioral assays, and fill WorMotels. I used these skills to assist graduate students with their research projects. This summer, I was granted the opportunity to take on my own research projects. Applying to this internship provides me with the privilege to continue learning about conducting research. Specifically, taking on my own project will provide valuable insight into whether I want to pursue research as a career option after college. But most of all, this research opportunity satisfies my childhood curiosity about sleep, its function, and its regulation.

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

This year in the lab I am continuing to learn wet lab skills and become more proficient working with C.elegans. I also received training on data processing and learned how to navigate MATLAB. Additionally, I am learning how to work in a laboratory environment alongside graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. These skills are vital to the completion of research projects and to my growth as a researcher.

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

The biggest challenge I have faced at my internship is not having a background in biology research. Oftentimes I do not understand jargon, concepts, and methodologies essential to my research. I have had to embrace my insecurities and reach out to the other members of the lab for help. Having overcome my hesitance to admit my lack of knowledge, I am learning more and more every day.

 

 

 

 

A Postcard From: Jiayu Zhou ’20

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Name: Jiayu Zhou
Class Year: 2020
Hometown: Ningbo, China
Major: Anthropology
Intern Place: PCDC (Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation)
Job Title: Special Events Assistant

I decided to intern at Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation within no more than  two minutes. Initially driven by a curiosity to study Asian American community and to experience working in NGO, I have nevertheless learned a lot more.

My seat in the office.

‘Challenges and mistakes are nothing to be afraid of!’

The moment my supervisor asked me to make a banner, I stood next to her for about one minute, holding the necessary materials with an un-functioned brain. Did she just ask me, the newly-arrived intern and the least handy person in the world (I really think so), to decorate the place where an important event was about to take place? She quickly left the office, leaving me a brief how-to and work that needed to be done in 30 minutes. Feeling pushed and stressed, I sat down and started the work ineptly. Following the instructions, things seemed to be a lot smoother than I thought. Yet just when I began to feel a little relaxed, the weirdly short string made me realize that a huge mistake had been made — the spacing between words was a total mess. “What should I do, there was just 10 minutes left! … She is going to kill me!” I was extremely panicked for about two minutes, but then made up my mind — even if I got fired today, I need to get the work done. Ran to the printer, I re-prepared all the colored papers needed, and spent the next 15 minutes re-making the banner. Well, I still failed to finish the assignment on time, and the quality of my work was not so uplifting. However, on that day, I realized the reason challenges scare people away rests on the possibility of making mistakes. But in fact, mistakes and challenges should be nothing to be afraid of — face them, think of ways to compensate for them, and learn from them.

‘I really need to make more money for living’

The burden of living as low-income immigrants/residents didn’t hit me until I started to survey small businesses in Chinatown. What’s supposed to yield mainly demographic information about the business owners usually ended up being that I sat there listening to their hardships. Some people would say a lot, from how they just got robbed recently, how the overcrowded resultants have dragged everybody into price war, to how they thought their business was still under the influence of the 2008 finical crisis. I couldn’t forget that one day a shop owner kept telling me “Life here is too hard, I need to make more money.” Being exposed to this kind of information is not always easy. The first few days of surveying, even when I got back home after work, I couldn’t stop thinking about them. In fact, even now, I am constantly thinking about: What can the organization do to help their life? And, What I am doing to solve their problems? These are not questions I am ready to answer.

An old photo of snow-covered Chinatown found on the first few days of work.

An old photo of Chinatown I found on the first few days of work.

A Postcard From: Jessica Tharaud ’20

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Name: Jessica Tharaud
Class Year: 2020
Major: Psychology and Spanish
Hometown: Newton, Mass.

Internship Placement: Harvard Study of Adult Development at Massachusetts General Hospital
Job Title: Research Assistant
Location: Boston

What’s happening at your internship?

This summer, I have been working at the Harvard Study of Adult Development, an incredible longitudinal study that has followed the lives of 268 Harvard undergraduates and another group of 456 men from Boston for the past 75 years. Because of the massive amount of material accumulated over that length of time, my main project this summer has been creating a spreadsheet listing all of the documents for each participant. I also check the files for any missing documents, update the tables of contents to resolve discrepancies, and digitize documents to make sure that all of the data is accessible. Additionally, I enter and verify data on health and aging from questionnaires between 1981 and 2010 and help with other tasks as needed.

Why did you apply for this internship?

During the academic year, I began working with the study through the lab of Professor Marc Schulz, who is also the Associate Director of the Harvard Study. Professor Schulz put me in contact with the researchers in Boston and helped me obtain the position. Since my introduction to the study, I have gained so much appreciation and passion for its unique contributions to psychology. These men entrusted the Harvard Study with the details of their lives, and the opportunity to be a part of that is one of a kind.

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

My favorite part of this internship so far has been shadowing one of the lab visits of the second generation of participants. At Bryn Mawr, I knew of the lab visits and had examined some of the data. But actually being in the room and meeting a participant as they willingly go through tasks is such a qualitatively different experience. Research often seems impersonal when it becomes numbers on a computer screen, and simply having witnessed the process gives me a new perspective on what data represents.

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

The biggest challenge so far for me has been pacing myself and having to re-evaluate my project. I want to be productive and contribute, but allowing myself to slow down and take breaks actually improves my work and prevents me from burning out. When I began cataloguing the files, the intention of the project was to simply provide a resource so that researchers could quickly examine the availability of data across all participants. However, I quickly realized that the table of contents in each folder was not always accurate and a much smaller project grew into delving into the files for missing documents, fixing the table of contents, and digitizing documents. Learning each new step involved requires an adjustment, but taking on this bigger challenge has ultimately been more beneficial and rewarding.

A Postcard From: Ariana Serret ’20

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Name: Ariana Serret
Class Year: 2020
Major: Anthropology
Hometown: Dorchester, Mass.

Internship Placement: Zoo New England
Job Title: Animal Care Intern
Location: Franklin Park Zoo — Tropical Forest 

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied to this internship because I have always been fond of animals and what pushed me more to apply to this internship was taking the primatology class offered at Bryn Mawr, Living Primates, taught by Professor Šešelj. This class made me fall back in love with not only primates but animals in general. I was interested in interning at Zoo New England because this was a way I would learn about other animals in depth and also explore my interests in potentially working with animals. Learn more about Bryn Mawr’s Anthropology Department.

What’s happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing!

At my internship, I am in a way training with the Zoo keepers. At the Zoo, each area is divided into sections. I am working at the Franklin Park Zoo specifically in the Tropical Forest. In the Tropical Forest there are many animals from different countries around the world that are found usually in warm, humid tropical forests.

Some animals that I have worked with are Bearded Barbet Tapirs, Giant Anteater, and the Saddle-Billed Storks. We start with shifting the animals from their indoor dens to the exhibit, clean their indoor dens and exhibits, making their diets, provide enrichment for the animals, watch and help the zoo kKeepers with training, and overall maintaining the animals happy. I have been given the opportunity to learn about the animals, their personalities, what they like and dislike. Milton and Abby (both tapirs) are fourth-time parents to baby Ixchell and they are both very caring parents. Jockamo, the giant anteater, is a sleepy boy who can easily get nervous with loud noises. He loves to take baths and loves to sleep with his tail covering his body.

I am currently working with different animals because every three weeks we switch routines. I am now working with the Amazon Milk Tree Frogs, African Pygmy Falcon, Ruwenzori Fruit Bats, Straw-Colored Fruit Bats, Green Anaconda, Kenyan Sand Boa, Madagascar Tree Boa, Golden Breasted Starling, Rosy Boa, Hadada Ibis, Hamerkops, Violet Turacos, Scarlet Ibis, Yellow Rumped Caciques, Box Turtle, and many more! There are a lot of animals on this routine but I enjoy learning and helping with every single one.

I am also creating a project that focuses on nesting of some of the birds that I am working with. I also forgot to mention that during my time here a DeBrazza Monkey gave birth on June 6, so there is a new baby monkey in our department!

A Postcard From: Sean Keenan ’20

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Name: Sean Keenan
Class Year: 2020
Major: History
Hometown: Brielle, N.J.


Internship Placement: Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies
Job Title: Summer Intern
Location: 420 Walnut Street, Philadelphia

Exterior of National Museum of American Jewish History

What’s happening at your internship? 

My internship over the summer is at the Katz Center, a post-doctoral research center which focuses on Jewish civilization. My internship over the summer involves a bunch of small little projects and one large overarching project. My main goal for the summer is to create a timeline of the Katz Center’s history for their website by working with primary documents provided by the center. I’ve also been working on finding images promoting this year’s theme (Jews in Modern Islamic Contexts) for their social media accounts.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I very distinctly remember when I started to look for internships because it was New Years and I figured it was as good enough a time to start to look for work for the summer. I knew I wanted to live in Philadelphia, so I just started to create a list of every museum in Philadelphia and see if they were looking for summer internships. I eventually stumbled upon the National Museum of American Jewish History and applied for their program. They forwarded my application to the Katz Center and after interviewing for the position and hearing what they had to offer, it was a perfect fit. I was being given the chance to both to fine-tune my skills in archives and develop competence in communications.

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

I really enjoy the day- to-day work of coming in five times a week and combing over texts and archival materials. Considering my love of archives, it seems like the perfect job for me. I even have my own office, so I get to really spread out and organize my work into piles. I’ve found a lot of cool images so far for their social media campaign and have learned a lot about different aspects of Judaism.

Image from archives

What is most rewarding about your internship?

I’ve gotten the change to meet a lot of well-resourced individuals as a part of my internship. My placement has given me a lot of opportunities to network with both people at the Katz Center and at the National Museum of American Jewish History. I’m getting to learn about how both a museum and a post-doctoral academic institution function.

Office with desk, chair, computer, telephone, bookshelves and paperwork.

My office.

A Postcard From: Sophia Bokhari ’20  

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Name: Sophia Bokhari 
Class Year: 2020
Major: Political Science and History
Hometown: Egg Harbor Township, N.J.

Internship Placement:  Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program at the University of Pennsylvania
Job Title: Data Collection Project Lead and Research Intern
Location: Philadelphia

What’s happening at your internship? 

I am doing research on think tanks and their role in civil society, specifically in the Middle East and North Africa regions.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied for this internship because an upperclassman at Bryn Mawr referred this opportunity to me. I noticed that a lot of Bryn Mawr students had participated in it, especially students with similar academic interests as myself, so I thought it would be a worthwhile experience.

 Was there anything special about how you found this internship?

I had come back to campus about a week early in the fall. One night, around midnight, I walked into Lusty Cup to print something out and I saw my friend. We ended up talking for a long time about what we did over the summer, and she told me about this internship. I think I probably would not have been so inclined to go after this opportunity had I not heard about my friend’s experience and it may not have been on my radar either.

What are three adjectives and three nouns that describe your internship experience?

Intense. Independent. Inspiring.

Challenge. Leadership. Advancement.

A Postcard From: Ruby Zeng ’20

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Name: Ruby Zeng
Class Year: 2020
Major: Psychology and Music

Internship Placement: Music, Imaging, and Neural Dynamics (MIND) Laboratory
Location: Wesleyan University

As a psychology and music double major, I am very fortunate to be able to explore my interest in music psychology in the Music, Imaging, and Neural Dynamics (MIND) Laboratory under the supervision of Dr. Psyche Loui, the Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Neuroscience and Behavior Program at Wesleyan University. Working in the MIND Lab is a milestone for me to combine my interest in music cognition and practical research experience into one. This is my first time doing music psychology-related research after so many years of aspiration, and it is a great opportunity for me not only to apply my prudence, critical thinking, and research skills to help with the lab, but also to gain more insights on music cognition and neuroscience.

In general, the MIND lab seeks to understand the networks of brain structure and function that enable musical processes, such as auditory and multi-sensory perception, learning and memory of sound structure, sound production, and the human aesthetic and emotional response to sensory stimuli. Specifically, I’m responsible for helping with data processing and data analysis for the Jazz in Creativity Project. We try to unfold the neural processes and connectivity of different domains of the brain that enables creativity in humans by looking at the behavior in jazz improvisation. While there are many different components in the project, such as behavioral measures (e.g. pitch discrimination, divergent thinking) and neuroimaging analysis (e.g. EEG, MRI data), my main work is rating audio recordings of each trial of improvisation for creativity based on a given rubric. Apart from that, I am also helping with EEG data collections in another project that looks that the neural and behavioral representation of the Laurel-Yanny illusion. In addition, we have weekly lab meetings where lab members take turns to present a paper related to music cognition and together learn about cognitive neuroscience through discussion.

I’m glad that I get to experience the life of being a researcher—a life that has a routine, that has a goal to achieve every week and even every day, that is highly self-motivated, and that requires a long-term perspective to really enjoy the repetitive work and to endure times of frustration. Repeatedly listening to hundreds of audio recordings can be boring, but always keeping a bigger picture in mind, and thinking about how my efforts would contribute to the project and hopefully unfold some mysteries about human’s creativity makes me excited about every day’s work and want to know more about this subject. It also makes me realize how much I don’t know, what I need to know, and what I want to know.

Because most of my classes at Bryn Mawr have been social science and humanity, when it comes to hardcore science like neuroscience, physics, math, as well as computing, I have to do a lot of self-teaching and research to understand related concepts and apply them to my work. I also came to realize how useful programing skills are in terms of analyzing data in any kind of research. More importantly, I know I want to take more neuroscience classes at Bryn Mawr, which is a sub-field of psychology that I never thought I would be interested in. I can’t believe I’m already halfway through the internship; I look forward to learning more about this field and myself in the last few weeks!

A Postcard From: Noelle Stockwell ’20

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Name: Noelle Stockwell
Class Year: 2020

Internship Placement: Running Start
Location: Washington, D.C.

This summer I am in Washington D.C. working at a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization called Running Start whose main goal is to get more women to run for elected office. Their work is focused on holding political leadership training for young women in high school and college. So far, much of my work at Running Start has been to prepare for the Young Women’s Political Leadership Program (YWPL). Seventy high school girls from all different backgrounds came to D.C. for the week, and it was so amazing to be a part of their time here.

As part of YWPL, the participants get to spend a day on Capitol Hill and were able to meet with their representative or a member of their staff, and this was hands down my favorite day of the week. It has been my responsibility for the past month to schedule these meetings and organize their groups. Never would I have anticipated being in contact with Congressional offices. Our communication was mostly via email, but sometimes a phone call was necessary. I have never, never, liked talking on the phone, and if I can, I always find a way out of it. I surprised myself by rising to the responsibility and scheduling 60-plus meetings with these high-ranking political figures. It felt rewarding to see all of my hard work paying off, and to hear how excited all the young girls were about their meetings. I had my own group and throughout the course of the day, I got to meet Elizabeth Warren, Nancy Pelosi, and Joe Kennedy III. Not only was it a great experience for me, but I loved seeing how excited my own group was and how confident they were having conversations with members of Congress. It made me excited to see what these high schoolers would do in the future, because I’m sure it will be something amazing.

Noelle Stockwell and Senator Elizabeth Warren

Elizabeth Warren, United States Senator from Massachusetts

Noelle Stockwell and fellow interns with Congressman Joe Kennedy III.

Joe Kennedy III, Congressional Representative from the 4th District of Massachusetts

I look forward to what the rest of the summer will bring now that we are done with YWPL. I know we will launch a large-scale research project in which we will attempt to survey every female state legislator, who number upwards of 1,800. I look forward to hearing what advice they all have for the young women who want to follow in their footsteps.

I look forward to going into work every morning. There’s a large group of 20 interns working in the office in addition to a small full-time staff; I appreciate how much attention is given to all of us. The organization will bring in speakers for us to have lunch with. We’ve already met with the former Executive Producer of “Meet the Press,” Betsy Fischer. We got to participate throughout YWPL, and network, which was a new experience for me. The atmosphere reminds me of Bryn Mawr in a way because I’m part of a strong community of women who are supporting each other and trying to make a difference. I feel like I have learned so much already, and I look forward to seeing how much more I will grow by the end of the summer.

A Postcard From: Ariel Li ’20

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Name: Ariel Li
Class Year: 2020
Major: Psychology

Internship Placement: Child Bilingual Research Institution of the Chinese University of Hong Kong

My ongoing internship at the Child Bilingual Research Institution of the Chinese University of Hong Kong has been greatly regarding and so far has been an exciting experience! As someone who has a multilingual background myself, I found the ongoing projects at CBRC to be very fascinating. Moreover, since current projects are focused on young children between the ages of 1 to 6, I’ve been working with adorable bilingual children who never cease to amaze me with their language abilities and laugh-out-loud cuteness. Though I am a psychology major at Bryn Mawr, and not familiar with the area of linguistics, I’ve been able to work with a lot of information and data that are connected to some degree with cognitive and developmental psychology, which I have found to be very interesting. Prior courses I’ve taken at Bryn Mawr, including Developmental Psychology and Research Methods of Psychology, have also helped me understand a lot of the things I’ve learned so far at CBRC.

Ongoing bilingual research projects at CBRC consists of the following components: First is the gathering and obtaining of data; in this case, it would be the language and speech materials of children. Second would be the recording and transcription and digitalization of the material. After that, the data would need to be analyzed, programmed and stored for further use. In some cases, the language components of the child’s speech would need to be compiled and organized accordingly. Therefore, my share of responsibilities so far as an intern has included, but has not been not limited to the following:

  • My favorite part of the job is recording language material with children: along with a colleague, we would visit a bilingual child in their home and do video recordings and audio recordings of the child while we play with them. The sessions would be as conversational and as casual as possible, and most of the time we could not help laughing about how adorable the children were.
  • After the fun part of the job was completed, the video recordings would need to be reviewed. I would need to use a special software and transcribe all the speech that happened in the video recordings and program them into the software with a specific format used for linguistic analysis.
  • After transcription was completed, I would use the programming commands in the software to organize the information embedded in the transcription. After some coding and commands, I would be able to decode the grammatical structures of the child’s speech, and then organize them; Excel software is used here to provide a more straightforward view of the frequency of specific words in their speech.
  • Analysis of vocabulary is also a part of my job; as the research is mostly longitudinal, I would help compile and compare the vocabulary of the children at different age periods in order to observe the overlap and improvement of use of vocabulary.
  • If needed, I would also work with other Ph.D. or grad students to design research tasks that focuses on child linguistic and language abilities, in aid of expanding ongoing projects.

My internship also includes other miscellaneous jobs including the translation of documents and materials such as the guidelines and tutorials for using the software. I also help with narration and voiceovers of the English tutorials.

A Postcard From: Samantha Forestier ’20

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Name: Samantha Forestier
Class Year: 2020
Major: Biology
Hometown: Malden, Mass.

Internship Placement: Children’s Hospital Boston and Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Job Title: Undergraduate Neurosurgery Intern
Location: Boston

 

What’s happening at your internship? 

I’ve really enjoyed my time here at Children’s Hospital because every day I get to do something different. Each morning I sit in on rounds and listen to the neurosurgery team discuss different cases and procedures. I also get the opportunity to attend different weekly meetings such as neuro-oncology conferences, presenter series at lab meetings, and combined neurosurgery meetings with Children’s and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. My main area of contribution is in a research project on pediatric meningioma. In that project I help analyze patient data and organize it to identify patterns and relationships. I’ve gotten to learn about the clinical side of research, which is new to me. I also get to experience some patient interaction as I attend patient rounds, clinic visits, and operations with my mentor.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied for this internship because I wanted to combine my interest in the medical field along with my love for research. I’ve always been interested in a career in the medical field and I wanted to get the experience of being in a hospital setting to help me see if this is the path I’m interested in pursuing. I enjoy working with children and Children’s Hospital has always been a leader in pediatric medicine, education and research.

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

My favorite part of this internship has been getting to see the amazing children who come here to get better. It has been such an unforgettable experience and it has increased my interest in pursuing pediatric medicine. I have gotten to sit in on full-day, difficult operations where I got to look into the patient’s brain. Then I have gotten to visit that same patient a couple of days later, making a tremendous recovery. Seeing these brave children has been such an inspiration to me. I hope in the future to be part of a team that gets to help children with their medical needs and gets them back to being themselves.

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

The biggest challenge for this internship was learning the vocabulary and knowledge of this field. Before joining Children’s Hospital for the summer, I had very limited knowledge of the brain and neurosurgery. Throughout my time here, I had to learn the correct terminology and concepts for what I was working on by asking questions to those around me to enhance my understanding. I’ve had to make sure I’ve understood all of the language, even on patient data and hospital visit notes, to ensure that I was collecting information that was important and relevant.