▸Be sure to check deadlines, which may shift during the response to COVID-19.
skctrees.org
The Salish Kootenai College Center for Tribal Research and Education in Ecosystem Sciences — SKC TREES — would like you to know about its natural resource internship opportunities for tribal and non-enrolled students of tribal colleges and universities. Since 2013, SKC TREES has placed college students in science-based internships with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), and other qualified partner organizations.
Program participants can find placement in any natural resource discipline, regardless of tribal affiliation. Interns typically earn a salary of approximately $500 a week for six months. Many students opt to serve their six-month term over two summers. SKC TREES has placed dozens of tribal students in natural resource positions across the United States, often as USFS resource assistants working in forest service locations under the supervision of agency staff. The work they do as interns includes monitoring species, conducting research, and supporting agency operations.
➜ Salish Kootenai College is a private tribal land-grant community college in Pablo, Mont. It serves the Bitterroot Salish, Kootenai, and Pend d’Oreilles Tribes and has a main campus on the Flathead Reservation. Prospective interns are welcome to sign up as an interested student on the SKC TREES website.
Nicole Stiffarm is the lead program manager for the SKC Center for Tribal Research and Education in Ecosystem Sciences. She is a 2012 graduate of Salish Kootenai College and holds a bachelor of science in forestry with an emphasis in forest management. Stiffarm currently volunteers as the secretary and treasurer of the Professional AISES Mountain West Chapter. She is an enrolled member of the Chippewa Cree Tribe in Rocky Boy, Mont.
What is the focus of the SKC Center for Tribal Research and Education in Ecosystem Sciences?
We are focused on providing quality education, mentoring, and internship opportunities to Native American youth and natural resource students throughout the United States. Our programs foster culturally driven natural resource research relevant to tribal communities and provide quality natural resource workforce development and training.
Why did SKC decide to offer these internship opportunities?
We saw an important connection between our mission and a nationwide scarcity of trained and experienced foresters and other natural resource professionals in the United States. Through SKC TREES and other similar opportunities, we are becoming a central point for promoting natural resource careers with Native American students. The training and support we provide are helping to build much-needed capacity in natural resource research and management for tribes, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and affiliated agencies across the country.
Are all SKC TREES internships in the fields of forestry and wildland fire management?
While many of the opportunities are in forestry and wildland fire management, we also offer internships in other natural resource disciplines relevant to tribes. Examples include archaeology, botany, wildlife and fisheries, hydrology, fuels research, conservation, and restoration. We have a network of partner agencies that host interns and always work to find the best match for each student selected for the program.
From your perspective, what are some of the benefits for students who become SKC TREES interns?
Our interns benefit from a great deal of hands-on experience that is supervised by experts in their fields. They receive intensive training in natural resource jobs that make a meaningful difference for Native communities. We have seen interns advance to careers with federal agencies, private industry, nonprofit groups, and educational institutions — including management roles at SKC.
careers.chevron.com/students-and-graduates/internship-programs
Every year, Chevron offers engineering internships to college students and recent graduates. Each opportunity provides participants the foundational on-the-job experience they need to begin building their engineering career. While most internships take place during the summer, the company also offers some six-month assignments. Chevron is an American multinational energy corporation. It is headquartered in San Ramon, Calif., and active in more than 180 countries.
Students are eligible to apply for a Chevron engineering internship if they have a strong academic record and are working toward a degree in one of the following fields:
Candidates selected for the program are embedded within engineering teams and take on assignments that offer hands-on experience in a marketing, exploration, production, or refinery project. Under the supervision of industry experts, they work directly with engineers and other professionals and are assigned responsibilities that contribute to the company’s day-to-day operations. The experience is designed to help interns develop critical workplace skills that range from field support to detailed technology support.
As interns problem solve and expand their knowledge under the supervision of seasoned professionals, they have the opportunity to network with other interns and to receive one-on-one guidance from Chevron mentors. The internships have the potential to lead to future employment with the company.
Internships are available in the following U.S. locations:
➜ For more information and links to online application materials, visit chevron.com.
Chevron has a number of successful interns who have spoken about their experiences working at the company and how it contributed to their educational and career paths. In interviews during and after their internships, they shared their thoughts to give prospective interns more insight into the program.
What kinds of project assignments do Chevron interns receive?
PJ, Petroleum Engineering: My project focuses on sand retention testing and specifically gravel packs on the sandface completions team. For the most part on the process control engineering side of things, you’re looking at deep-water wells in the Gulf of Mexico and seeing how we can prevent the sand from coming up. My mentor is an amazing mentor — in three weeks, I can say I learned more about sand retention than I thought I’d ever learn.
Rachel, Petroleum & Natural Gas Engineering: I’m working with the assurance team doing WellSafe approval processes and making sure that we’re maintaining well control globally. I’ve worked on off-shore drilling rigs, and I’ve worked on land rigs. Who else do you know who took a helicopter to work? I have, and I’m only 22 years old.
How would you describe your interactions at Chevron as an intern?
Octavio, Mechanical Engineering: They’re really giving you opportunities to work and do something that will actually impact the company and make a difference.
What would you like to say about your overall experience as a Chevron intern?
PJ, Petroleum Engineering: The team I’m in, they’re some of the best experts out there, and it’s been awesome being able to learn from them. The knowledge they have just kind of rubs off on you.
Rachel, Petroleum & Natural Gas Engineering: I love that we’re making real-time problem-solving engineering decisions. The experience pushes you to succeed. Everyone next to you is trying to bring you up, and the people above you are trying to pull you up.
Fernando, Mechanical Engineering: It’s challenging work, yes — but don’t be afraid to ask questions while you’re here. If you’re considering doing an internship here at Chevron, just come in with an open mind and be ready to work.
student-internships.lanl.gov
The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in Los Alamos, N.M., offers internships that allow students to work with world-class scientists as they expand their STEM skill sets through research, experiments, and educational experiences. These programs offer opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students interested in STEM careers.
LANL is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory, initially organized during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project. The lab’s internships include a Community College Internship Program, Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships, and the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management Minority Serving Institutions Partnership Program. These programs support scholars in a wide range of STEM fields through technical training and hands-on laboratory experiences for undergraduates and intensive and advanced research opportunities for graduate students.
In 2021, to adhere to remaining COVID-19 restrictions, LANL engaged interns in a combination of on-site, virtual, and hybrid internship experiences working on projects supporting the lab’s national security science mission. Organizers expect that 2022 internships will primarily involve on-site activities.
LANL is known for its extensive outreach to increase the STEM participation of underrepresented groups. The lab has repeatedly been named to the AISES list of Top 50 Workplaces for Indigenous STEM Professionals.
➜ For more information, go to student-internships.lanl.gov. You can also send an email to casperson@lanl.gov.
Greg Naranjo is an R&D engineer for LANL who got his start with the lab as a graduate intern in 2014. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering, both from the University of New Mexico (UNM).
Where did you grow up?
I’m originally from Santa Clara Pueblo in northern New Mexico — my dad is Santa Clara Pueblo, and my mom is Hispanic. Growing up, my time was split between my dad on the reservation and the Española Valley, where my mom lived. I went to a small school called McCurdy High School in Española, N.M.
Tell us about your educational path.
I played football in high school and earned a scholarship to attend college at New Mexico Highland University, a Division II school in Las Vegas, N.M. I wasn’t entirely sure yet about pursuing a technical degree. After playing football for a couple of years, I started thinking it was time to challenge myself. I had always been strong in science and math, so I decided to go into engineering and transferred to the UNM. After I started working on my graduate degree, a counselor told me about LANL summer internships. I was accepted to intern the summer of 2014 before graduating with my master’s degree in 2015.
What kind of work did you do as an intern at LANL?
I worked with a structural dynamics team that was part of the National Security Education Center at the lab. My group developed our own test article that we instrumented and subjected to different vibrational environments using an electrodynamic shaker. Our capstone project was producing a paper on our findings and presenting it at the International Modal Analysis Conference in Orlando, Fla. That was a real highlight, for sure — getting to network with international industry experts from around the world. It’s also important to note that I was assigned a mentor at LANL, someone I still work with today.
How did you end up working at LANL and what is your job like?
After graduate school, I explored different opportunities and took a job at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, N.M. I was a lead system engineer focused on defense work there. After about three years, an R&D engineer job posting that matched my qualifications came up at LANL. They hired me and I’ve been here for three years now. I’m part of a group that develops flyable instrumented assets for the Department of Defense. We work in conjunction with the Air Force and Navy and other government stakeholders. It’s a really good time to be working at the lab, and to be doing this work to mature technologies and implement them on flyable systems.
What insights can you share about successfully pursuing higher education and a STEM career?
As someone who benefited from networking through organizations like AISES, I would definitely recommend that, as well as taking advantage of tutoring programs. Both helped me quite a bit. I also want to say don’t be intimidated by the course curriculum, other people, or new experiences. Take the leap, do the work, and seek out the resources available when you need help. I encourage other Native Americans to not limit their scope to a life on the reservation or where they grew up. People who work hard and pursue STEM opportunities might be surprised at the doors that can open up. If you had asked me 10 years ago where I would be today, I wouldn’t have foreseen the cool and interesting things I’ve been able to do already in my career.