SAi Celebrates A Successful Inaugural Summer Intern Class

by Noelle Tutunjian

Born out of the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, SAi found the perfect opportunity to host its first class of summer interns.  As undergraduate students and recent graduates struggled to nail down summer plans as programs and experiences were cancelled, SAi was fortunate enough to attract the attention of Reilly Mach, a student at Concordia University, and Morgan Sweeney, a recent graduate of McGill University.  Over the course of 8 weeks, the interns participated in weekly meeting and brainstorming sessions, received mentoring and guidance from members of SAi, and completed detailed research on issues related to science communication.  Morgan, a podcast producer herself, studied the impact and reach of science podcasts, and Reilly did a deep dive into SAi’s own project, Stories in Science.  Her paper, entitled The Evolving Structure and Diversity of Human Narratives in Science, is being submitted for publication. 

SAi is proud to have created a positive summer experience for students passionate about science communication.  In her own words, Reilly Mach describes her experience below:

My experience as an intern at SAi has been overwhelmingly positive. Having my original summer plans cancelled last-minute due to COVID-19, the SAi summer internship was an exceptional way to continue to do science and research while also being able to work from home. The internship was also very self-motivated. When I joined the project, there were a few brainstorm sessions to figure out what I’d like to do, but it all came down to what I was interested in pursuing and where there was a need within SAi. Considering the wide range of projects at SAi, there is truly something for everyone and it was a great fit for me. This is an independent internship where self-motivation is important to get your work done, but the mentorship aspects are stellar. Professional development was greatly considered by SAi, which was really nice to have in an internship. Also, Fanuel was always willing to talk over concerns/road blocks as I went along, so I felt that I always knew what I should be working on. Overall, I loved the work I was able to do and would recommend this internship to anyone!

Looking forward to next summer already, SAi is in the process of securing the necessary funding to grow and develop the internship program for many summers to come.