High School Internships
Our lab is committed to enhancing science education in our local community by hosting high school student interns. Internships are designed to teach students how to conduct original research projects that extend their scientific knowledge and technical skills. Students are trained and supervised by a graduate student or postdoctoral fellow while working on their own research project, including experimental design, experimentation, data analysis, and research presentations.
We host interns through the RISE (Raising Interest in Science and Engineering) summer internship program, a Stanford initiative promoting STEM fields to high school students from low-income families, students that will be the first in their family to attend college, or are from an underrepresented group in science. Applications for this program are due in February.
Please note: we only accept RISE interns. We put a lot of effort into mentoring and training and cannot effectively mentor all the high school students that request positions. Because of this, we have chosen to focus on creating professional development opportunities for students that are from underrepresented groups in STEM and/or are first generation college students. We also do not offer unpaid internships as this reinforces socioeconomic divides in STEM fields.
Past Interns & Projects:
2018
Lizbeth Rios-Camacho (Los Altos High School, Los Altos, CA) - Pair bonding in Ranitomeya imitator
Helen Nguyen (Andrew P. Hill High School, San Jose, CA) - Pair bonding in Ranitomeya imitator
2017
Eden Abebe (Cambridge Rindge and Latin, Cambridge, MA) - Ant genetics and chemistry
Gwen Ellis (Masconomet Regional High School, Topsfield, MA) - Tadpole aggression
Mary Erb (Masconomet Regional High School, Topsfield, MA) - Toxin uptake in Dendrobates tinctorius
Olivia Nieves (Masconomet Regional High School, Topsfield, MA) - Alkaloids in ants
Randi Patrillo (Cambridge Rindge and Latin, Cambridge, MA) - Tadpole aggression
2015-2016
Narinka Guichette (Science Club for Girls, Cambridge, MA) - Parental interactions and tadpole brains
Tessa Lewis (Cambridge Rindge and Latin, Cambridge, MA) - Paternal care in poison frogs
May Tamanna (Cambridge Rindge and Latin, Cambridge, MA) - Evolution of toxin-binding proteins in poison frogs
Summer 2015
Bijan Rosen (Cambridge Rindge and Latin, Cambridge, MA) - Mite alkaloids
2014-2015
Puja Dutta (Science Club for Girls, Cambridge, MA) - Predator avoidance of frog toxins
Rebecca Hickey (Science Club for Girls, Cambridge, MA) - Predator avoidance of frog toxins
Nisha Kabir (Cambridge Rindge and Latin, Cambridge, MA) - Contribution of mites to alkaloid profiles in poison frogs
Prapti Koirala (Cambridge Rindge and Latin, Cambridge, MA) - Paternal care in poison frogs
Summer 2014
Bella Carriker (Lakeside School, Seattle, WA) - Computational modeling of color pigmentation in frogs
Kevin Eappen (Weston High School, Weston, MA) - Parental care in Oophaga pumilio
2013-2014
Chloe Marsanne (Cambridge Rindge and Latin, Cambridge, MA) - Development of pigmentation in Phyllobates frogs
Rio Nelson-Marx (Cambridge Rindge and Latin, Cambridge, MA) - Molecular evolution of opsins in neotropical frogs
2012-2013
Alexis Bonilla-Garcia (Cambridge Rindge and Latin, Cambridge, MA) - Paternal care behavior in Dendrobates tinctorius
Jonah Simon (Cambridge Rindge and Latin, Cambridge, MA) - Ion channel resistance to defensive chemicals in Phyllobates frogs