Fellowships and internships can make a huge difference in a young scientist or engineer’s career. They provide experiences that can shed light on career options, provide opportunities to explore new areas of science, and build skills, to name just a few benefits.
Berkeley Lab has many such fellowships and internships, as a part of its commitment to preparing the scientists and engineers of tomorrow. These programs are also an initial step in developing early career hires, ultimately supporting a diverse workforce at Berkeley Lab.
The National GEM Consortium (GEM), for example, is one of the many fellowship programs hosted by Workforce Development and Education. This prestigious fellowship provides an internship at one of the national laboratories or several Fortune 500 Companies, for under-represented minority students pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees. It includes amongst its alumni chief executives and senior leaders in industry, as well as half of the minority female deans of engineering and several male counterparts at U.S. universities.
The Lab’s GEM fellows are assigned mentors who provide them with guidance and training. This year, the fellows included Zoila Alvarez Aponte, who works in Trent Northen’s Ecofab lab and was mentored by biology project scientist Pete Andeer; Shafeeq Ibraheem, who worked on computational neuroscience this summer. He was mentored by computational biologist Kristofer Bouchard.
Workforce Education and Development recently hosted a GEM Virtual Site Visit with GEM fellows and their mentors. Clockwise from top left: Colette Flood, Manager of Workforce Development and Education; Ruby Barcklay, Strategic Communications; Marcus Huggans, Executive Director, Client Relations of the National GEM Consortium; Pete Andeer, GEM mentor; Brennon Marcano, GEM CEO; Shafeeq Ibraheem, GEM fellow; and Kristofer Bouchard, GEM mentor. Center: Zoila Alvarez Aponte, GEM fellow.
Workforce Development and Education is now seeking mentors for the next cycle of fellows. For more information, contact Colette Flood. For information about other fellowships and internships, visit the Workforce Development and Education website.
