Camille Catolos shows off her certificate after winning 3rd place in the Computer Science and Information Management, and Data Science Poster Presentation, at the 2024 Emerging Researchers National (ERN) Conference in STEM. Her poster described her CCI project in Summer 2023 with Mentor Dani Ushizima. (Photo credit: Princess Johanna Eusantos).
Camille Catolos was raised in Daly City, began her undergraduate studies at Skyline College, and obtained two associate degrees for transfer (AS-T) in Mathematics and Computer Science. She then transferred to the University of California, Santa Cruz as a Computer Science major in the Baskin School of Engineering. She is interested in the applications of artificial intelligence in healthcare and the environmental sciences. For the past few years, she has learned about working in science through multiple programs hosted at DOE national laboratories.
In January 2023, Catolos completed the immersive Mini-Semester program, during which she spent a week at Brookhaven National Laboratory and learned about career pathways in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). She was exposed to scientific computing, electronic circuits, and how computer science principles are used to solve research problems. She explained, “this made me appreciate math and physics, which motivated me later on in school.”
Then, in the summers of 2023 and 2024, she participated in the Community College Internship (CCI) at Berkeley Lab, which is administered by the Workforce Development & Education team. CCI is sponsored by Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS), which is part of the Department of Energy Office of Science. CCI provides community college students and recent graduates with opportunities to learn new technical skills and knowledge by working alongside scientists, engineers, and technicians at DOE laboratories/facilities on projects for 10 weeks.
Camille Catolos (left) and her mentor Yang Ha (right) discuss some recent project results during the Summer 2024 term. © The Regents of the University of California, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. (Photo credit: Thor Swift).
CCI interns work on a variety of projects, across different Divisions at Berkeley Lab. During her first summer internship, Catolos worked with Staff Scientist Dani Ushizima, who was a supportive mentor and connected her with resources and opportunities outside of the project. This summer, Catolos worked with Research Scientist Yang Ha and Computer Systems Engineer Gabriel Gazolla at the Berkeley Center for Structural Biology (BCSB) at Berkeley Lab. Her project focused on developing deep learning methods to improve the efficiency of automated data collection by some AI-based image processing. “Once I arrive at the office or start my day, I reflect on what I did yesterday. I review my notes, code, and results from the day prior. Then, I determine what my goals are for that day, whether that is fixing a bug, figuring out which models or methods to use, or annotating [some] images. I also talk to other engineers to get their opinion on my project. It’s a lot of coding, reading, and thinking,” she explained.
“Although her job is coding,” Ha explained that she also had to identify resources, access the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), and collaborate with others to complete her project. “She needed to find people to label the data, which was crucial because it enabled machine learning models to accurately interpret, learn from, and make predictions based on the data … she even built a website of her own so people could simply log in and do the data labeling. She [also worked with] interns in other programs, such as Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) and Experiences in Research (EinR). With all the help she was able to obtain thousands of labeled images to train the AI model in the next step. I believe the experience is precious and very different from a school project.”
Catolos had many more responsibilities than she did during her internship last summer. “I have to build the architecture from scratch,” she said, “which has greatly improved my skills and confidence.” She observed that many students come into the CCI program feeling like they need to know everything, but learn about the value of resilience and patience by working on a real-world problem. Although she didn’t know much about building deep learning architectures before the internship, she appreciated the opportunity to learn this new skill.
Camille Catolos (left) met SULI interns Susanna Huang (middle) and Sydney Zheng (right) at Berkeley Lab in Summer 2024. During the work week, the three friends often checked in with each other at their work stations or met up to have lunch together. (Photo credit: Sydney Zheng).
Reflecting on her experiences over the past few years, Catolos now has the confidence to toggle between taking direction and figuring things out independently. She credits her research mentors and the faculty and staff at her community college for significantly impacting her career choices.
Role models and mentors from various fields have inspired Catolos. At Skyline College, Kayvan Momeni was her first programming professor, who assigned complex and diverse projects that cultivated her interest in the subject. Faculty members Thanh Ngyuen and Denise Hum served as role models, gave her advice about navigating a STEM career as a woman, and urged her to join women-centered organizations. As part of Skyline College’s academic support program Engineering & Tech Scholars, she met retention specialist Luis Prado. He encouraged her to present at the Emerging Researchers National (ERN) Conference in STEM, which taught her that communicating with others about a project is “an essential part of the research process.”
At Berkeley Lab, Gazolla considered the impact of the CCI program on Catolos. “I believe she learned that great science today is highly interdisciplinary, requiring collaboration with various individuals, scheduling meetings, cooperating, socializing, and interacting effectively, all of which she excelled at … it’s often said that the ‘low-hanging fruit in science’ has already been picked, meaning that modern science must be a collaborative and interdisciplinary effort.”
Inspired and supported to move forward in STEM, Catolos is “paying it forward” by helping others. She served as a peer tutor at Skyline’s STEM Center, led a Scratch programming workshop at the Expanding Your Horizons conference for teen girls, and volunteered with Girls Who Code, a nonprofit organization that aims to support and increase the number of women in computer science. Drawing from these experiences, Catolos offers some advice to young women and students of color aspiring to enter STEM fields: “Community is crucial. Being part of organizations and communities during your journey helps a lot. Always remember why you started, and stay connected with people who support you.”
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Learn more about the Community College Internship (CCI) program at https://science.osti.gov/wdts/cci. Email Internship Program Manager Nakeiah Harrell at NHarrell@lbl.gov for information about becoming a CCI mentor at Berkeley Lab.
– Written by Lauren Latterell (Student Assistant) and Laleh Coté, Ph.D. (STEM Education Program Manager)
