Jenna Crowe
Staff Writer
There are many internship opportunities for students at all levels here at ISU. The Managing Idaho’s Landscapes for Ecosystem Services program is one such opportunity.
MILES has goals that better Pocatello and Idaho as a whole. The primary goals of the MILES project are to advance social-ecological systems science within Idaho while building capacity, sustainable infrastructure, trans-disciplinary research collaborations, educating a dynamic workforce and developing partnerships with stakeholders.
“Our goal is to identify the drivers of change, create models to predict future use of ecosystem services, and then inform decision-makers, such as city and county governments or federal land agencies, of their future options,” said Sonia Martinez, the diversity and outreach coordinator for the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics research outreach & compliance office for research at ISU.
The MILES program is overseen by the Idaho Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research program, which represents a federal-state partnership to enhance the science and engineering research, education and technology capabilities of states that traditionally have received smaller amounts of federal funds.
Through EPSCoR, participating states are building a high-quality academic research base that is serving as a backbone of scientific and technological enterprise consistent with Science and Technology strategic plans and technology platforms.
The National Science Foundation awarded the Idaho EPSCoR program $20 million for 2013-2018 to improve research infrastructure related to social ecological systems science. These funds are shared equally by ISU, Boise State University and University of Idaho to build a sustainable environment characterized by world-class scientists, facilities and culture that fosters transdisciplinary research and workforce development.
At ISU this team, which totals 15 professors, includes people such as professor and freshwater ecologist Colden Baxter. Three postdoctoral research associates and between five and 10 graduate students participate each year, as well as 20 undergraduate student interns and a support staff of five people.
The MILES program at ISU provides internships to three types of students: undergraduate, graduate and K-12 teachers.
“The program opens doors for students interested in continuing a career in science or an advanced degree,” Martinez said.
Undergraduate students participate in what is known as the MILES Undergraduate Research Internship program. Each student will spend about 300 hours during the school year or throughout the summer as a team member on a MILES research project, supervised by a faculty member or graduate student.
The impact is substantial. After the internship a majority of undergraduates say they now want to earn a Ph.D.
Graduate students will receive full funding and complete Master’s theses or Ph.D. dissertations on a MILES-related topic. Supervised by an interdisciplinary team of professors, these students will enter the workforce with a unique skill set and understanding of coupled human and natural systems. Students who have already graduated are now employed or pursuing further education in MILES-related science.
K-12 teachers can participate in the weeklong Adventure Learning program. Hosted each summer at each of the three state universities, Adventure Learning provides knowledge and instructional materials such as lesson plans, so that teachers can introduce modern concepts of ecosystem services to multiple cohorts of pre-college students.
ISU will train 100 undergraduate students through the MURI program this year, as well as around 20 graduate students through the MILES program.
The university will also train about 50 teachers directly and another 100 teachers through its digital learning platform.
The first applications are due in early this month according to Martinez. “Early October for winter work or until the positions are filled. We also have spring and summer internships.”
Students interested in participating in the MURI Program must submit an online student application to the EPSCoR office describing their academic background and interests.
This application will be used to pair selected students with a faculty or stakeholder mentor.
Position descriptions as well as online applications can be found at https://www.idahoecosystems.org/education/muri.
To be eligible, students must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and currently enrolled at an Idaho college or university.
Special effort will be made to recruit students from underrepresented groups.
“All students with a 2.0 or above GPA can apply,” Martinez said. “Students are asked to list the science classes they took in high school or in college and write a brief essay.”
While participating in this program, students can receive a total of $4,000.
This may affect the amount of financial aid that they receive from the university.
At the end of their internship, students participating in a research experience will be required to submit and present a professional poster on their research at the Idaho EPSCoR Annual Meetings and/or the Idaho EPSCoR Virtual Poster Session which will be featured on the program website.
“If a student has been turned down in the past, it is because we didn’t find a good match mentor/mentee or because they provided few details in their application,” Martinez said.
Martinez recommends that student who were previously turned down for positions take the time to write about themselves and why they want to participate as well as tell the review team how they feel doing research will help them with their career goals.
They should also consider taking courses that will give them the skills they need for any given research project.
“Mostly, we want students who are willing to grow, learn and try a hands on approach to science,” said Martinez. “And yes, the more STEM classes the student has completed, the better prepared the student will be.”
For more information about the MILES program, contact Martinez at ude.usinull@inostram or contact MILES site leader Dr. David Rodgers at ude.usinull@ivadgdor.
