Summer Interns Begin Science Communication Work Wednesday, June 09, 2010   This summer Acadia Partners for Learning and Science has hired four interns to work on science communication in the Northeast Region national parks. The interns will spend 10 weeks covering a variety of natural, cultural, and social science programs and research projects. The interns’ tasks are coordinated by Acadia Partners, Schoodic Education and Reseatch Center, and Acadia National Park. In addition to providing financial support for the interns, Acadia Partners is working with David Manski, Acadia’s Resource Management Chief, to develop a list of projects and topics. This collaborative effort between the team at SERC and other NPS scientists, educators, and specialists across the park network is one of the reasons research learning centers such as SERC were established by the National Park Service. Sara Delheimer, an Environmental Sociology senior at the University of Tennessee, is a returning intern from the summer 2009 program and is the lead intern for this summer. She provides the science writing experience needed to support the interns and is managing day-to-day tasks and logistics. She excited to explore different media for communicating science while learning about Downeast Maine’s natural and cultural splendor firsthand. She is particularly interested in topics such as climate change and visitor impacts that explore the intersection of social and natural systems. Missy La Vone, a student in the University of Tennessee Journalism Department’s Science Communication program, loves nature and writing. During her stay at Acadia National Park she hopes to gain a better understanding of the importance of the park resources and programs and learn to be an effective science communicator. Patrick Morgan, a graduate of the State University of New York at Geneseo, with a majored in both English literature and geological sciences. He has published journal articles about the writings of Henry David Thoreau and recently wrote a feature article for the online version of Earth magazine. Pat enjoys science writing because it allows him to combine his two majors, and this summer he hopes to learn more about web-based journalism, as well as to explore Maine’s many hiking trails. Lauren Weisenfluh is a University of California, Davis, senior studying Evolution, Ecology, and Biodiversity. She fell enjoys science communication for its ability to give science an exciting and applicable context. This summer, Lauren hopes to pull her readers out of their chairs and into the field by conveying the wonder that comes with exploring the world through a scientific lens. The interns’ primary focus is on creating "briefs"—two page summaries highlighting park resources, as well as the programs and people involved with the study, monitoring, and management of these resources. The interns will also compile summaries of the past five years of L.L. Bean and Schoodic Fellowship research. Both projects involve reading and summarizing scientific reports, working with researchers and park staff, and designing layouts for publication. As they research, explore, and write, the interns will be maintaining a regular blog of their experiences, Field Notes (The blog is a unique, insider’s look at the ways the park keeps track of the health of natural and cultural resources, what kinds of research has been sponsored, the role research learning centers, and more.) The overarching goal of this work is to help make nature, science, and research in the Northeast Region national parks more visible and accessible. ####