Isabelle Levine, a junior rising to Sleepy Hollow High School, was selected from 750 applicants nationwide for the prestigious STEM Enhancement in Earth and Space Science (SEES) summer internship hosted by The University of Texas at the Austin Space Research Center. (Due to the pandemic, the student internship will be completely virtual in 2021.)

Ms. Levine and her peers work with scientists and engineers to conduct authentic research using data received from NASA’s Earth observation satellites, as well as to design Martian habitats, moon exploration, and robotics. Ms. Levine’s specific project is related to monitoring mosquito migration, which requires hands-on work to set up traps and collect data, and then enter and review the data. Ultimately, this work makes NASA’s satellites more accurate.

This nationally competitive program sponsored by NASA’s Texas Space Grant Consortium selects students who will increase their knowledge of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) through education about Earth and space. The application process, as well as the preparation for the course, is extremely intense. In addition to an application with eight different questions, the program requires 120 hours of work over a four-week period, involving reading and annotating journal articles, acquiring Python coding, and working with researchers. from NASA. It goes beyond the academic work required of the intern.

Ms. Levine noted that although it was a lot of work, she never hesitated to get involved once accepted into the program. “It’s an amazing opportunity to learn from amazing people,” she said. “I have a mentor assigned to me who enters college and I can attend two or three seminars every week with real scientists from NASA. I even present my findings in a group forum.

Ms. Levine, who is also enrolled in the scientific research program of the SHHS, had the option of continuing her work independently or in a team, and chose the latter. “I like to collaborate so I work better as a team. I like to learn from each other. She went on to say that she hopes to be able to become a program mentor in a few years.

SEES is a collaborative effort of members and affiliates of the Texas Space Grant Consortium, NASA, and the University of Texas at Austin. Students apply for SEES and are selected by competitive examination. The internships are organized around an aerospace or space science theme drawn from the various engineering and scientific research programs of NASA. The program combines the strengths of collaborators to enrich STEM teaching and learning.