This summer, 21 students from across Alaska are participating in the Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program’s Summer Bridge opportunity, which places recent high school graduates in paid science, engineering or business internships with ANSEP strategic partners. Over the course of 10 weeks, students are preparing for college and future STEM careers by getting hands-on, professional experience.
These internships are taking students across Alaska and beyond. For the first time in the 24-year history of Summer Bridge, ANSEP students are interning in Washington D.C. Manokotak’s Celine Alakayak and Wasilla’s Glenda Root are interning with the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, as part of ANSEP’s 15-year partnership with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, completing projects related to corporate development and funding; human resources; and diversity, equity and inclusion.
On Capitol Hill, Bethel’s Charlee Korthius interned with Sen. Lisa Murkowski. There, Charlee assisted legislative staff and learned the various aspects of working in the U.S. Senate before traveling back to Alaska to complete an internship with Bristol Bay Native Association. Now on Round Island, Charlee is counting walrus and sea lion populations as part of an ongoing, decades-long data set.
Also in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, Emily Charles of Anchorage is interning with the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska on a weir at McClees Lake sampling and collecting data on returning salmon. In Southeast Alaska, an internship with the National Park Service is giving Palmer’s Lena Edwards and Bethel’s Jordan Wheeler the chance to participate in an archaeological dig on an eroding river bank in Klondike Gold Rush National Park. These students are conducting archaeological surveys, excavating archaeological features and implementing best practices in field and laboratory procedures. On the other side of the state, an internship with the Tanana Chiefs Conference is taking Wasilla’s Josiah Dowdy to Alaska’s Interior where he is studying the abundance and run timing of adult salmon in the Gisasa River and Henshaw Creek. Through his internship with ConocoPhillips, Kristian Nudlash-Barger of Dillingham is learning to track salmon runs using python coding and also got to go with the village outreach team to participate in community meetings in Wainwright and Atqasuk.
Students completing paid Summer Bridge internships with ANSEP’s strategic partners this year represent 10 different Alaska communities.
Anchorage
- Malia Batchelder, University of Rhode Island
- Emily Charles, Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska
- Caralynn Charles-Smith, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium
- Riss DeLara, Bristol Bay Native Association and Defenders of Wildlife
- Alandra Jones, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium
- Jessica Martinez, ANSEP and Alaska Department of Fish & Game
- Sally Yu, Oil Search Alaska
Bethel
- Charlee Korthuis, Bristol Bay Native Association and the Office of Sen. Lisa Murkowski
- Haley Sundown, U.S. Geological Survey
- Jordan Wheeler, National Park Service
Chugiak
- Isaiah Faso-Fomoso, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Dillingham
- Kristian Nudlash-Barger, ConocoPhillips
Eagle River
- Gabe Abdelnoor, University of Rhode Island
Fairbanks
- Ezra Hunt, ConocoPhillips
Manokotak
- Celine Alakayak, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
Palmer
- Lena Edwards, National Park Service
Wasilla
- Josiah Dowdy, Tanana Chiefs Conference
- Ezra Gilmore, Oil Search Alaska
- Glenda Root, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
Unalakleet
- Victoria Fisher, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium
“Summer Bridge provides unparalleled professional and educational experiences for recent high school graduates in Alaska,” said ANSEP Founder and Vice Provost Dr. Herb Schroeder. “These students are gaining invaluable experience in office settings and on a university campus while sharpening their skills and building valuable professional and peer-to-peer connections. The opportunity to send students to work with our partners in D.C. this summer is just a preview of the endless opportunities that lie ahead for ANSEP students.”
In addition to preparing academically, socially and professionally for college, students who successfully complete Summer Bridge are eligible for scholarship funding to attend the University of Alaska this fall. Many students have already earned free credits toward a bachelor degree through previous coursework completed in ANSEP’s Acceleration Academy component. Through scholarship funding and components like Acceleration Academy potentially saving families three full years of college costs, ANSEP helps students save tens of thousands of dollars on higher education.
