July 08 Issue - Employee Monthly Magazine

Spotlight

Providing interns a meaningful experience is coordinator's goal

Brenda Montoya, left, and Marissa Anderson, a new student in Advanced Measurement Science, review the mentoring checklist for student interns. Photo by Sandra Valdez

Every year, almost 1,000 students come to the Laboratory to work as high school co-op, undergraduate, or graduate research assistants. Some work as interns during the summer months; others have longer appointments. Regardless of their tenure, the one constant for students and the person from whom they most likely will receive their first introduction to Laboratory life is Brenda Montoya.

Montoya, the Lab's Student Programs coordinator in the Education and Postdoc Program Office, knows something about students. Montoya joined the Lab in the early 1980s as a student in what was then Energy Division. Her inspiration to work as student coordinator came from the student coordinator Montoya met when she was an intern. "I recall saying to myself that I'd like to someday perform the type of work that she did," said Montoya.

For Montoya, making a student's internship productive and fulfilling is her main goal. "The goal of the Education Program Office is to provide students with a meaningful experience that they can take with them to their next internship," she said.

To that end, Montoya works with the Students' Association at the Lab and her colleagues in Student Programs to develop special events, such as trips, picnics, luncheons, and breakfasts, which allow students to socialize and get to know each other. They also learn about facilities and the extraordinary scientific research done at the Lab by participating in lectures and meeting senior managers, including the Laboratory director.

The culmination of many students' summer experience is the annual Student Symposium, this year scheduled for August 5-6 at University of New Mexico, Los Alamos.

"The Symposium allows students the opportunity to showcase the work they have accomplished during their internships," Montoya said. "They present their work to Laboratory scientists and researchers who act as judges, to fellow students, and to the public. I am responsible for recruiting judges for the symposium and matching judges' expertise with students' presentations."

Montoya said students are enthusiastic about the symposium. "Students are judged and critiqued on their presentation, and awards are given for the best presentation," she said, adding, more than 200 students are expected to participate in the symposium.

Her advice to Lab interns? "Take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way, whether big or small," said Montoya. "You will learn from them all."

—Erika Martinez