Vanessa Martinez
Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico
Research Mentor: Becky Alexander
Project: Sulfur and oxygen isotope measurements during winter in Fairbanks, Alaska
This research opportunity was an amazing experience, I learn so much about atmospheric chemistry, the pollution in Fairbanks, AK, how is the life of a graduate student, how to become a scientific and about Seattle. Seattle is a big, beautiful and technology city. Has a lot of things that you can do while you do your research. I went to historic places on Seattle, beaches, national’s parks, and malls. The University of Washington is so big, beautiful, and the architecture is different 
and beautiful, I went to the “Harry Potter” library, and it was so beautiful. While I was there, HBO was filming one of the series that they have, and it was so cool seeing the actors and how they film. Also, I made a lot of friends in the research and in the university. I love the environment of Washington, is so different to Puerto Rico. It has a lot of cute animals, a lot of beautiful flowers and the weather is chill and rainy, even though some days was 80 degrees.
Every week we have a seminar about environmental sciences, and how to make a poster. Those seminars give the opportunity of learning about different themes in the environmental science, and you can find your way to become a scientist. We must make a video and a poster for the final presentation, which is in the last week in the internship. In the video you must explain was you did in your research in a funny way, and it was so fun to film. The poster was super easy to do, your mentor and your graduate mentor help you and CICOES bring post-doc students to review your poster. Present the poster is easy too, because is a one-to-one chat, you explain your project in your own words and answer questions. This internship gives you the opportunity to develop as a scientist, your laboratory skills, and prepare you to graduate school.
Project introduction
Research poster
