Named Interns

Ana Sumbo '22

• Challenging Heights
• Ghana

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Ana Sumbo is a geography major from Cabinda, Angola. Outside of academics, she is involved in the planning and leadership of Dartmouth African Students Association (DASA) and Soyeya African Dance Troupe. She also works for the Office of Pluralism and Leadership as a Black Student Coordinator and is a part of the Abolish Incarceration and Detention Everywhere (AIDE) collective that organizes around prison abolition and the political education of incarcerated folks.

During the summer of 2019, Ana worked as an intern for a non-government organization in Ghana, Challenging Heights, dedicated to the elimination of child-exploitation and rehabilitation of former enslaved children through an education centered approach.  During her time there, she had the privilege of delving into different aspects of the organization's work through her involvement with the Challenging Heights school as well as her contribution to the changing monitoring and evaluation strategy that the organization was implementing. Her work at the school mainly involved helping to go through school lessons with the children and helping them with any work they needed. Ana spent most of her time, however, helping the organization develop a plan and implement strategies that would help improve not only the monitoring process of children in rehabilitation, but also give donors direct access to up-date beneficiary information that they could use to help the organization.

In addition to working with and learning from Ghanaians in the non-profit sector, Ana enjoyed immersing herself in Ghanaian culture by taking Fante lessons (the local language), participating in traditional drumming and dance lessons, as well as learning to cook amazing Ghanaian dishes. Overall, her internship allowed her to participate in an exchange of knowledge and engage in non-profit work that non-exploitative and ethical.

Catalina Garcia Valenzuela '21

• Mujeres en Igualdad
• Madrid, Spain

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Catalina is an Economics and Psychology double major from Santiago, Chile. On campus she is a member of the Dartmouth Outdoors Club and works as a drill instructor, tutor, and student researcher. In the Fall of 2019, she took the opportunity to intern with "Mujeres en Igualdad" in Madrid, Spain.

"Mujeres in igualdad" is an NGO that strives to empower women, especially migrant women, by giving them tools and resources to be financially independent. Working collaboratively with her superiors, Catalina helped with a variety of tasks at the organization. In particular, she prepared workshops that aided unemployed women find a job, such as teaching them how to write their CV and cover letters and how to use job search platforms.

Catalina welcomed the opportunity to learn from the myriad of experiences and stories that women brought to the organization, and was humbled by the resilience and strength that they demonstrated. She also enjoyed living in a lively city where there was always something new to do.

Anne George '22

• Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi
• Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

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Anne is a neuroscience and anthropology major from Queens, New York. At Dartmouth, she mentors for America Reads and SEAD, participates in undergraduate research at PBS and Geisel Medical School labs, organizes campus fundraising events with College HAFA, and is a member of Chi Delta Sorority.

During Winter of 2020, she was a neurology research intern at the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. She participated in conducting a retrospective FDA clinical migraine drug trial and a quality improvement process to determine if the risks of new pharmaceutical drugs were being adequately discussed with patients before they were prescribed. She also contributed to writing three research manuscripts.

While in Abu Dhabi, Anne was exposed to the long-standing citizenship crisis for the UAE's expatriates and learned about how this manifests itself in the healthcare landscape. She credits this experience with teaching her the value of embracing ambiguity and approaching cross-cultural experiences with humility––lessons she hopes to carry with her into future interactions with the Dartmouth community and the Upper Valley.

Evan Christo '21

• Aliados
• Tena, Ecuador

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Evan is an environmental engineering major from Mansfield, Massachusetts. On campus, he paddles with the Ledyard Canoe Club, sings in a co-ed a cappella group, and practices with the Women's Varsity Basketball team. Evan discovered Aliados by looking through the Dickey Center's catalog of previous international internships, intrigued by the nonprofit's commitment to sustainability and the opportunity to immerse himself in a new language and culture.

Entering the Aliados team at the same time as the newly-hired Program Coordinator, Evan learned alongside his supervisor and gained a well-rounded look at the inner workings of a non-profit, from grant proposals, to data and document organization, to partner and venture relations. The work varied from internal monitoring and data organization, to graphic and video design, to in-the-field reforestation. Evan was also able to join in on community visits and venture meetings, furthering his understanding of organization-community relations. The internship also included a week-long homestay with a local family, which Evan found to be a highlight of the experience.

Outside of the office, Evan enjoyed exploring and immersing himself in the amazing Ecuadorian community, playing pick-up basketball at the local park, attending exercise dance classes with newly-made friends, and traveling around the different regions of Ecuador on the weekends. Evan felt he grew both as a professional and as an individual during his time with Aliados, and he hopes to be involved in similar work in the future.

Sophia Miller '22

• Center for Strategic Studies, University of Jordan
• Amman, Jordan

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Sophia is a Chemistry major and Middle Eastern Studies minor from Grantham, New Hampshire. On campus, she is a resource for Dartmouth's Sexual Assault Peer Alliance (SAPA), a peer mentor for the Women in Science Program, a TA for the Chemistry department, and a tour guide. In the winter of 2020, she traveled to Amman, Jordan to do research at the University of Jordan's Center for Strategic Studies (CSS).

The CSS is one of Jordan's main authorities for academic research on topics such as politics, social movements, gender, and public opinion in the Middle East, and while there, Sophia had the opportunity to work with many prestigious Jordanian faculty. She assisted with several different gender studies-related projects, including the development of a survey on gender norms in Jordan, and she also worked on projects centered on other topics such as neoliberalism and unemployment protest movements.

While in Jordan, she obtained invaluable research experience, was exposed to a great deal of Arabic, and most importantly gained insight into how to adapt to new situations and become a more thoughtful traveler and global citizen.

Christina Ru '21

• International Justice Mission
• Washington, DC

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Christina is a Quantitative Social Science major and International Studies minor from Houston, Texas. On campus, she has worked as a Learning Fellow at the Center for Social Impact, cooks at Students Fighting Hunger, plays club lacrosse, mentors freshmen in Christian Union, and does research in the Economics Department. In the Winter of 2020, she spent time at International Justice Mission at their headquarters in Washington, DC.

International Justice Mission is a nonprofit dedicated to protecting the poor from violence with 17 field offices across the world and headquarters in DC. They work to rescue and restore victims of human trafficking, land grabbing, and other forced labor.

Some of the projects I worked on included: drafting a new internal "Vulnerable People Policy" to replace their old "Vulnerable Child Policy," data analysis for their Monitoring & Evaluation team—looking at the efficacy of programs, working with the Polaris Project Global Slavery Directory to provide administrative support, and more. It was so rewarding to be able to apply what I've learned in my classes at Dartmouth to a professional setting. I also got to work alongside around 20 other interns, and IJM put on many programming events both during and outside of the work day. The impact of this internship will honestly be lifelong. Academically and professionally, I'd love to delve deeper into the field of development and how to frame the world using quantitative tools.

Katrina Yu '21

• STAND: The Haiti Project
• Port-au-Prince, Haiti

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Katrina Yu is a '21 from Hong Kong studying Psychology and Computer Science. At the Dickey Center, she was involved with Great Issues Scholars and Global Health Fellows. Outside of the classroom, she loves to learn about different religions and to spend time at the Sustainable Living Center. 

This summer, she worked with STAND, a US-based non-profit that aims to establish sustainable access to rehabilitative services in Haiti. Prior to the summer, STAND's providers found it difficult to record patient data and often left important fields blank. Katrina's main contribution was to improve the usability of the health records system. She created customized user flows and simplified the interface. Ultimately, her work allowed providers greater ease in to record reliable patient data to support their patients.

Emily Martinez '21

• CEMIE-Océano
• Mexico City, Mexico

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Emily is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Engineering Sciences and Environmental Earth Sciences, as well as a Bachelor of Engineering with a concentration in Fluid Mechanics. Her interest in the environment began in her upbringing in Southeast Los Angeles. On campus, she has developed a wide range of research experience, working with professors in the Department of Geography and Thayer School of Engineering on projects that have influenced her passion for atmospheric, ocean, and ice research. Outside of academics, she is a part of the Dartmouth Triathlon Team, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), and mentors for the First Year Student Enrichment Program (FYSEP).

In the summer of 2020, Emily began working with the Mexican Center of Innovation in Oceanic Energy (CEMIE-Océano), a research center in the Institute of Engineering at the Autonomous University of Mexico, or II-UNAM, that focuses developing technology of high social and industrial impact in an effort to promote ocean energy. At CEMIE-Océano, Emily's work, as a remote research intern, consisted of working on two projects, led by two different PhD candidates. One of the projects involved analyzing research articles, collecting data relating to sand in beaches of volcanic origin, and using QGIS to map the data collected. The second project focused on the formation and structure of hurricanes. She collected data from atmospheric and ocean models and used Matlab to analyze the impact that El Nino-Southern Oscillations (ENSO) had on hurricanes in the Pacific Basin. Despite the different focuses, both project help advance the work of understanding ocean energy as an alternative energy source and its implementation in coastal communities in Mexico.

This internship fueled Emily's passion for atmospheric and ocean research and has inspired her to pursue a PhD in Earth System Science and continue to participate in conversations that inspire the next generation of climate scientist. Working with CEMIE-Océano reinforced why she wanted to become an engineer, to be able to collaborate with a diverse group of scientists and come up with ways to mediate the impact of global issues such as climate change. After the summer, Emily will continue collaborating with the student committee at CEMIE-Océano, as they have just applied to participate in the 2021 US Department of Energy's Marine Energy Collegiate Competition.

Kara Kelawan '21

• Enabling Peace in Iraq (EPIC)
• Washington, DC

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Kara is a Middle Eastern Studies major modified with Economics from Brooklyn, New York. On campus she participates in the Dandelion Project, works at the Childcare Center in Norwich and cooks at the Haven. In the Fall of 2019 she connected with the Enabling Peace in Iraq Center (EPIC) to organize her term-long internship in Washington D.C.

Her time at EPIC put her knowledge and passion for Middle Eastern Studies and humanitarian work into practice in a hands-on manner. The work included monitoring Iraqi news websites, researching current events and politics of Iraq, and writing for EPIC's weekly newsletter (ISHM). Kara thrived in her work alongside her experts in the field.