INTERNS

Have a cool STEAM idea? Interested in being a summer intern?

SUMMER 2022

JAIDYN CATHERALL - STONE EDGE OBSERVATORY INTERN

Jaidyn is a rising fourth-year major in Applied Math and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago. Jaidyn dreams of working for NASA, where there is a perfect blend of everything she likes: space, math and physics. Jaidyn first came to GLAS as an Astronomy Intern in Fall 2020. In the somewhat cramped confines of GLAS’s former offices, she wrote online lessons for English-speaking African students. The lessons, through Google Classroom, helped the students learn basic information about astronomy as they prepared to join the Stone Edge Observatory (SEO) program. Jaidyn returned to GLAS in 2022, where she was able to work in the far more spacious environs of GLAS’s new offices. She continued to write lesson plans for students in Africa and analyzed data from the Stone Edge Observatory.

DANIEL FENG - DARK SKIES INTERN

Daniel is a rising second year Business Economics and Psychology major at the University of Chicago. While at GLAS in 2022, he worked with the Dark Skies Office to research carbon emissions in the area. Daniel brought leadership experience to GLAS from his time leading his high school’s Asian American Student Association, which was a school-wide cultural showcase and marketing internship. He brought creativity and energy to anything worked on, including developing a GLAS video explaining the office’s NaviLens system for BVI staff and interns and conducting a lighting survey for a north Wisconsin religious retreat. In addition to working on his degrees, he spends time creating YouTube videos for his channel, catches up on the Marvel superhero movies, and is developing his first clothing line while running his own clothing resale business online.

OLIVIA CHIANCONE - COMMUNICATIONS INTERN

Olivia is a rising second year student at the University of Chicago where she plans to double major in Neuroscience and Psychology. She plans to then attend law school to pursue patent law. While at GLAS during the summer of 2022, Olivia organized GLAS’s social media and kept the GLAS Facebook page current. She enjoys to knit, even though she is very new to this. She is currently working on a coding project for a tech competition on campus taking place in late May. She is originally from North Carolina and has lived there her whole life. This was her first visit to Wisconsin.

MAIRE LUCERO - SONIFICATION INTERN

Maire is a sophomore at Badger High School, Lake Geneva. She began visiting GLAS in 2020 during the pandemic. Maire started with coding, the LENSS project, and volunteered at star parties. She narrowed her focus to sonification and will help write a national grant for sonification. While balancing honors and AP classes, athletics, and school clubs, she helps Kate with the Sonification World Chat, an international online collaboration of experts working on a unified data sonification system. Maire’s interests vary. She loves studying soundwaves and sonification. She also loves poetry, public speaking, art, music, and environmental science.

CHARLIE CARVAJAL - STONE EDGE OBSERVATORY INTERN

Charlie is a rising second year student at the University of Chicago, majoring in Astrophysics and Computer Science. He’s also interested in other languages and is currently learning Japanese. Charlie also has a twin brother, Carlos, who is also attending the University of Chicago. He said he looked forward to his 2022 GLAS internship as a fantastic opportunity to gain experience in astrophysics data collection and analysis.

SUMMER 2021

KRISTIN BAKER - SDSS/LENSS/WEBSITE INTERN

Kristin is a two-time GLAS intern. Between graduating with a B.S. in Physics from Georgia State University in December 2020 and beginning graduate school at the Department of Astronomy at Indiana University in August 2021, she first came at GLAS in the spring of 2021.She spent the majority of her internship developing a tactile Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) domino card game quickly establishing herself as Kate’s “comparison intern.” In the summer of 2021, Kristin worked remotely from Atlanta on a two-part internship. She spent half of her time helping LENSS automate and visualize its data, and she spent the other half developing this website.

ASHANAH GAYDEN - HISTORY INTERN

Ashanah Gayden is a student at The University of Chicago majoring in Anthropology and Business Economics. During 2021, she worked with Richard Dreiser, a past tour guide at Yerkes Observatory, to assemble a book on the unique architecture of Yerkes Observatory. Outside of working on the book and learning about the history of Yerkes Observatory, she also dabbled in other side projects and tasks that summer.

SIMON MORK - DARK SKIES OFFICE INTERN

A native of southeast Wisconsin, Simon, as the GLAS Dark Skies Intern, worked to preserve the same dark skies he gazed up into as a child. Simon worked on a variety of projects to promote dark sky quality and to advance the dark skies movement in the Geneva Lake area. He distributed the Dark Skies Knowledge Assessment Survey (DSKAS) to communities around the lake to gauge knowledge and awareness of light pollution. He also assisted with an International Dark Skies Association application for the Kishwauketoe Nature Conservancy in Williams Bay to become an internationally recognized Dark Skies location. In addition, Simon developed a science curriculum for school districts around Geneva Lake and in Walworth County that focuses on light pollution and how to control it. These helped bring further awareness of the dark skies cause to the greater Geneva Lake area.

SOPHIE MARSH - SDSS INTERN

Sophie is a student at UW-Platteville, where she is studying mechanical engineering. She received an AAUW scholarship in the spring of 2020, which led her to an internship at GLAS Education. Sophie admitted she was a bit hesitant about the internship, but decided that it would be neat to learn something about astronomy.

As a GLAS intern in the summer of 2021, she worked on the SDSS Plug Plate project, which is designed to make astronomy more BVI accessible.

Sophie said the internship taught her new skills such as how to use CAD programs and do 3D printing. She said she had never used a CAD program until her summer internship. “Now I’m moving on feeling a lot more advanced in my modeling and design, and 3D printing skills,” she said.

FALL 2020

JAIDYN CATHERALL - ASTROPHYSICS INTERN

In a small office at GLAS Education, Jaidyn Catherall, a University of Chicago astrophysics student, writes online lessons for students a half world away.

Jaidyn, a sophomore, said the lessons through Google Classroom will help English-speaking African students learn basic information about astronomy, such as sky orientation and the mechanics of refracting and reflecting telescopes. The lessons will assist students as they prepare to join the Stone Edge Observatory (SEO) program. SEO projects are part of the McQuown (McQ) Scholars that were first established at Yerkes Observatory. SEO projects use a research-grade telescope in Sonoma, California

Writing astronomy lessons for students on another continent seems to be a far cry from Jaidyn’s career goals. “My dream was always to work with NASA,” Jaidyn said. “I’ve always been interested in astrophysics and I always felt that it had the perfect blend of everything I like: space, math, and physics.” She holds on to a childhood dream of becoming an astronaut but admits plans may change.

While not trained in education, Jaidyn said she enjoys the challenge of writing lessons. “I was thinking about how I like information presented to me,” Jaidyn said. She said she provides PowerPoint presentations and videos to make the lessons more accessible to students. The lessons also have web links to other sites with more information.