EPIIC Internship

Participants in the EPIIC internship are expected to: 
 

• Work on a research project under the guidance of a mentor.
  Mentor(s) and mentee(s) sign a document after discussion that sets expectations and goals for their summer collaboration. The student carries out a research project crafted by the mentor(s), with the opportunity for modifications and/or additions based on the student’s skills and motivation.
   
• Acquire expertise in research methods while carrying out a research project. 
  Acquiring expertise in the research methods starts the first week the student is at EPL, and within several weeks, students can carry out independent work.
   
• Participate in professional development workshops. 
  The student participates in several research and science communication skills workshops that supplement the more topic-specific skills they gain from the research project and meets weekly as a group with the coordinator to provide research updates.
   
• Prepare an AAS- or AGU-style abstract of the work presented before the end of July
  The oral presentations are styled after national meetings (AGU, GSA, or AAS), and questions by the audience are encouraged. An abstract for the presentation is required, which will, if the student chooses, form the basis for an abstract to be submitted for a presentation at a national meeting during the following academic year.
   
• Participate in evaluations
  Students and mentors participate in a series of beginning, mid-, and end-of-program evaluations to assess the mentor-mentee interactions, the progress of the students in gaining research skills, and overall experience in the full program. 
   
• Meet weekly with the program coordinator to provide research updates.

• Must be an undergraduate student enrolled (part-time or full-time) in a degree program leading to a baccalaureate or associate degree.
• Students who are transferred from one college/university to another and are enrolled at neither institution during the intervening summer may participate.
• Must be able to commit to the full 10-week program in person (June 2, 2025 - August 8, 2025)
• Research projects will be conducted on campus and in person.
• Strong interest in Earth, planetary, and/or astronomical sciences
• No minimum GPA is required

The online application form asks for information about you, your previous research experience, and your motivation for pursuing this internship. There are several short prompts (< 250 words.) We also ask for the contact information of one reference (but they do not need to submit letters).

Please read over the application first, and draft your response in a separate document before filling out the online form for submission.

Application Materials to Prepare:

• Curriculum Vitae 
• Unofficial Transcript
• Reference Contact Information
• Short Essay Question Responses

Note: We believe academic environments should be places where diverse groups of people with a variety of viewpoints and ideas can thrive and work together. As such, we encourage applicants from underrepresented groups and backgrounds to apply. The Carnegie Institution is an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of gender, race/ethnicity, protected veteran status, disability, or another protected group status.

Use of AI algorithms in preparing your responses to short questions is strictly prohibited.

The origins of Earth’s volatile elements as complex organic molecules come from early Solar System Objects. Research conducted on campus has shown that  primitive solar system objects could have been  subjected to thermal processes altering their chemical composition. As members of the NASA OSIRIS-Rex Team, we analyze organic solids from the return mission from asteroid Bennu to understand their thermal history. We see evidence that this material evolves through complex chemical kinetics. This project involved a series of hand-on experiments to understand the evolution of organic molecules under conditions of Solar System early evolution. The ultimate goal would be to decipher the processes that might have affected primitive Solar System Objects, such as the asteroid Bennu. The intern student will be trained in experimental organic geochemistry and in advanced spectroscopic analytical methods, such as Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy.

Recommended prerequisites: None.

Is there life beyond Earth? In 2023, Carnegie scientists pioneered a brand-new technique for searching for life in the cosmos based on machine learning. The accuracy and applicability of this biosignature technique rely on a breadth of data collected by a laboratory method called “pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry” (pyGCMS). In this project, we will explore scores of synthetic carbon-rich samples using pyGCMS. Not only will the student intern help build the training data set for the next-generation machine learning model, but they will also pioneer the analyses of enigmatic specimens from the early Earth that may contain remnants of ancient life. As a result, the intern will become an expert in the pyGCMS analytical technique, gain experience in data processing and data analysis, learn the basics of machine learning, and gain valuable experience in the communication of key scientific findings.

Recommended prerequisites: None.

Are you passionate about Earth sciences and eager to dive into the world of geochemistry? Join us as an intern to explore how micro-materials, such as diamonds and their inclusions, reveal hidden processes deep within our planet. This project addresses big questions, from tracking water’s journey in Earth’s interior to understanding how critical elements accumulate in ore deposits. As an intern, you will gain hands-on experience with state-of-the-art geochemical tools, including electron microscopy and advanced isotope analysis techniques. You’ll learn to characterize and analyze rocks and minerals and develop valuable skills in data management, visualization, and interpretation. By the end of this internship, you’ll have practical experience in cutting-edge geochemistry and have gained a new perspective on how geochemistry can illuminate hidden deep-Earth processes. Students majoring in geology are encouraged to apply.

Recommended prerequisites: Geology major.

To better quantify timescales of how Earth will respond to anthropogenic climate change, we must investigate timing and rates of environmental and ecosystem perturbations in the past. This internship will expose you to multiple aspects of geochronology, the science of applying ages to the rock record. You will gain laboratory experience in pursuit of quantifying the timing and climatic effect of volcanism around the Caribbean during the Cretaceous. You will also perform a literature-based investigation of hiatuses in the Early Miocene deep-sea sedimentary record, to inform our understanding of the timing of changes in oceanographic processes across an interval of biotic transition. By the end of this internship, you will gain experience in mineral separation techniques, extracting information from scientific papers, analyzing and visualizing scientific data, talking with scientific collaborators, and the ways we make sure records from across the Earth system are temporally “on the same page.” The student is expected to have completed at least one geology course, with additional coursework in Earth system science, stratigraphy/sedimentology, and/or oceanography preferred. No prior laboratory or research experience is required.

Recommended prerequisites: None.

The thermal history of the core and mantle and their dynamics is one of the most fundamental topics in geophysics. It is related to the processes of planetary accretion and differentiation, the time evolution of mantle and core temperatures, and the generation of Earth’s magnetic field. The thermal conductivity of materials in the Earth’s and planetary interiors is the key to understanding these phenomena.Thermal conductivity depends on the depth at which the materials reside and their composition and spin state. These dependencies will be explored via investigations of materials of various composition/state and variable pressure-temperature conditions. These questions will be addressed by direct measurements of thermal conductivity of Earth’s minerals and alloys in a laser heated diamond anvil cell at extreme pressure-temperature conditions representative for the Earth’s interior. Students should be expected to have some familiarity with optics and spectroscopy. 

Recommended prerequisites: Familiarity with optics and spectroscopy.