interns
April 2010 saw two major workplace disasters: The April 5th explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia, where 29 workers lost their lives, and the April 20th explosion at the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig that killed 11 workers. Four years later, Ken Ward Jr. of the Charleston Gazette reminded us that "for those who lost loved ones, April 5 is now forever the day that they became a widow or an orphan, the day they lost their son or their best friend." He posted the names of the 29 miners and a slideshow memorial about them at his Coal Tattoo blog.
The BP Deepwater Horizon…
Every summer, the SETI Institute hosts 15-20 college students from around the country as part of its Astrobiology Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) internship program. The program, which is funded by the National Science Foundation and the NASA Astrobiology Institute, pairs each student with a research mentor at the SETI Institute. At the end of the 10-week internship, each student presents a talk and written report on their research project, and many students go on to present their work at professional conferences during the following academic year.
This year, our 19 REU interns…