Intern Alumni

From 2013 - 2017, NEON offered a variety of research internships for undergraduates during the summer, from helping to design sensor assemblies to testing sampling protocols and analyzing data. Interns worked alongside staff mentors and explored career options in weekly professional development seminars and networking events with interns from other scientific programs based in Boulder, CO. NEON interns have significantly contributed to NEON construction and operations through a variety of science, engineering, and communications projects.

	Madeleine Ball \| 2014 Affiliation: Tufts University Team: Science – Airborne Observation Platform Mentors: Shelley Petroy, Nathan Leisso, and Leah Wasser Project: Madeleine conducted a comparative analysis of Landsat, AVIRIS, and NIS normalized difference vegetation indices in NEON Domain 17, the Pacific Southwest. Scientific Poster: A comparative analysis of Landsat, AVIRIS, and NIS normalized difference vegetation indices in Domain 17, the Pacific Southwest
	Gabriel Bromley \| 2016 Affiliation: University of Wisconsin - Madison Team: Engineering/Calibration Mentors: David Durden, Stefan Metzger Project: Gabriel worked to optimize the collocation of field sampling activities and tower-based instrument measurements during NEON construction. Scientific Poster: Optimizing the collocation of field sampling activities and tower-based instrument measurements
	Catherine Clark \| 2015 Affiliation: University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Team: Science - Airborne Observation Platform Mentors: Josh Elliott, Nathan Leisso, Leah Wasser Project: Catherine completed a comparative analysis of field spectroscopy and NEON atmospherically corrected airborne reflectance data. Scientific Poster: A Comparative Analysis of Field Spectroscopy and NEON Atmospherically Corrected Airborne Reflectance Data
	Stephanie Cortés \| 2014 Affiliation: Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia Team: Science Mentors: Michael SanClements, Sarah Elmendorf Project: Stephanie's project was to modify and implement an automatic image analysis algorithm to process NEON phenocam images to allow for the study of tree canopy phenology. Scientific Poster: Interpreting Canopy Phenology using an Automatic Image Analysis Algorithm to Process Phenocam Images
	Nicole Dear \| 2013 Affiliation: University of Michigan Team: Science Mentors: Jacob Parnell, Michael SanClements Project: Nicole studied the successional changes in soil microbial communities in northeastern US hardwood forests as part of validating NEON sampling design. Scientific Poster: Successional Changes in Soil Microbial Communities in a Northeastern US Hardwood Forest
	William Ennis \| 2013 Affiliation: University of Alabama Team: Engineering Mentors: Susan Tower, Andrew Sparks and Ryan Utz Project: William's project was to design and prototype of STREON aquatic organism exclosure. [STREON was descoped from the NEON design in 2015] Scientific Poster: Design and Prototype of STREON Aquatic Organism Exclosure
	Kyle Feldman \| 2016 Affiliation: Bard College; Biology major Team: Science, Terrestrial Instrumented Systems Mentor: Cove Sturtevant Project: Kyle worked closely with NEON scientists to help analyze the potential effects that Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety lighting may have on the flux tower sensors that analyze radiation (visible light and heat). Currently, there are two NEON towers required to have FAA safety lighting due to their height. Scientific Poster: Analyzing the Effects of FAA Safety Lighting on Radiation Measurements at NEON Test Sites Presentation of Kyle's project
	Ian Flores Siaca \| 2016 Affiliation: University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus; Biology major, Sociology minor Team: Data Products, Ecoinformatics Mentors: Christine Laney, Claire Lunch Project: Every day, we produce petabytes of data, which are stored in large and complex datasets. This big data, as it is known, is hard to analyze using the classical statistical frameworks. The scientific community has suggested the use of new visualization techniques with more advanced statistical frameworks to deal with the increasing data. However, multidimensional data analyses have been used as one of the frameworks to tackle this situation, yet, development of these tools has been extremely limited. This is a bigger problem if we take a look at how many of these tools are applicable to spatial ecology. To tackle this, we made use of the core fundamentals of the Information Visualization Reference Model, which allowed us to build a web-based application making use of the Shiny and R infrastructure. The resulting application allows users to visualize relationships of variables in up to three dimensions. In addition to these, it also allows for the visualization of the different spatial patterns that the species exhibit. It also allows for different spatial analyses such as Ripley’s K and its modification, Ripley’s L. Scientific Poster: Making Science More Accessible through Data Visualization of Field-Based Organismal Data Video interview with Ian
	Avalon Hoek Spaans \| 2015 Affiliation: University of Florida Team: Science - Terrestrial Observation Systems Mentors: Cody Flagg, Katie LeVan Project: Avalon investigated the climatic and ecological factors that may explain fine root biomass at depth on the continental scale. Scientific Poster: Climatic and Ecological Factors Explain Fine Root Biomass at Depth on the Continental Scale
	Frances Janz \| 2016 Affiliation: University of Colorado at Boulder; Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (EBIO) major, Philosophy minor Team: Science, Terrestrial Observation Systems Mentor: Lee Stanish Project: Determining whether there are differences in the types and amounts of organisms found in soil collected at NEON field sites using two different soil sampling methods. This analysis will help NEON scientists make more informed decisions on the best soil sampling procedures at field sites. Scientific Poster: Collecting Soil Microorganisms: How Sampling Methodology Influences Diversity and Community Composition Video interview with Frances
	Ariel Kaluzhny \| 2014 Affiliation: Wesleyan University Team: Cyberinfrastructure Mentors: François Pradeau, Jim Arnow Project: Ariel worked on implementation, visualization, and output analyses of time series algorithms for NEON tower sensors. Scientific Poster: Implementation, Visualization, and Output Analysis of Time Series Algorithms for NEON Tower Sensors
	Victor Leos \| 2014 Affiliation: Bowdoin College Team: Science Mentors: David Hoekman, Katie Jones, and Natalie Robinson Project: Victor used NEON provisional data to examine vascular plant and carabid beetle diversity across three different ecoclimatic domains Scientific Poster: Exploring vascular plant and carabid beetle diversity across three different ecoclimatic domains using NEON provisional data
	Adrián Lugo Bendezú \| 2016 Affiliation: University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus; Integrative Biology major Team: Science, Airborne Observation Platform Mentor: Tristan Goulden Project: Traditionally, expensive software tools have been a necessity for working with hyperspectral data; Adrian’s internship project was to develop a software tool that allows QGIS (an open source software package) to open, read, and use NEON’s hyperspectral data. Scientific Poster: Plugin for Opening and Georeferencing NEON Hyperspectral Data in QGIS Video interview with Adrian
	Abigail Oakes \| 2013 Affiliation: New College of Florida Team: Communications Mentors: Jennifer Walton, Sandra Chung, Liz Goehring, Claire Lunch Project: Abigail's outreach and communications internship project focused on creating inclusive environments through NEON outreach for Latinx communities. Scientific Poster: Inclusive Environments - Developing Outreach for Latino Communities
	Hitomi Okada \| 2015 Affiliation: Colorado State University Team: Science - Terrestrial Instrumented Systems Mentors: Joshua Roberti, Derek Smith, Chris Thompson, Janae Csavina, Hank Loescher Project: Hitomi used photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) as a proxy to estimate the impact of NEON's tower infrastructure on microclimate measurements which lead to improvements in construction techniques to minimize impacts on subsequent NEON data collection. Scientific Poster: Using Photosynthetically Active Radiation as a Proxy to Estimate the Impact of NEON's Tower Infrastructure on Microclimate Measurements
	Rose Petersky \| 2014 Affiliation: SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry Team: Science Mentors: Ryan Utz, Michael Fitzgerald Project: Rose's project was to determine the optimal spatial resolution of measurements for mapping stream geomorphology using land surveying techniques. Scientific Poster: Determining the optimal sample density of measurements for mapping stream geomorphology using land surveying
	Justin Ripley \| 2016 Affiliation: The Colorado School of Mines; Environmental Engineering major Team: Engineering & Calibration Mentors: Janae Csavina, Doug Kath, Ted Hehn Project: Working in NEON's Calibration and Validation lab analyzing the uncertainty associated with the collection, measurement and storage of pressurized gases used for the “state-of-health” testing of carbon dioxide sensors mounted on the NEON towers. Scientific Poster: Uncertainty Analysis and Optimization of Gas Filling Procedures for Reliable Carbon Dioxide Measurements Video interview with Justin
	Adrienne Rodriguez \| 2013 Affiliation: North Carolina State University Team: Science Mentors: Charlotte Roehm, Melissa Slater, Jennifer Everhart Project: Adrienne studied lake ecosystem function from bathymetric, hydrologic, and land use modeling in ArcGIS as part of creating and testing NEON Algorithm Theoretical Basis Documents to document NEON data processing. Scientific Poster: Revealing Lake Ecosystem Function from Bathymetric and Hydrologic Modeling in ArcGIS
	Kevin Sacca \| 2014 Affiliation: Rochester Institute of Technology Team: Science Mentors: Michael SanClements, Sarah Elmendorf Project: Kevin, an Imaging Science student, created an algorithm for automatically finding snow depth from the images of the staff gauges at field sites using image processing techniques. Scientific Poster: Determining Snow Depth Using an Automatic Image Processing Algorithm
	Victoria Scholl \| 2015 Affiliation: Rochester Institute of Technology Team: Science - Airborne Observation Platform Mentors: David Hulslander, Tristan Goulden, Leah Wasser Project: Victoria worked to improve the algorithms used to create lidar-derived canopy height models in sites with varying vegetation structure. Scientific Poster: Assessing and Adapting LiDAR-Derived Pit-Free Canopy Height Model Algorithm for Sites with Varying Vegetation Structure
	Caleb Shaw \| 2014 Affiliation: Team: Education Mentors: Sarah Newman, Sandra Henderson, Tom Stohlgren (Colorado State University) Project: Caleb was at NEON as part of the STAR teacher researcher program to hone his research skills in order to help students better understand the fun of scientific investigations during his teaching. Caleb completed comparison of common lilac (_Syringa vulgaris_) phenology timing between historical data and current Project BudBurst citizen science data. [Project BudBurst was moved to the Chicago Botanical Gardens in 2016]. Scientific Poster: Comparison of common lilac (Syringa vulgaris) phenology timing between historical data and current Project BudBurst citizen science data: challenges and lessons learned
	Justo Tarula \| 2015 Affiliation: University of California - Riverside Team: Engineering/Calibration Mentor: Janae Csavina Project: Justo worked in NEON's Calibration and Validation lab to quantify impacts of atmospheric and physical parameters on pyranometer calibration. Scientific Poster: Quantifying impacts of atmospheric and physical parameters on pyranometer calibration
	Sharon Williams \| 2016 Affiliation: University of Montana Western; Geology major with a focus in GIS (Geographic Information Systems) mapping Team: GIS Mentor: Melissa Slater Project: Creating dynamic web maps of each NEON domain to be used by field operations staff across the NEON network. The maps included key geographic markers such as tower and aquatic site locations, field sampling locations, boundaries, pictures and more. Scientific Poster: Utilizing Geographic Information Systems to Enable Information Sharing Across NEON Domains Video interview with Sharon

	Madeleine Ball \| 2014 Affiliation: Tufts University Team: Science – Airborne Observation Platform Mentors: Shelley Petroy, Nathan Leisso, and Leah Wasser Project: Madeleine conducted a comparative analysis of Landsat, AVIRIS, and NIS normalized difference vegetation indices in NEON Domain 17, the Pacific Southwest. Scientific Poster: A comparative analysis of Landsat, AVIRIS, and NIS normalized difference vegetation indices in Domain 17, the Pacific Southwest
	Gabriel Bromley \| 2016 Affiliation: University of Wisconsin - Madison Team: Engineering/Calibration Mentors: David Durden, Stefan Metzger Project: Gabriel worked to optimize the collocation of field sampling activities and tower-based instrument measurements during NEON construction. Scientific Poster: Optimizing the collocation of field sampling activities and tower-based instrument measurements
	Catherine Clark \| 2015 Affiliation: University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Team: Science - Airborne Observation Platform Mentors: Josh Elliott, Nathan Leisso, Leah Wasser Project: Catherine completed a comparative analysis of field spectroscopy and NEON atmospherically corrected airborne reflectance data. Scientific Poster: A Comparative Analysis of Field Spectroscopy and NEON Atmospherically Corrected Airborne Reflectance Data
	Stephanie Cortés \| 2014 Affiliation: Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia Team: Science Mentors: Michael SanClements, Sarah Elmendorf Project: Stephanie's project was to modify and implement an automatic image analysis algorithm to process NEON phenocam images to allow for the study of tree canopy phenology. Scientific Poster: Interpreting Canopy Phenology using an Automatic Image Analysis Algorithm to Process Phenocam Images
	Nicole Dear \| 2013 Affiliation: University of Michigan Team: Science Mentors: Jacob Parnell, Michael SanClements Project: Nicole studied the successional changes in soil microbial communities in northeastern US hardwood forests as part of validating NEON sampling design. Scientific Poster: Successional Changes in Soil Microbial Communities in a Northeastern US Hardwood Forest
	William Ennis \| 2013 Affiliation: University of Alabama Team: Engineering Mentors: Susan Tower, Andrew Sparks and Ryan Utz Project: William's project was to design and prototype of STREON aquatic organism exclosure. [STREON was descoped from the NEON design in 2015] Scientific Poster: Design and Prototype of STREON Aquatic Organism Exclosure
	Kyle Feldman \| 2016 Affiliation: Bard College; Biology major Team: Science, Terrestrial Instrumented Systems Mentor: Cove Sturtevant Project: Kyle worked closely with NEON scientists to help analyze the potential effects that Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety lighting may have on the flux tower sensors that analyze radiation (visible light and heat). Currently, there are two NEON towers required to have FAA safety lighting due to their height. Scientific Poster: Analyzing the Effects of FAA Safety Lighting on Radiation Measurements at NEON Test Sites Presentation of Kyle's project
	Ian Flores Siaca \| 2016 Affiliation: University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus; Biology major, Sociology minor Team: Data Products, Ecoinformatics Mentors: Christine Laney, Claire Lunch Project: Every day, we produce petabytes of data, which are stored in large and complex datasets. This big data, as it is known, is hard to analyze using the classical statistical frameworks. The scientific community has suggested the use of new visualization techniques with more advanced statistical frameworks to deal with the increasing data. However, multidimensional data analyses have been used as one of the frameworks to tackle this situation, yet, development of these tools has been extremely limited. This is a bigger problem if we take a look at how many of these tools are applicable to spatial ecology. To tackle this, we made use of the core fundamentals of the Information Visualization Reference Model, which allowed us to build a web-based application making use of the Shiny and R infrastructure. The resulting application allows users to visualize relationships of variables in up to three dimensions. In addition to these, it also allows for the visualization of the different spatial patterns that the species exhibit. It also allows for different spatial analyses such as Ripley’s K and its modification, Ripley’s L. Scientific Poster: Making Science More Accessible through Data Visualization of Field-Based Organismal Data Video interview with Ian
	Avalon Hoek Spaans \| 2015 Affiliation: University of Florida Team: Science - Terrestrial Observation Systems Mentors: Cody Flagg, Katie LeVan Project: Avalon investigated the climatic and ecological factors that may explain fine root biomass at depth on the continental scale. Scientific Poster: Climatic and Ecological Factors Explain Fine Root Biomass at Depth on the Continental Scale
	Frances Janz \| 2016 Affiliation: University of Colorado at Boulder; Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (EBIO) major, Philosophy minor Team: Science, Terrestrial Observation Systems Mentor: Lee Stanish Project: Determining whether there are differences in the types and amounts of organisms found in soil collected at NEON field sites using two different soil sampling methods. This analysis will help NEON scientists make more informed decisions on the best soil sampling procedures at field sites. Scientific Poster: Collecting Soil Microorganisms: How Sampling Methodology Influences Diversity and Community Composition Video interview with Frances
	Ariel Kaluzhny \| 2014 Affiliation: Wesleyan University Team: Cyberinfrastructure Mentors: François Pradeau, Jim Arnow Project: Ariel worked on implementation, visualization, and output analyses of time series algorithms for NEON tower sensors. Scientific Poster: Implementation, Visualization, and Output Analysis of Time Series Algorithms for NEON Tower Sensors
	Victor Leos \| 2014 Affiliation: Bowdoin College Team: Science Mentors: David Hoekman, Katie Jones, and Natalie Robinson Project: Victor used NEON provisional data to examine vascular plant and carabid beetle diversity across three different ecoclimatic domains Scientific Poster: Exploring vascular plant and carabid beetle diversity across three different ecoclimatic domains using NEON provisional data
	Adrián Lugo Bendezú \| 2016 Affiliation: University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus; Integrative Biology major Team: Science, Airborne Observation Platform Mentor: Tristan Goulden Project: Traditionally, expensive software tools have been a necessity for working with hyperspectral data; Adrian’s internship project was to develop a software tool that allows QGIS (an open source software package) to open, read, and use NEON’s hyperspectral data. Scientific Poster: Plugin for Opening and Georeferencing NEON Hyperspectral Data in QGIS Video interview with Adrian
	Abigail Oakes \| 2013 Affiliation: New College of Florida Team: Communications Mentors: Jennifer Walton, Sandra Chung, Liz Goehring, Claire Lunch Project: Abigail's outreach and communications internship project focused on creating inclusive environments through NEON outreach for Latinx communities. Scientific Poster: Inclusive Environments - Developing Outreach for Latino Communities
	Hitomi Okada \| 2015 Affiliation: Colorado State University Team: Science - Terrestrial Instrumented Systems Mentors: Joshua Roberti, Derek Smith, Chris Thompson, Janae Csavina, Hank Loescher Project: Hitomi used photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) as a proxy to estimate the impact of NEON's tower infrastructure on microclimate measurements which lead to improvements in construction techniques to minimize impacts on subsequent NEON data collection. Scientific Poster: Using Photosynthetically Active Radiation as a Proxy to Estimate the Impact of NEON's Tower Infrastructure on Microclimate Measurements
	Rose Petersky \| 2014 Affiliation: SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry Team: Science Mentors: Ryan Utz, Michael Fitzgerald Project: Rose's project was to determine the optimal spatial resolution of measurements for mapping stream geomorphology using land surveying techniques. Scientific Poster: Determining the optimal sample density of measurements for mapping stream geomorphology using land surveying
	Justin Ripley \| 2016 Affiliation: The Colorado School of Mines; Environmental Engineering major Team: Engineering & Calibration Mentors: Janae Csavina, Doug Kath, Ted Hehn Project: Working in NEON's Calibration and Validation lab analyzing the uncertainty associated with the collection, measurement and storage of pressurized gases used for the “state-of-health” testing of carbon dioxide sensors mounted on the NEON towers. Scientific Poster: Uncertainty Analysis and Optimization of Gas Filling Procedures for Reliable Carbon Dioxide Measurements Video interview with Justin
	Adrienne Rodriguez \| 2013 Affiliation: North Carolina State University Team: Science Mentors: Charlotte Roehm, Melissa Slater, Jennifer Everhart Project: Adrienne studied lake ecosystem function from bathymetric, hydrologic, and land use modeling in ArcGIS as part of creating and testing NEON Algorithm Theoretical Basis Documents to document NEON data processing. Scientific Poster: Revealing Lake Ecosystem Function from Bathymetric and Hydrologic Modeling in ArcGIS
	Kevin Sacca \| 2014 Affiliation: Rochester Institute of Technology Team: Science Mentors: Michael SanClements, Sarah Elmendorf Project: Kevin, an Imaging Science student, created an algorithm for automatically finding snow depth from the images of the staff gauges at field sites using image processing techniques. Scientific Poster: Determining Snow Depth Using an Automatic Image Processing Algorithm
	Victoria Scholl \| 2015 Affiliation: Rochester Institute of Technology Team: Science - Airborne Observation Platform Mentors: David Hulslander, Tristan Goulden, Leah Wasser Project: Victoria worked to improve the algorithms used to create lidar-derived canopy height models in sites with varying vegetation structure. Scientific Poster: Assessing and Adapting LiDAR-Derived Pit-Free Canopy Height Model Algorithm for Sites with Varying Vegetation Structure
	Caleb Shaw \| 2014 Affiliation: Team: Education Mentors: Sarah Newman, Sandra Henderson, Tom Stohlgren (Colorado State University) Project: Caleb was at NEON as part of the STAR teacher researcher program to hone his research skills in order to help students better understand the fun of scientific investigations during his teaching. Caleb completed comparison of common lilac (_Syringa vulgaris_) phenology timing between historical data and current Project BudBurst citizen science data. [Project BudBurst was moved to the Chicago Botanical Gardens in 2016]. Scientific Poster: Comparison of common lilac (Syringa vulgaris) phenology timing between historical data and current Project BudBurst citizen science data: challenges and lessons learned
	Justo Tarula \| 2015 Affiliation: University of California - Riverside Team: Engineering/Calibration Mentor: Janae Csavina Project: Justo worked in NEON's Calibration and Validation lab to quantify impacts of atmospheric and physical parameters on pyranometer calibration. Scientific Poster: Quantifying impacts of atmospheric and physical parameters on pyranometer calibration
	Sharon Williams \| 2016 Affiliation: University of Montana Western; Geology major with a focus in GIS (Geographic Information Systems) mapping Team: GIS Mentor: Melissa Slater Project: Creating dynamic web maps of each NEON domain to be used by field operations staff across the NEON network. The maps included key geographic markers such as tower and aquatic site locations, field sampling locations, boundaries, pictures and more. Scientific Poster: Utilizing Geographic Information Systems to Enable Information Sharing Across NEON Domains Video interview with Sharon

Intern Alumni

Madeleine Ball | 2014

Gabriel Bromley | 2016

Catherine Clark | 2015

Stephanie Cortés | 2014

Nicole Dear | 2013

William Ennis | 2013

Kyle Feldman | 2016

Ian Flores Siaca | 2016

Avalon Hoek Spaans | 2015

Frances Janz | 2016

Ariel Kaluzhny | 2014

Victor Leos | 2014

Adrián Lugo Bendezú | 2016

Abigail Oakes | 2013

Hitomi Okada | 2015

Rose Petersky | 2014

Justin Ripley | 2016

Adrienne Rodriguez | 2013

Kevin Sacca | 2014

Victoria Scholl | 2015

Caleb Shaw | 2014

Justo Tarula | 2015

Sharon Williams | 2016