Students are evaluated by a letter grade on their transcript. Ninety-six students have completed intensive internships so far. Most have been field oriented. Others have worked in educational or outreach programs in nature centers with state or federal agencies. A few interns have participated in data analysis, environmental policy work or laboratory investigations.
Interns come back raving about their new insights.
Most, if not all, interns come back raving about their new insights and increased understanding of field work, not to mention newly acquired skills and a broader perspective. Above all, the experience helps students enter the last year of their undergraduate education with more focus, more confidence and a refined sense of what they want to learn and what they want to do after they graduate. They feel like they are at OSU for a reason. But as with real jobs, most internships have not been easy or all fun and games. There's mention of long hours, terrible weather, smelly samples to collect, rude tourists, uncommunicative supervisors, bad coffee and research fraught with politics and financial constraints.