ASPIRE Internship: TWISTER Intern 2018-2019, Adventure Science Center, Nashville, TN
Adventure Science Center
TWISTER Intern 2018-2019
800 Fort Negley Blvd.
Nashville, TN 37203
The Adventure Science Center (ASC) is an independent, not-for-profit educational institution that ignites curiosity and inspires the lifelong discovery of science. TWISTER (Tennessee Women in Science, Technology, Engineering & Research) is a series of events for high school girls, presented by women working in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Research) professions. Smaller events will be held at high schools in communities around Nashville, while the main event is a day-long professional conference held at ASC.
TWISTER’s mission is to inform high school aged young women about possible STEM career paths, by providing opportunities for participants to connect with positive female role models working in STEM fields and to engage in hands-on, real-life STEM activities. Since 2003, over 1,300 students have attended TWISTER and over 300 women have volunteered as presenters.
Position Description
Adventure Science Center’s Education Department seeks an intern to assist with planning and coordinating the TWISTER program; including 3 satellite events around Nashville and one larger conference event in April. The TWISTER Intern will sit on the TWISTER planning committee and play an integral role in presenter and volunteer acquisition, session planning, creation of evaluation tools and data analysis.
Internship Details
- Internship period is November 2018 through early April 2019.
- Hours will vary, with required monthly meetings at Adventure Science Center, increased to bi-weekly meetings February- April. Must be available April 6th for TWISTER Conference Event.
- Appx 4-5 hrs/week.
- Internship is unpaid.
- Internship provides exposure to and experience with event planning, event communication and marketing, data collection and analysis, testing evaluation methods, youth development, and STEM education and career promotion.
- Intern will work directly with Adventure Science Center Education Department staff. Internship logistics will be handled by the Volunteer Coordinator and internship content will be handled by the Public Programming Manager.
- Intern selection is dependent upon successful completion of a background check.
Essential Job Functions
- Attend monthly committee meetings
- Enter, organize, and analyze data collected from conference and session evaluations
- Create and update event evaluation methods with a specific focus on evaluating changes in STEM topic interest levels
- Evaluate attendee pre-event survey data and create individual conference schedules for registrants based on their STEM career preferences
- Assist with finding, reaching out to, and recruiting women in STEM professions to present and volunteer
- Assist with communication appeals, social media marketing, and creating web content to promote and support the TWISTER event.
- Assist with STEM topic and theme planning to make the event fun and relevant to current events
Desired Job Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Traits
- Passionate about a field of STEM
- Strong desire to increase female interest in STEM professions
- Highly motivated; strong work-ethic;
- Strong communication skills; various writing experience is a plus
- Strong organization and time management skills
- Adaptable to changing circumstances and goals
- Ability to work and research tasks independently
- MS Office software proficiency
- Prior experience in event planning, data analysis, and/or youth development is a plus
Applications due by 12:00 noon Tuesday, October 2, 2018
To Apply:
- Complete the the following ASPIRE Internship Application found here: (https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AdvSciCtr_2018_2019)
- Please send a CV and cover letter answering the following question: What do you enjoy most about working in a STEM field and why is increasing the number of women in STEM careers important to you? Submit documents as pdfs with your last name_ AdvSciCtr_Fa2018 in the file name to Ashley Brady at ashley.brady@vanderbilt.edu
- Set up an in-person meeting with Ashley Brady prior to the application deadline.
Your information will then be passed along to the organization who will contact you directly to schedule an interview.
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Please review ASPIRE Internship FAQs: Found here
For further questions, please contact Ashley Brady (ashley.brady@vanderbilt.edu).
ASPIRE Eligibility Requirements
- Applicants must be a current Vanderbilt University PhD student or a current postdoctoral fellow.
- All PhD students must have completed all coursework for their degree prior to the start of the internship.
- Biomedical PhD students must also have passed their qualifying exams before the application deadline.
- Students and postdocs may not participate in more than one internship at a time. More than one application may be submitted at a single time, but only one position can be accepted.
- If you are not in a department supported by the BRET office, we will also require that you complete a form guaranteeing PI approval to participate in this program. Please contact Ashley Brady at ashley.brady@vanderbilt.edu for more information.
- If you are an international student or postdoctoral fellow, your visa status may affect your work eligibility. Please contact Ashley Brady (ashley.brady@vanderbilt.edu) to discuss this further.