NASA Ames DEVELOP Interns: Helping the Western United States Manage Natural Resources One Project at a Time

The western half of the United States is made up of a number of diverse ecosystems ranging from arid desert to coastal wetlands and rugged forests. Every summer for the past 7 years students ranging from high school to graduate level gather at NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) as part of the DEVELOP Internship Program. Under the guidance of Jay Skiles [Ames Research Center (ARC) – Ames DEVELOP Manager] and Cindy Schmidt [ARC/San Jose State University – Ames DEVELOP Coordinator] they work as a team on projects exploring topics including: invasive species, carbon flux, wetland restoration, air quality monitoring, storm visualizations, and forest fires. The study areas for these projects have been in Washington, Utah, Oregon, Nevada, Hawaii, Alaska and California. Interns combine data from NASA and partner satellites with models and in situ measurements to complete prototype projects demonstrating how NASA data and resources can help communities tackle their Earth Science related problems.