Helpful Tips to Smoothly Glide through your Internship

Kate Montgomery
NSBRI Intern - Class of 2008

My internship with NSBRI was the most valuable research experience that I had as an undergraduate. I worked in the Neurovestibular lab under the mentorship of Dr. Millard Reschke. Dr. Reschke gave me a lot of independence and an opportunity to really shine and learn much more than I could have hoped for. After my internship, I got the chance to do research on the "Weightless Wonder,” part of NASA's parabolic flight program. It was an amazing experience!

I'm now pursuing a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Stanford University, in large part because of my internship with NSBRI. I still use many of the skills I learned on the job at NASA for my work at Stanford doing a combination of neurology and biomechanics. Although I'm not currently pursuing a career in space science, I'm definitely not ruling it out. Plus, the things we learn about humans that travel to space gives us knowledge about basic human biology and our capacity to adapt to new environments.

My advice for future participants would be to fully involve yourself in the experience. Work really hard and spend as much time there as you can. This is a once in a lifetime experience and your chance to really get ahead.

Go to scientific talks. Meet astronauts. Go for runs around JSC. Lead your research project.