University of Houston Externship Final Projects

University of Houston students outside the National Zoological Park, (L-R) Ricardo, Joshua, Chloe, Robert, Trinity, Kaitlyn, Chintan, Tia

OFI was pleased to welcome eight University of Houston undergraduate Honors College students who were in residence at the Smithsonian for a three-week externship from May 16-June 3, 2016:

Joshua Freed, rising Senior, majoring in Political Science and Economics, “Painting with Words: Gentleman Artists of the Ming Dynasty”
Ricardo Guiterrez, rising Sophomore, majoring in Public Health, “The Smithsonian Institution: Feeding Amercia’s Minds with Knowledge and Their Stomachs with Healthy Creations”
Tia Lal, rising Sophomore, majoring in Math, “3D Scantastic”
Robert Laroche, rising Sophomore, majoring in Biology and Kaitlyn Palividas, rising Senior, majoring in Communications, “Externship Experience”:

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Chintan Patel, recent graduate, B.S. Biology, “Public Perception and Artifact Conservation”
Trinity Rinear, rising Sophomore, majoring in Psychology, “Multi-Sensory Exhibits”
Chloe Stowell, rising Senior, majoring in Anthropology and Political Science

During their tenure, the group took advantage of a variety of behind-the-scenes tours of SI collections as well as meetings with curators, researchers, and other SI professionals. They even had “Texas Thursday Coffee” with Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) on Capitol Hill. The eight students, ranging from rising sophomores to a recent graduate, compiled a variety of final projects documenting their experience at the Smithsonian and in Washington, DC. Click on the above project names to learn more!

University of Houston Students in front of the Washington Monument