Summer Intern Series: Meet Izabella Mastroianni

Written by: Emily Quinn

Summer Intern, Izabella MastroianniThe Bureau of Reclamation offers diverse internship opportunities for students interested in engineering, hydrology, biology, chemistry, geology, and much more. At Reclamation, we want to see college students land a job that will fulfill their interests.

One of Reclamation’s summer interns, Izabella Mastroianni, is from Lakewood, Colo., which is just down the street from Reclamation’s Denver Office, where she’s been working. She is currently a senior at Conifer High School. Izabella plans to major in Biochemistry when she goes to college.

Izabella landed her internship with Reclamation through the Jefferson County Executive High School Internship Program. She was accepted into the program during her junior year of high school.

Her favorite project has been learning about how the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) works, and the process of discovering whether zebra and/or quagga mussel DNA is present in the samples she analyzes.

The internship experience has taught Izabella the basics of lab operations, project management, and the value of communication with colleagues. In the future, Izabella says, “I will take the knowledge of how a lab runs and how to be confident in communicating with others about my ideas, and asking questions into my professional career.”

Interns with Reclamation are provided with opportunities they won’t find elsewhere. For example, students are able to work aside professionals on important Reclamation projects, and are entrusted with accomplishing tasks which contribute to the project’s end results.

In the future, Izabella wants to use her Reclamation experience to find a career in the Biochemistry field, possibly relating to genetics. She may return to Reclamation when she’s ready to start looking for a job, and says, “I am considering a future career with Reclamation because there are many opportunities within the Bureau, and I have really enjoyed the people I have worked with.”

Izabella learned a lot about the work performed by Reclamation employees, and says, “The Bureau of Reclamation is important because they oversee water systems, including dams, canals, and reservoirs, throughout the 17 western states. This includes maintaining the facilities, doing research on new methods to improve things like dam structures, preventing/monitoring the spread of mussels, and using water to generate energy.”

To find out how you can apply to become an intern with Reclamation, visit: https://www.usbr.gov/youth/work/pathways.html.

Published on July 26, 2017