Eleana Paneda’s Southeast Summer

This blog was written by Eleana Paneda as part of her science communication internship with SE CASC during the summer of 2024.

Before I saw the email for the 2024 SciComms internship roll into my inbox in January, I had never heard the term “science communications” before. As I learned more, I was elated that what I felt had been calling to me was pulling into focus.

The 2024 SciComms internship is a 10-week long internship based out of the Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center’s (SE CASC) host institution, North Carolina State University. As a science communication intern, I was tasked with creating communications materials for the center that support its purpose of facilitating actionable climate science.

What drew me to this internship the most was that it felt like I was fulfilling a niche I was not able to fulfill elsewhere. I had been in positions or a part of projects before that had similar functions as science communications— conveying important information to the people who need to know them. However, there seemed to be very little formal strategy or working groups to see whether or not we were conveying information in the best way possible. 

While some may see the relationship between advertising and environmentalism to be dichotomous, science communications is where I see an easy connection. Many of the same “tricks” that advertisers use to compel our commercial activity can be used to encourage people to do other things too, like engage in the sciences. At this intersection is where I believe I can do meaningful work to what I see as the most pressing problem of my lifetime. Choosing this internship was an easy choice.

Throughout my internship, I was able to work on a poster to convey how SE CASC funding works, an article about how native fish react to extreme weather in the presence of non-native fish, videos depicting some of the realities of fieldwork, as well as a special branding-focused project that is in development as we speak! 

Not only that, but the internship features various opportunities to go out into the field with the scientists who are doing the science we’re trying to communicate. For me, who in the course of my studies would normally never do fieldwork, I found it to be incredibly enriching. It was on these field days that I was able to meet many dedicated, resilient people who choose to brave the southern heat to see how our living world is reacting to climate change and what we can do to adapt and mitigate those reactions.

My inclusion in this internship program proves there is a place for many kinds of people in science communications and that conveying or producing actionable climate science needs all of them. Although my previous experience or major has no direct correlation with science, having an interest in this space is enough to explore being a part of it. I would highly recommend this internship to other students.

I am now writing this article from Germany, where I am preparing for my academic year abroad attending Hochschule der Medien Stuttgart in advertising. The skills that I learned during my weeks at SE CASC will underpin what I learn here, as I keep the door open for science communications and any other career that allows me to incorporate climate science.  

This internship is truly my steppingstone into the science communications space. I was able to make so many connections, come into contact with a myriad of different people, and feel supported through these opportunities for personal and professional growth. I would highly recommend this internship to people interested in pursuing science communications, learning more about the field work that makes that science, or just curious to see just how beautiful Raleigh, North Carolina is. 

To any potential future interns reading this, remember to bring a hat!