UH Hilo students seek Maunakea Observatories’ internships and jobs at Career Expo
UH Hilo students learn about internships and job opportunities at the observatories.
The Career Expo that took place earlier this month at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo was designed to provide students with an informal setting to interact with employers and inquire about organizations and their position openings. Maunakea Observatories astronomers, observers, outreach coordinators, public information officers, software programmers and human resources staff from Gemini Observatory, Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, and W.M. Keck Observatory were on hand to talk story about career and job opportunities in astronomy on Maunakea.
Students received takeaway materials from each of the observatories present at the expo as well as information from the acclaimed Akamai Internship Program that promotes the advancement of Hawaiʻi college students into science and technology careers.
“We spoke with approximately 60 to 70 students throughout the day,” says Nadine Manset, resident astronomer at Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. “The students were clearly excited to hear about the Maunakea observatories and potential job and internships available. These students had specific interests in astronomy, engineering and STEM. In fact, one student mentioned that she enrolled at UH Hilo specifically because of the Maunakea observatories.”
Employees from several Maunakea observatories were on hand during the day with 10 staff members attending the Career Expo’s Talk Story Session and Job and Internship Fair.
Over two dozen UH Hilo students showed an interest in the observatories, inquiring about opportunities, internships and job opportunities. Twelve college students dropped off resumes that were shared with observatories’ human resource departments.
The UH Hilo Career Expo was organized by the UH Hilo Office of Applied Learning Experiences (ALEX). The week prior to the Career Expo, ALEX conducted a Career Expo Success Workshop to prepare students to identify positions that matched their skills and background, research positions and organizations participating, how to properly approach and greet employers, how to promote yourself and how to follow up with employers after the Career Expo.
The UH Hilo Career Expo was an excellent way for the various Maunakea observatories to meet and find prospective employees.
“The students had great backgrounds and skill sets and were well prepared to interact with prospective employers,” says Manset. “The UH Hilo Career Expo was a successful networking event for the various Maunakea Observatories and we’ll be back next year.”
Maunakea astronomy
Numerous national and international astronomy organizations have come together to study on the summit of Maunakea, creating one of the world’s largest ground-based astronomical research and observing sites. The remote location, clean air, dark skies, stable atmosphere, minimal cloud cover, and transparency of the atmosphere to infrared radiation make the summit of Maunakea ideal for astronomy. The combination of optical, infrared, and sub-millimeter wavelength telescopes provide synergy and opportunities to study the sky from multiple perspectives.
The 525-acre Astronomy Precinct encompasses 13 telescope facilities representing nine countries on Maunakea. Nine of them are for optical and infrared astronomy, three of them are for sub millimeter wavelength astronomy and one is for radio astronomy. They include four of the largest optical/infrared telescopes in the world (the two Keck telescopes, Subaru, and Gemini), the second-largest dedicated infrared telescope (United Kingdom Infrared Telescope) and the world’s largest submillimeter telescope (James Clerk Maxwell Telescope).
-Story provided by the Maunakea Observatories.
