The Internship Offices Network is pleased to announce the 2018 recipients of the McGill Undergraduate Internship Fund.
Elodie Chatel
Jiahua Chen
Zoe Freedman
Jeanne Ghanem
Jason Niness
Winnie Nyakundi
Nassim Pezeshkzad
Tiran Rahimian Bajgiran
Santiago Sottil Duprat
Audrey Wagner
Florian Wong
Elodie Chatel, BEng Bioresource Engineering
Biothane, the Netherlands
Elodie is pursuing an undergraduate degree in bioresources Eengineering. Her summer internship will take place at Biothane in the Netherlands, a company that focuses in anaerobic water treatment. The internship will focus on supporting the original set up, operation, monitoring, maintenance and data logging and analysis of different projects. Elodie believes that the hands on experience will help her associate the knowledge learned in class to the actual engineering profession.
Jiahua Chen, BSc (AgEnvSc) Water Environment & Ecosystems
Barbados Government Analytical Lab, Barbados
Jiahua is a pursuing a major in environmental science with a minor in geographic information system in the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Science. This summer she will be interning with the Barbados Government Analytical Lab. She will build a rainwater catchment system prototype for local NGO, collect and analyze the rainwater sample, and figure out the most suitable material for making the water container. Jiahua hopes that this experience will give her more insight into water quality analysis and local water resource management.
Zoe Freedman, BCL/LLB
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Israel
Zoë Freedman is entering her third year of Law at McGill University. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in international development studies and will be completing an internship in Tel Aviv, conducting refugee status determination assessments and asylum monitoring of East-African refugees for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Drawing from her academic and professional experience, she will use her international legal knowledge in a hands-on manner while working with some of the world’s most vulnerable populations.
Jeanne Ghanem, BA International Development Studies
Ongoza, Kenya
Jeanne is pursuing a major in international development studies with a double minor in social entrepreneurship and African studies in the Faculty of Arts. Following a three-month long field study semester in East Africa, she joined Ongoza, an accelerator for early-stage high-growth young entrepreneurs in Kenya for an internship. She assisted the team in recruiting new entrepreneurs, developed marketing strategies, established pipeline partnerships, organized events, and participated in the development of Ongoza’s changing business model.
Jason Niness, BSc (AgEnvSc) Life Science - Animal Health and Disease
Cape Wildlife Center, USA
Jason is majoring in life sciences with a specialization in animal health and disease in the Faculty of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences. This summer he will be interning at the Cape Wildlife Center in Barnstable, Massachusetts. He will be responsible for providing care and treatment to the injured or orphaned wildlife native to Cape Cod. Jason hopes that this internship will teach him new skills in animal treatment and disease diagnosis.
Winnie Nyakundi, BEng Electrical Engineering
The African Leadership College, Mauritius
Winnie is a third-year undergraduate student in Electrical Engineering. This summer she will intern with the Engineering Department at African Leadership College in Mauritius. She will assist the team with designing a robotics masterclass as a pilot project for project-based learning in the institution. Winnie hopes that this experience will not only give her insight into the robotics world but will also take a hand in shaping her personal and professional growth.
Nassim Pezeshkzad, BSc Food Science & Nutritional Science
The United Nations World Food Programme, Panama
Nassim is a third year student at McGill University currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in global nutrition. She will be an intern at the United Nations World Food Programme’s regional office in Panama. Her main interest in learning from the Communications and Knowledge Management Unit of the WFP lies in her passion for nutrition combined with a desire to effectively implement sustainable projects related to food security. She is eager to learn more about the United Nations’ development programs in Latin America and hopes that with her academic education in food and nutrition she can contribute to the work of the WFP. She is positive that this will be an enriching experience to solidify her theoretical education in nutrition.
To read Nassim's internship report, click here.
Tiran Rahimian Bajgiran, BCL/LLB
Human Rights Watch, USA
Tiran is a graduating BCL/LLB candidate at the McGill Faculty of Law. This summer, he will be an intern at the International Justice Department of Human Rights Watch in New York City. Parallel to his studies, he clerks for the Chief Justice of the Quebec Court of Appeal, serves on the editorial board of the McGill Law Journal, and works as a research assistant. Tiran’s interests include the rights of migrants and foreigners, victim-centred mechanisms of transitional justice, and the interface between international criminal justice and human rights.
Santiago Sottil Duprat, BEng Bioresource Engineering
Netherlands Airport Consultants, the Netherlands
Santiago is pursuing a major in bioresource engineering in the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. This summer, he will be interning with the company Netherlands Airport Consultants, located in The Hague. He will assist the team in the Department of Airport Strategy and Studies researching how airports perform on sustainability, and more specifically on circularity. Santiago hopes that this experience will give him more insight into airport design and operation, as well as sustainable engineering solutions suited to local conditions.
Audrey Wagner, BSc (AgEnvSc) Environment & Food Production
The United Nations World Food Programme, Cuba
Audrey is a student in the McGill School of Environment, with a major in food production and environment, with a minor in international agriculture. She is the founder and president of the McGill Permaculture Club and has a passion for agroecology and global food security. After having spent a field study semester abroad in Panama, Audrey will be interning at the World Food Programme in Havana, Cuba over the summer of 2018. Through this internship, she hopes to gain experience, knowledge and specific skills about food security and sovereignty in Cuba, in the hopes of working in the future with agriculture-related international organizations in Latin America in the future. Specifically, she wants to work with farmers to help them develop strategies that will improve their resilience, livelihoods, sustainability, productivity, and simultaneous mitigation and adaptation to climate change.
Florian Wong, BCom Finance and Information Systems
CIBC Hong Kong
Florian is pursuing a Bachelor of Commerce at the Desautels Faculty of Management. Impassioned by the inner workings of capital markets, he is excited about his internship with CIBC Capital Markets at the Hong Kong office. He holds great anticipation for the opportunity to leverage past experiences and apply theories from the classroom to face real-world situations. Florian is thus determined and looks forward to the steep learning curve.