Editor’s note: Read more about Penn State’s involvement in the dragonfly research project in Ghana.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Rachel Desulme is a fourth-year data science major at Penn State College of Information Science and Technology (IST). All IST students are required to complete at least one internship prior to graduation. Desulme fulfilled this requirement by analyzing dragonfly feathers in Ghana through an international research program funded by the US National Science Foundation designed for undergraduate students in collaboration with Penn State, the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) and the University of Cape Coast (UCC).
Penn State News spoke with her about the internship and shared photos from her experience.
Q: What inspired you to do this?
Desulme: I applied for this opportunity with the intention of serving as a data analyst. A big part of the project was the data collection stage, and I was eager to use the software and techniques I learned in my classes to do things like extract important information, identify patterns, and develop models with data visualization tools to analyze the field data and communicate these findings effectively.
Q: Describe the experience in Ghana.
Desulme: Over the course of five weeks, I traveled to different regions of Ghana with a group of American students and faculty members. We worked alongside students and researchers from the Department of Conservation Biology and Entomology in the School of Biological Sciences at UCC.
Our team focused on collecting specimens of Odonata — dragonfly and damselfly — eventually collecting 1,895 of them. In addition to assisting with sample collection, I took the lead in documenting the data, organizing photographs, and recording location and weather parameters. But I can’t take all the credit. I had a lot of help with data entry from the other American and Ghanaian students!
Q: What happened when you returned to the United States?
Desulme: After our time in Ghana, we traveled to New York to continue organizing our extensive collection and begin work on several projects at AMNH. Our projects included using Raman and IR spectroscopy to investigate wing characteristics, conducting micro-CT scans of the brain to understand neural characteristics and flight behavior, and analyzing species distribution across Ghana, while also included the environmental data we collected.
As we worked on these projects, we were also preparing for an undergraduate research symposium at AMNH, where we shared our experiences and presented the progress of the work we had done so far with the specimens. It was an incredible experience – as an intern, I got to tour the museum, explore and connect with other researchers, and also examine specimens from the museum’s collection.
Q: How about undergraduate students looking for internship options?
Desulme: I have been involved in undergraduate research for a little over a year now and am extremely grateful for the opportunities that come from being involved. I strongly encourage all undergraduates to seek out research experiences. And I encourage IST students to consider branching out into other disciplines because we can definitely apply what we learn in those fields as well! One piece of advice I would give is to stay open-minded and willing to learn because it will always come back as a valuable insight or an unexpected opportunity.
