91制片厂

It鈥檚 not every day that a company reaches out to a student to see if they would like to do an internship with them. It鈥檚 probably even less likely when that company is Amazon.

Yet that鈥檚 how Jared Culbertson 鈥�21 landed his summer position. Someone from an Amazon distribution center read about his experience interning with 91制片厂鈥檚 Office of Environmental Health and Safety, where he听has been interning since the winter of 2019, and contacted him.

鈥淭hey said they thought I would be a great fit for their summer environmental health and safety internship program,鈥� Culbertson says. 鈥淚 filled out the application, made it passed the first round of cuts and then did two video interviews. A few weeks later, I was offered the position, and I graciously accepted.鈥澨�

Culbertson was scheduled to start in June and work until August at one of the company鈥檚 numerous warehouses around听the U.S. But before he received his assignment, the COVID-19 pandemic worsened and the internship was moved online.听

"While it is disappointing to not be able to do hands-on work at a warehouse, I am sure this will prove to be a valuable experience.鈥�

Had he been in a warehouse, Culbertson鈥檚 job would have been to assess the safety practices of employees 鈥� practices such as properly handling and disposing of hazardous chemicals, wearing proper protective equipment, following proper procedures when moving heavy items and maneuvering large vehicles in a safe manner. Instead he will review case studies pertaining to environmental health and safety issues. That will have him examining projects remotely and making suggestions to fix potential problems.

鈥淚t鈥檚 designed to give me a realistic viewpoint of the organization and test my operations and leadership skills,鈥� the Avon, Connecticut, resident says. 鈥淭he internship is completely virtual, so I will be working from home on group projects with other interns and full-time Amazon staff.鈥�

At the Office of Environmental Health and Safety, Culbertson is charged with delivering chemicals to professors and making sure the chemical is listed in the 91制片厂 database. Among other tasks, he has done swab testing for radioactive contamination in labs, tested fume hoods on campus to make sure they are functioning properly and documented all of the 91制片厂-owned aboveground oil storage tanks.

A major, Culbertson hopes to work as an engineer at a nuclear power plant or with a company that designs renewable energy hardware. He is already trying his hand in that area, working on a methane digester that听would capture the methane from cow manure and听power a generator to make a friend's small farm more self-sufficient.

鈥淭he part about energy that interests me is that everything needs it 鈥� our cars, our houses, everything we buy needs energy to either be made or function. I hope that I will be able to help make clean energy more efficient and widely used throughout the world,鈥� Culbertson says.

Of his Amazon internship having to be done remotely, he says, 鈥淚 am incredibly happy that Amazon has taken its interns' health into consideration. While it is disappointing to not be able to do hands-on work at a warehouse, I am sure this will prove to be a valuable experience.鈥�