Students in Science and Math Majors,



If you are or you have an undergraduate or graduate student with an excellent work ethic and a strong achievement record in science and math, we offer students an opportunity to apply for a summer research internship with the RFK Science Research Institute, by applying to join a world-class scientific research team. This rare opportunity allows him/her to perform archaeological, paleontological, geochemical or environmental research with fossils from famous archaeological and paleontological sites around the world. Participation includes learning to use our state-of-the-art ESR spectrometer and other equipment in our preparation facilities. The Williams College ESR-RFK Science Research Institute Dating Labs is the only lab of its kind in the USA, and one of only six such labs worldwide.



Research with the Institute normally involves performing ESR dating or geochemical analyses, to determine ages for fossils and rocks, or to develop new ESR dating or geochemical analytical techniques. Students perform all the work associated with sample preparation and analysis that they can safely perform. They will run the new ESR spectrometer and possibly other research instruments at Williams College. Undergraduate students who have developed data may be a coauthor for publication, which makes them likely to move onto prestigious graduate schools. Students work in a small team that includes three scientists, two-three technicians, and 6-10 students.



Our students can begin to build their professional research resumés. Beverly Lau ('94-'96) authored a paper that dated the oldest known musical instrument, a flute ~ 60,000 years old, and coauthored two book chapters, along with Edwin Yu ('99-'01), and Shuwei Yin ('00-'01). Himansu Patel ('00-'02), Andrew Condiles ('00-'02), Ed Cho ('10-'12), Hermain Khan ('05-'07), Steve Teng ('03-'05), Aislinn Deely ('08-'10), Faizullah Mashriqi ('10-'11), Jon Florentin ('10-now), Alex Lee ('10-'14), Jennifer Huang ('10-12), Ada Huang ('10-'12), Dan Kim ('11-'14), Kelly Chen ('11-'15), Zarrin Mahmud ('13-'16), Gavin Li ('15-'17), Neeraj Sakhrani ('15-17), Justin Qi ('16-now), Clara Huang ('17-now), and Jialin Zhuo ('17-now) all presented papers at the Geological Society of America's national meeting. Shauntè Baboumian ('02-'12), Stephanie Chen ('09-'11), Aislinn Deely, and Ed Cho ('09-'11) all presented at the Society for American Archaeology. Chelsea Lei ('02-'06), Fanny Truong ('11-13), Steve Teng, Kelly Chen, Danny Kim, Zarrin Mahmud, Seimi Chu ('13-'15), and Kalyani Gopalkrishna ('14-'17) all presented at international conferences. Helen Leung ('97-'99) coauthored two presentations and two scientific papers, while Sisi Liang ('02-'05) coauthored a presentation and a paper. Steve Teng, Shauntè Baboumian, and Abubakar Mian ('05-'06) co-authored a paper in Radiation Measurements. Faizullah Mashriqi coauthored a paper in Quaternary Geochronology while still a highschool junior and now has a patent. Amy Ortega ('02-'04) coauthored a presentation and a paper. Salem Fevrier ('99-'01) and Donovan Chaderton ('00-'02) published a paper in Current Science. Maysun Hasan ('04-'06) coauthored four presentations, and Hermain Khan, three. They both also coauthored a paper in the Journal of Human Evolution. Tenzing Tsomo ('08-'09) and Tiffany Yau ('07-'09) coauthored a site report for the Moroccan government. Yiwen Huang ('11-'15), Iffath Chaity ('14-'16), Seimi Chu, and Ada Huang all coauthored a paper for a Serbian book. Aislinn Deely coauthored 10 abstracts, four for international conferences, three of which she presented, was the first author on a paper in Radiation Measurements, and coauthored three other papers. Kelly Chen, Ada Huang, Danny Kim, Rebecca Long ('05-'07), Shirley Mo ('11-'13), Justin Qi, Neeraj Sakhrani, Kaly Gopalkrishna, Yiwen Huang, Impreet Singh ('13-now), Iffath Chaity, Yiwen Huang, and Maria Kim ('09-'11) all have coauthored one or more published papers. Dr. Andrés Montoya ('02-'11; CUNY Macaulay-Queens '05-'09) coauthored 15 presentations and published four papers with us, while Jon Florentin has coauthored 17 presentations and eight other papers, one as first author.



Thanks to their research, our graduates have attended or now attend Harvard, Yale, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, U. of Chicago, Williams College, Brown, Columbia, Cooper Union U., U. of Pennsylvania, Macaulay Honors College, SUNY Stony Brook, Polytechnic University, NYU, SUNY Binghamton, Sophie Davis Medical College, Tuft's Dental School, Yale Medical School, and Harvard Medical School, among others. Two students have gone on to work at the National Institutes of Health after leaving us. One has designed components for two of the world's tallest buildings. Many now work as physicists, geologists, engineers, physicians, and dentists.



The summer program normally runs for approximately 8-10 full time work. In the January intersession, a typical project involves about 3.5 weeks full time. For people wanting a term-time project, we encourage them spending approximately 8-10 hours/week in lab work. Please discuss your requirements with us via email or phone if you need some other arrangement. Students who wish to prepare and collect data for manuscript publication or for doing a presentation at a conference should expect to spend about 200-500 hours of work, including data analyses and writing.



Students who wish to obtain a credit from their college or university towards a summer research, capstone, or thesis accreditation need to consult with both their school administration and us about their requirements. We make every effort to ensure the success of our students.



Formal training for the 2018 summer session will begin early in June. The program for Summer 2018 will run until mid August. We encourage all interested students with excellent science/math records and strong work ethics to apply. Students can only be accepted to this program after receipt of a formal application and a successful interview. The application deadline for the Summer 2018 session is Monday, April 9, 2018. Acceptance is also contingent upon a successful interview with program staff and program funding. After application screening, we will email students selected for interviews in order to organize interview prospective applicants.



RFK SRI covers costs for students' research and sample analyses, but we ask students to pay for their food while at Williams College, if they must go there for some of their analyses. Bursaries to pay food costs are available for needy students. Essentially, this program costs students nothing, except the time that s/he invests in his/her research, but students planning to obtain credit from their college or university will need to cover their school's registration and other fees. Students planning to present the data that they have collected with RFK SRI at conferences must make arrangements to fund their costs. For more information or questions, please call our office at 516-759-6092 or email us.



We look forward to having you work with us this summer. Thank you for your interest.

Dr. Bonnie Blackwell,

Director & Research Scientist, ESR Lab, Williams College, Co-Director, RFK Science Research Institute



Dr. Joel Blickstein,

Co-Director, RFK Science Research Institute, & Research Scientist, Williams College



Mr. Riyadh Ally,

Technician, RFK Science Research Institute





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