Meet RTI Interns
We host interns every year in a variety of research programs. Meet a few of our interns and learn about their experience.
Mariam Abuhaideri
Mariam Abuhaideri is a Rotary World Peace Fellow from Pune, India, pursuing a master's in international development policy at Duke University. She interned with the International Development Group education policy systems team in the RTP, NC office developing content for an online portal for early grade education and drafting a script for a future documentary in Liberia. Interning at RTI has allowed her to further explore her interests in the role of civil society in international development. Mariam holds a bachelor's in mass communications and global studies from the University of West Georgia. In addition to being fluent in Hindi, Farsi, and Arabic, Mariam has experience working for NGOs in Burma, Thailand, India, and Egypt.
Emily Altman
Emily Altman interned at the RTI Atlanta, GA office with the Community Health Promotion Research group under the mentorship of Dr. Debbie Holden. At her RTI internship, Emily worked on the evaluation planning for the Community Transformation Grants Program, a CDC-administered program that gives communities the opportunity to develop and implement initiatives to prevent chronic diseases. In addition, she has collaborated with the biometry team to prepare for data collection, measurement, and analysis as well as the dissemination team on literature searches and data abstraction for future manuscript development. Emily will complete her studies in anthropology and global health at Emory University this year and plans to utilize the research skills she developed from her RTI internship to write her honor's thesis.
Risa Griffin
Risa Griffin interned in the RTI DC office with the Global Health Group working on the indoor residual spraying (IRS) program, which coordinates insecticide spraying in residential structures to prevent the spread of malaria in 19 African countries. At RTI, Risa completed a manuscript highlighting the accomplishments and challenges faced by the IRS program, contributed to training manual revisions and researched malaria-related trends. This experience has helped her recognize the importance of collaboration and coordination on large, government-funded initiatives. Risa holds a master's in sociology from UNC Chapel Hill and a bachelor's in women's and gender studies and anthropology from Kenyon College. She was previously a National Institute of Health predoctoral trainee researching fertility intentions, family planning programs and policy, and unintended pregnancy.
Cristina Jiménez
Cristina Jiménez is a research and business development intern with the International Development Group economic growth team at the RTI Washington, DC office. At RTI, Cristina worked on preparing a white paper for the Inter-American Development Bank and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria to share business models and implementation strategies that other banks and investors can embrace to finance small and medium enterprises in emerging economies. She also contributed to identifying future business development opportunities and producing comprehensive analyses on donor strategies and competitors. Cristina is a student at American University and plans to finish her joint MBA and master's in international economics in May 2013. She has worked in financial management at the Institute of International Education and is fluent in Spanish and knows some French.
August Meng
Jiajia (August) Meng had his first internship with a paper coating company in Finland seven years ago and now, for his fourth internship position, he is an engineering intern with Dr. John Carpenter and Dr. David Dayton at RTI's Center for Energy Technology. This RTI internship has been an excellent complement to his PhD studies at NC State University in forest biomaterials and chemistry, acquiring practical skills in chemical and mechanical engineering through bio-oil characterization and data analysis. During his RTI internship, he built a fluidized bed reactor for fast pyrolysis of biomass to produce bio-oil, an intermediate that can be upgraded into transportation fuel. August holds a bachelor's and a master's degree in chemical engineering concentrating in natural biomass.
Andrew Novokhatny
Andrew Novokhatny will be completing a bachelor's of science in biochemistry with a minor in toxicology from NC State University in May 2013. He is a metabolomics intern for Dr. Susan Sumner in the Molecular Epidemiology, Genomics, Environment, and Health group in RTP, NC. During his research internship at RTI, he studied the impact of carbon-based nanoparticles on the biochemistry of obese and healthy weight mice. Along with conducting a metabolomic analysis, he has evaluated the distribution patterns of these nanoparticles to understand the complex physiological processes that govern xenobiotic translocation. This internship at RTI has allowed him to interact with scientists from diverse disciplines ranging from statisticians to biochemists to physical and analytical chemists.
Tenesha Robinson
Tenesha Robinson interned with RTI's Crime, Violence and Justice Department under Dr. Stephanie Hawkins allowing her to explore her passion in prevention, intervention, and social justice aspects of crime research. At RTI, she assisted a study in collaboration with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Triangle to understand mentor recruitment, retention, and the role of payment of mentors to foster positive long-term relationships between adults and youth. Tenesha gained experience drafting questions for phone interviews, conducting a literature review with the proposal team, and developing a mentoring agency database. Tenesha holds a bachelor's from NC State University in criminology and is pursuing a master's in information science at NC Central University (NCCU), where she is president of the NCCU chapter of American Society Information Science and Technology.