August 9th was a festive day here at the Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences. In a room abuzz with nervous excitement, our summer interns stood by their posters, proud to share their summer’s work with Institute staff, friends, and family – all just as excited.

Beginning in 1993 and currently directed by Dr. Ryan Olson, the annual Summer Internship Program is an opportunity for students to be mentored by Institute members conducting research in the area of occupational health.

As always, this year’s posters showcased a variety of basic and applied research projects that reflected the Institute’s core themes: sleep & shiftwork, hazardous exposures, Total Worker Health, injury treatment & prevention, and outreach & dissemination.

Setting aside the competition format this year, each poster was reviewed by Institute scientists who provided feedback. Some observations were recurrent: in just a few weeks, students demonstrated impressive insight into their topic and remarkable skill in communicating their work.

For many mentors like myself, this summer program was an equally enriching experience and we wish our interns a rewarding future!