Student Stories and Projects
A Summer of Strategic Impact: A Q&A with the Founder of Scaling Seeds
Matt Stone (MPA ’24) started a consulting startup, Scaling Seeds, as a part of his practicum and experiential learning here at MIIS. Experiential Learning (EL): Describe your organization.Matt Stone (MS): I worked on developing a consulting firm focused on streamlining business models for impact organizations, with a vision to support social and environmental impact. The… Continue Reading A Summer of Strategic Impact: A Q&A with the Founder of Scaling Seeds
Anthony Sisneroz, NPTS ’15
Independent Practica
Automate Like It Is 2025 — My Experiential Learning Experience @ Blackbird.io
by: Rosetta Guo Rosetta Guo (CI/TLM ’25) details her experience interning for Blackbird.io. Read about her ChatGPT research experience here Through my experiential learning activity—a remote internship with Blackbird.io—I had the opportunity to deeply immerse myself in the tech ecosystem of the language industry. This experience offered invaluable lessons and perspectives, which I am eager… Continue Reading Automate Like It Is 2025 — My Experiential Learning Experience @ Blackbird.io
Catch Yourself Up with the Latest Technology: Insights from my ChatGPT Research Journey
by: Rosetta Guo Rosetta Guo (CI/TLM ’25) shares her research with ChatGPT and localization practices. Read about her internship with Blackbird.io here Hello, fellow localization enthusiasts! I’m Rosetta Guo, MA candidate in Translation and Localization Management. I recently embarked on an enlightening research journey exploring the integration of AI in localization. I’m excited to share… Continue Reading Catch Yourself Up with the Latest Technology: Insights from my ChatGPT Research Journey
Chere Watson, IPST ’17
DPMI Plus with HUMAN-I-T, Long Beach, CA
Courtney Connor, NPTS ’18
Internship with the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office and the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center
Courtney Connor, NPTS ’18
Monterey County Sheriff’s Office Internship Summer 2017
Designing Engaging Environmental Education for Children [Raqul Friedmann IEP ’19]
Raquel Friedmann describes her internship with Carmel River Watershed Conservancy. She specifically focused on curating and teaching education materials on the environment for children. Raquel concludes on what they found most valuable in her further career development. Continue Reading Designing Engaging Environmental Education for Children [Raqul Friedmann IEP ’19]
Elea Becker Lowe, IEP ’18
California Natural Resources Agency Internship Sacramento, CA
Ella McDougall, IEP ’19
CLIMATE ACTION PROGRAM
Erin Lannon, IEP ’19
Urban Tree Canopy Project, Santa Cruz
Gabriela Dominguez Cardenas, TI ’19
Summer Internship at Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County
Giulia Zoppolat, MPA ’17
MPA Practicum with National Women’s Political Caucus, Monterey
Harnessing Multispectral Imagery for Illicit Economy Detection
Alfonso Camacho-Martinez (NPTS ’25) shares his work on a project involving illicit economy detection. Experiential Learning (EL): Describe your project. Alfonso Camacho-Martinez (ACM): My directed study involved using multispectral satellite imagery to identify and monitor areas of illicit economic activities, such as illegal deforestation, unregulated mining, and unauthorized cultivation of drug-producing crops. I acquired and processed… Continue Reading Harnessing Multispectral Imagery for Illicit Economy Detection
Irene Wang, IPD ’18
Girls Inc. of Alameda County, Oakland
Jillian Acker, IEP ’19
DIRECTED STUDY WITH JEFFREY LANGHOLZ
Karla Piacentini, IEM/MPA ’17
The Foundation for Sustainable Development, Oakland, CA
Katie Lampe, IPD ’16
International Rescue Committee, San Jose, CA
Kelly Miller, IEP ’18
San Francisco Estuary Partnership, Oakland, CA 6/10/2017 – 8/04/2017
Kenji Tabery, IEP ’16
Habit Summit, Standford University
Lisa Sandoval, MPA ’18
Intern, Communities for a Sustainable Monterey County (CSMC) Summer 2017
Lisa Sandoval, MPA ’18
Communities for a Sustainable Monterey County (CSMC) Internship Summer 2017
McKenna Hughes, IEM ’17
Cultural Training Abroad, Directed Study at MIIS
Meng Yuan, CI/TLM ’20
Languageline Solutions Summer Internship
Meredith Rupp, IPD ’17
Greenbelt Alliance, San Jose, CA, USA
Mitchell Leong, NPTS ’19
DEA Financial Investigations Team Summer Internship
Molly Shane, IEP ’18
WildAid Marine, San Francisco
Nasema Zeerak, IPD ’18
International Rescue Committee
Navigating the Localization Industry: A Practicum Experience with LocReady
by: Benjamin Mendelsohn Benjamin Mendelsohn (TLM ’24) details his practicum experience working on LocReady, a digital resource for Localization students. In the fall semester of 2023, I worked with my two teammates, Maddy and Lindsay, on managing LocReady as part of my practicum project. LocReady is an organization dedicated to improving career readiness and helping… Continue Reading Navigating the Localization Industry: A Practicum Experience with LocReady
Raquel Friedmann, IEP ’19
CARMEL RIVER WATERSHED CONSERVANCY
Raquel Friedmann, IEP ’19
Amigos de Bolsa Chica Summer Internship
Seo-Young Jun, TLM ’18
Intern, Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) Summer 2017
Shayna Trujillo, IEM ’17
The Diversity Abroad Network
Shifting Hearts and Minds in Sustainable Eating
by: Leilani Leszkay Leilani Leszkay (EPM ’25) worked with the Food for Climate League as a part of her experiential learning experience. Here is her story. The Food for Climate League works to identify optimal communication tactics and avenues for engagement to catalyze a global movement toward climate-beneficial eating. The Food for Climate League leverages… Continue Reading Shifting Hearts and Minds in Sustainable Eating
Steven Perle, IPD ’17
IPSS with The International Rescue Committee (IRC), Sacramento
Studying Migration on the Darién Gap: A Diplomacy Lab Project
Jake Lopata (NPTS ’25) participated in a Diplomacy Lab project in collaboration with the U.S. State Department studying migration along the Darién Gap. Here is more about their project (another participants included: Tom Short (ITED/MPA ’25) and Lucy Inkster (Middlebury College ’25)). Read about Tom’s experience here. Experiential Learning (EL): Describe your work. Jake Lopata… Continue Reading Studying Migration on the Darién Gap: A Diplomacy Lab Project
Tangut Degfay, IDP ’18
DPMI Monterey Winter 2017
Yanyan Wang, IPD ’18
Monterey Museum of Art Continue Reading Yanyan Wang, IPD ’18
Yijun Wang, IEM ’17
California State University San Marcos – Office of Global Education
Yuchen Hsueh, TFL ’19
INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF THE PENINSULA / CHINESE WEEKEND SCHOOL – MANDARIN LANGUAGE & CULTURAL CENTER Working as an intern teacher in two different teaching contexts allows me to familiarize myself with the responsibilities a Chinese teacher has and the required skill set. In the Chinese immersion program at ISTP, Chinese teachers are not only language… Continue Reading Yuchen Hsueh, TFL ’19