Paradise Valley Community College student Julian Douglas has been selected for a summer internship at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, one of the United States Department of Energy’s research facilities. He is among 1,049 undergraduate students and 90 faculty members nationwide chosen to participate in the DOE’s summer research programs.
Douglas recently completed his second year at PVCC and is pursuing an Associate of Science degree with plans to transfer to a university that offers nuclear engineering or physics. His acceptance into the DOE’s Community College Internships (CCI) program aligns with his academic goals.
“The selection to be a participant at Oak Ridge is very humbling,” said Douglas. “I’m incredibly honored to have been one of 135 community college students across the country to be accepted at one of the many prestigious national labs.”
Douglas aims to pursue further education in nuclear engineering and is considering Texas A&M, University of Tennessee Knoxville, and Arizona State University for transfer.
“I really want to thank my physics professor Dr. Casey Durandet and my chemistry professor Dr. Linda Stearns for writing me letters of recommendation,” Douglas said.
Dr. Durandet commended Douglas’s potential: “Julian is one of those students who is humble and committed to his education. He will benefit tremendously from this prestigious summer internship at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.”
The CCI program is part of the DOE’s Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS), which includes other programs like Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships (SULI) and Visiting Faculty Program (VFP). These initiatives immerse participants in research environments at DOE laboratories.
The 2025 cohort includes 914 undergraduate students from various colleges across states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia, working on projects in renewable energy, advanced computing, and nuclear science.
