Interns: How LAS students spent their summer 

Summer offers college students the chance to get ahead and distinguish themselves through internships, research, and other hands-on learning experiences.

As a new academic year begins, three College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) students reflect on their summer of learning, growing, and preparing for what’s next.

Sithmi Hewage

This summer, Sithmi Hewage (‘26 chemistry) conducted research at Columbia University through a National Science Foundation-funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. She gained experience in spectroscopy applied to physical and materials chemistry – an area she had not worked in before.

“I knew I wanted to do materials research, but that can mean a lot of different things,” Hewage said. “I’d worked with polymers before, so I applied to Columbia because they had opportunities in quantum materials. It was intense, but I learned so much during the 10 weeks.”

This was Hewage’s second REU experience after spending the previous summer at the University of Minnesota. Hewage said both experiences helped her build connections in the field that will be helpful for her graduate school applications.

At Iowa State, she has also participated in research across multiple campus labs, has presented at the National Diversity in STEM Conference, is a member of the STEM Scholars Program and is involved in the Start Something LAS Academy.

Originally born in Maine, Hewage grew up in Sri Lanka and moved to Iowa in 2022 to begin undergraduate studies at Iowa State University.

Spending her summer at Columbia in New York City gave Hewage the chance to connect with the city’s Sri Lankan community.

“New York has the largest Sri Lankan population in the U.S., so in some ways it felt like home,” Hewage said. “There were restaurants, temples, and a whole community – it was really special.”

Hewage also said Columbia’s chemistry department reminded her of Iowa State with its close-knit environment.

“People here are so nice and supportive. It’s been a great environment to learn and grow,” Hewage said.

Hewage plans to apply to Ph.D. programs in chemistry this fall. Both Columbia and the University of Minnesota are on her list.

Jamal Beavers

For the second summer, Jamal Beavers (‘26 psychology) returned to his hometown of Milwaukee to work with the Medical College of Wisconsin’s Summer Program for Undergraduate Research (SPUR). The program, initially appealing for its proximity to family, has had an ongoing impact on Beavers.

“I knew I wanted to study psychology, but I wasn’t sure which path to take,” Beavers said. “This program really helped me realize that research is where I want to go.”

Beavers’ work in Milwaukee is with the Department of Biomedical Engineering, a joint department of Marquette University and the Medical College of Wisconsin. His research involved computational methods, applied statistical modeling, and working with software tools such as the Attention Network Test.

Beavers is interested in cognitive and affective neuroscience, the study of how personality, emotions, and other mental processes are linked to brain activity.

He plans to pursue a Ph.D. focusing on how social environments affect an individual’s emotional cognition and their personality, particularly in underserved communities.

Growing up in Milwaukee, Beavers watched his neighborhood change as violence and instability increased.

“Mental health in communities like mine is often overlooked,” Beavers said. “I want to study the brain’s emotional processes and use that knowledge to create solutions that can be applied where they’re needed most.”

Beavers also conducts undergraduate research at Iowa State in the Social Cognition and Perception Lab, led by Associate Professor of Psychology Kristi Costabile.

The lab focuses on social psychology, navigating how individuals’ worldviews affect the way they interpret narratives and how narratives, in turn, shape their worldviews. Last year, Beavers’project examined the motivation of media engagement and parasocial relationships. This year, he plans to extend this work by including how people use their own sense of reality to form narratives.

“Each lab approaches research differently, and that’s helped me develop a broad skill set, including technical skills, such as data interpretation and analysis,” Beavers said. “I’ve learned how to manage my time, collaborate with people from different disciplines, and build professional networks.”

Beavers credits mentors at Iowa State and in Milwaukee for guiding him, including the McNair Scholars Program, which prepares undergraduates for doctoral study. The dual exposure to neuroscience methods and communications research led him to add minors in communication studies and statistics.

“This experience has shown me that psychology has so many layers,” he said. “It’s not just about therapy – there’s a vast amount of scientific work that can have a real-world impact.”

Regan Gaines

When Regan Gaines (‘26 public relations) walked into an Iowa State class last semester, she didn’t expect it would lead to her summer job.

Gaines is completing a summer internship with the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC), where she manages social media operations.

Gaines spent her summer overseeing the organization’s Instagram and X accounts, all for community colleges across the state.

The opportunity came after the ICCAC commissioner visited her class in the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication at Iowa State.

“I reached out, told him I loved working with social media, and he said they always need help in that area,” Gaines said.

Most of Gaines’ summer involved prepping for the upcoming season, designing game day and ranking graphics, promoting events for various sports, and coordinating with sports photographers across Iowa.

The sports included football, basketball, soccer, volleyball, wrestling, track and field, cross country, sports shooting, and golf.

Gaines said the role has solidified her career interests.

“Social media is what I’d prefer to do with my degree once I graduate,” she said. “And I love that this lets me work in sports, which is an area I’d like to stay in.”

As part of Iowa State’s Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, public relations majors are required to complete at least one 300-hour internship before graduation. Gaines believes that the requirement is a big advantage in a competitive job market.

“For so many positions in social media marketing, they want years of experience,” she said. “Having that internship requirement means you’re already getting real-world skills before you graduate. It really sets you up for success.”

Following her internship, Gaines ended the summer with a two-week study abroad trip to Ireland. While there, Gaines worked with the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication to manage the Greenlee Global Instagram account.

Gaines will continue the internship into the academic year, contributing to in-season updates for all sports.