Two ANSEP students intern with BSEE

Two students in the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program in the University of Alaska have completed summer internships with the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, the agency has announced. The students, Grant Cummings and Kyle Jones, were the first to be selected from ANSEP for BSEE’s internship program. Cummings is a petroleum engineering senior and Jones is a mechanical engineering freshman, both from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

The two interns worked full-time through the summer, assisting BSEE staff in conducting their regulatory activities and receiving training in oil and gas operational safety and environmental requirements. They accompanied BSEE inspectors on site visits to offshore locations, including the Northstar Island in the Beaufort Sea and the Eureka Platform offshore California. The students observed the inspectors reviewing the oil field operations, checking maintenance records and appraising work processes, BSEE said.

“I would like to thank everyone involved in my internship experience,” Cummings said, “BSEE has a critical role, and this internship has provided me with an unparalleled introduction to offshore regulations.”

“My internship with BSEE was very educational,” said Jones, a recent valedictorian from Bethel Regional High School. “I learned about regulation in the oil industry, sat in on meetings with oil companies and shadowed engineers and other professionals at BSEE.” BSEE said that its Pathways Intern Program provides students with paid internships, with the possibility of converting to permanent positions in the agency. ANSEP is a science and engineering education program for Alaska Native students from sixth grade through to post-graduate.

- ALAN BAILEY