Teen Science Scholars

Three Teen Science Scholars will have the rare opportunity to participate in the deinstallation of the North American Indian Cultures Hall while working in both the Anthropology and Conservation departments.  Students will learn how DMNS collaborates with tribal nations regarding objects and how the museum cares for artifacts when not on display.  Students will choose two Indigenous objects to deinstall, research, and document in a conservation report. The work may include diving into the Archives to research the objects’ history, documenting the objects with digital photography, using microscopy and an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer to determine what objects are made of, and creating custom housing for the objects. 

Anthropology Collections & Conservation is  ideal for students who are interested in Indigenous cultures, have an interest in working with and caring for artifacts, and enjoy writing and research. This opportunity is also ideal for detail-oriented students who want to combine scientific analysis with an interest in history. This department’s work includes guest speakers and possible field trips. 

Ten Archaeology Teen Science Scholars will tackle dirt and history – literally. Alongside archaeologists, historians, geophysicists, archivists, and community members, scholars will plan, execute, and excavate portions of City Park. Delving into the recent past, scholars will apply archival research and ground-penetrating radar to get an idea of what lies beneath and where to dig. We will share our work actively with the public, school children, city officials, and passersby through exhibit design, website content, and show-and-tell tours. Work will be outside, dirty, fun, hard, and entirely new and innovative. This is research that has never been done before!  

Archaeology is ideal for students who are curious about society and humanity, enjoy detective work, like to get their hands dirty, and can collaborate as part of a team. This department’s schedule includes workday fieldwork and field trips. 

The DMNS Archives collects, catalogs, preserves, and provides access to the Museum’s administrative, cultural, and scientific history. In the Archives, you’ll find historical treasures such as hand-written field notes from curators, drawings and plans for exhibits, images, and films of research sites and excavations, and old ledgers documenting the Museum’s early collection acquisitions. Archivists describe these materials for researcher discoverability, arrange them in logical order for use, store them for long-term preservation, and digitize items for online access. 

Two Archives Scholars will work with physical and digital records to help make these materials more accessible and better preserved. Interns will learn a range of archival skills, such as metadata creation (e.g. describing photos), processing, digitization, answering researcher questions, and digital asset management.  

Archives is ideal for students who are captivated by old photos and documents, enjoy writing, are tech-savvy, love a good mystery, and want to illuminate the past to inform the present and future! This department’s work includes field trips. 

The Digital Research Lab is excited to work with two Teen Scholars on the digital preparation and visualization of fossils from the Corral Bluffs site in Colorado Springs, which documents the recovery of the first million years after the Cretaceous/Paleogene mass extinction. This fossil-rich site has produced dozens of crocodilian and mammalian fossils, most of which have been digitized through Computed Tomography scanning and surface scanning. Scholars will gain experience working with both imaging methods: 3D modeling from CT scans and generating surface models with the Artec surface scanners. A portion of the internship will also be dedicated to creating publication figures, animations, and 3D prints for science communication and outreach. 

The Digital Lab is ideal for students who are detail-oriented and creative, learn by doing, like learning about new technology, and want to work with fossils! This department’s work includes possible workday fieldwork and field trips. 

This summer, Vertebrate Zoology Teen Science Scholars will receive a well-rounded, hands-on experience in working with DMNS’s ornithology (bird) collection. Four members of the Zoology team will work together to mentor and train three scholars in specific tasks needed to take birds of prey that died in the wild and incorporate them into our physical and digital research collection. First, students will be trained in different methods of specimen preparation, including cleaning feathers, preserving skeletons, and dissecting tissue samples. The students will then process tissue samples in the Genetics Lab to see how molecular work aids in the identification of species. Finally, the students will work in the collection preservation spaces learning the various collection management techniques the Museum uses to ensure the long-term care and accessibility of its specimens. Mentors will take scholars on field trips around the Denver area to expand their knowledge of birds, nature, and museum’s roles in science.  

Vertebrate Zoology is ideal for students who are inspired by the natural world, are excited about working with deceased animals, and would like to gain skills in laboratory settings. This is also ideal for students interested in working with animals and/or genetics but unsure of what career paths are available.  This department’s work includes field trips.