My name is Shernice, and I joined the IPUR Internship as a Year 1 Economics student from the National University of Singapore (NUS). I was driven to apply for an internship with IPUR, as I was curious to explore more about academia, while being able to make a social impact.

During my time at IPUR, I had the opportunity to work closely with Dr Olivia Jensen to develop a teaching case about risk communication. Through my literature reviews and regular discussions with Dr Jensen, I learnt a lot about the elements of effective risk communication and how it moves beyond just transmitting a message.

I also had the privilege to organise 5000+ data sets to find out the effects of social media on youths in China, the United States and the United Kingdom, which I thoroughly enjoyed applying and honing my excel skills in generating data descriptives. I was also happy to tap on my language proficiency in Mandarin to provide English translations of the survey to facilitate the research process. Dr Tra Trinh was extremely warm and helpful in clarifying questions I had, as well as providing input about the slide deck I had created.

Aside from research-related work, IPUR extended an invitation for me to participate in the Food Festival titled “Flavours of Tomorrow: The Future Pantry”, to introduce alternative proteins as well as sustainable local produce to approximately 400 members of the public across 2 days. This increased my exposure to event management as well, as I assisted at the exit survey section of the event and interacted with participants. It also honed my accounting skills, as I was also responsible for tallying the distribution of vouchers.

One thing I will remember about my time at IPUR is the friendly and approachable culture! A huge shoutout to all my colleagues, as well as intern mates for making every day so fun-filled! It was extremely eye-opening to hear about the diverse experience each of us had, and gaining a deeper insight into different cultures.

My time at IPUR was super enriching, and I deeply valued the opportunity IPUR gave me to contribute to the academic and risk communication landscape!