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Intern: June – August, 2014 Eric White began attending the University of New Hampshire in August 2011. His courses centered on international affairs, politics and the Italian language. In January 2014 he studied abroad in Rome, Italy. While in Italy he studied the architecture of the ancient Roman Empire. He is currently a senior and is expecting to graduate in May 2015 with bachelor’s degrees in both Political Science and Italian Studies. In the summer of 2014 he attended the Washington Center’s International Affairs program in Washington DC. Through the Washington Center he began working with the International Institute of Global Resilience as a student intern. During his time as a student intern he wrote a research paper titled “The Application of Social Media in Disasters”. The purpose of this paper is to show how Social Media can be used to support an effective disaster response. His research provided him with the opportunity to learn about a topic of which he had limited prior knowledge as well as the experience of working in a professional environment.
While working with the International Institute of Global Resilience I was able to gain professional experience that will help me in my future endeavors. I’ve always had an interest in international affairs so interning with an organization that promotes communication about disaster management between the United States and Japan was very interesting for me. Prior to interning with IIGR I didn’t have extensive knowledge of Japan or disaster management. I can confidently say that by the end of this internship I drastically improved my knowledge of both subjects. My primary role with IIGR was to write a research paper on how Social Media can be used to promote an effective response to disasters. It was titled “The Application of Social Media in Disasters”. Since I had no prior knowledge of disaster management I had to do extensive research before starting this paper. This research included completing an online FEMA course on Social Media, reading several academic articles, reading news articles on disasters and watching YouTube videos on disaster management. Once I felt confident in my knowledge of disaster management I began to write the paper. Although this paper was challenging to write at times I think that the final product is accurate and gives a good representation of how to effectively use Social Media during a disaster. In the future this research paper will be very valuable to me because I will be able to show future employers that I have experience in doing research, writing, and working in a professional office environment. My experience with IIGR has been great! I’ve never worked in an office before so this work environment was completely foreign to me. The topics that I researched and the work that I’ve done here have also been very enlightening. I can honestly say that after my experience this summer with IIGR I am more confident in myself and more prepared for the future.
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