The Oklahoma Aquarium and its Foundation Board have been working closely with Oklahoma State University and donors Bill and Diana Beaulieu to create new intern programs and engineering projects for OSU students. Together, they are laying a path that will propel students to greater success in their careers. The Beaulieus are not OSU alumni, but their two children are. The entire family has embodied what it means to be a Cowboy and, thanks to the parents, the connection between OSU and the Oklahoma Aquarium, located in Jenks, has never been stronger. Bill Beaulieu is chair of the Helmerich Research Center Advisory Board, and Diana serves on the Oklahoma Aquarium Foundation Board. The two have been instrumental in creating and funding many internships and student-oriented opportunities with the aquarium. The Beaulieus fund a research intern position that allows an OSU biology student to work with the aquarium’s director of education and research, Ann Money, on research projects. “From our experience, internships are an essential part in the education of students and in their preparation for postgraduate work or employment,” Bill Beaulieu said. “Diana and I have the long-term goal of supporting education, and we have found ways to do that through interns who are being educated in fields we have a strong interest in.” Money said that being able to offer paid internships creates the opportunity for more students who could benefit and learn from the experience. The Beaulieus funded a position held by Lindsey Duncan, a 2019 microbiology graduate. “My internship at the Oklahoma Aquarium was a huge opportunity for me to dedicate my time to research I was working on with Ann Money,” Duncan said. “They were very generous and checked in on me many times throughout my two years in the internship to see how I was also doing in school and in my personal life.” STORY KYLE STRINGER | PHOTOS PROVIDED Awash in Success Donors Bill and Diana Beaulieu help OSU strengthen its relationship with the Oklahoma Aquarium They also inspired others to support internship positions, like the one that recent graduate Hallie Moss held. Moss, a 2020 environmental biology and ecology and conservation biology graduate, spent the past three years as the research intern with the aquarium. “The majority of internships available to undergraduates, specifically undergraduates in science fields, are unpaid,” Money said. “This limits the experiences for students who are unable to afford the travel and time away from paying jobs.” Having internships funded by donors such as the Beaulieus creates incredible opportunity and impact for students. Bill said he was inspired to connect OSU-Tulsa with the Oklahoma Aquarium after a behind-thescenes tour, where staff members shared several ways they wanted to improve processes and existing procedures. “This sparked an idea of pairing the Oklahoma Aquarium’s needs with the OSU senior design project requirements,” he added. “I think internships like this are so important because they teach you things that you can’t learn in a classroom but are so important for the workplace,” Moss said. “I finished my undergraduate degree in May 2020, and I already have three years of experience working at an aquarium. That’s so incredible to me, and I just feel 28 CONNECT 2020
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