Alexis Castillo joined the Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI), part of UL Research Institutes, as a communications intern while working toward her Bachelor of Arts degree in communications at the University of Maryland, College Park. She has made significant contributions to the research amplification team that prepared her to begin her career as a research amplification coordinator following her graduation in 2024.
“I really enjoyed my internship with FSRI”, said Alexis. “In addition to developing my copywriting and amplification skills, I had the unique opportunity to work across the teams that make up research amplification. These experiences helped me gain a greater insight into the work we do here, and why it’s so important.”
Throughout her internship, Alexis was responsible for enhancing workflows, leading internal communications, and supporting research amplification efforts for various research projects and programs. She also lent her skills and talent in support of FSRI’s education and digital media production teams.
Alexis Castillo assisting with tabletop experiments for the 2024 Fire Dynamics Boot Camp
“It has been a pleasure to watch Alexis grow into her career with FSRI. She has demonstrated how much she has learned in just over a year by going from supporting research amplification efforts to leading and executing plans collaboratively with other members of the team.”
—Brian Straczewski, manager of research amplification, FSRI
In her new role, Alexis will transition from supporting amplification efforts to leading amplification plans for FSRI’s fire modeling and fire dynamics research projects and programs. She will also continue to build upon the work conducted throughout her internship. “I always knew I enjoyed marketing and communications, but I wasn’t sure what field I wanted to pursue my career in. Exploring the field of safety science and learning from an experienced team has been an incredible opportunity, and confirmed that this is where I want to be.“ Alexis said.
FSRI offers a wide range of opportunities for motivated students to contribute to the FSRI mission of addressing unsolved safety risks in the world. Throughout the years, many of our interns have gone on to graduate and begin their careers at FSRI.