Summer in the Emerald City: Whitman Students Find Amazing Internship Opportunities in Seattle

With its proximity to Seattle, Whitman College offers the best of both worlds—a tight-knit academic community where professors know students by name and are invested in their success, alongside promising career, research and internship opportunities in one of the country’s top spots for science, tech, the arts and more. 

Each summer, Whitman students intern in Seattle, taking full advantage of its proximity to Whitman to build connections with Seattle-based alums, participate in cutting-edge scientific research, and take part in the cultural and creative life of the city. For many, the 270-mile stretch between Walla Walla and Seattle becomes a bridge that carries them straight into some of the most dynamic workplaces in the Pacific Northwest.

A More Accessible Future for Mental Health

For Francis Cain ’27, a Psychology major from Poulsbo, Washington, Seattle offered the perfect place to intern—rich in networking opportunities, history and diverse culture. 

“There’s a lot of really good work that happens in Seattle, especially because of the proximity to the Indigenous tribes in Washington and to nonprofits such as El Centro de la Raza,” Cain explains. 

Cain chose to intern at El Centro de la Raza because its fundraising work to empower marginalized communities closely aligned with his long-term goal of making psychological care more accessible in the U.S. 

“The way we approach psychology in the United States is pretty inaccessible,” Cain says. “It’s so expensive. It’s hard for people if they are undocumented or if they don’t have insurance.” 

The experience of educating potential donors about the nonprofit’s mission and impact informed Cain about the systemic barriers that make mental health care so hard to access. “Being able to get as much mental health counseling and help to as many communities as possible has always been a goal of mine,” he reflects. “I like the idea of being able to expand psychology to demographics that have stigmas about psychological disorders.” 

Cain expresses deep gratitude for the Whitman Internship Grant that facilitated this opportunity—as well as the support of the Career and Community Engagement Center staff and the unique academic environment the college provides. “The liberal arts education in general that Whitman holds up is really helpful in learning the importance of integrating all different kinds of knowledge,” he says.

Growing Into a Real Scientist

Larissa Pforte ’26, from Bellingham, Washington, is a Biology major interested in using a genetic approach to understand and treat cancer. This ambitious goal led her to the Seattle-based research hub Fred Hutch Cancer Center. 

Pforte landed the opportunity to work at the top research center this summer thanks to Whitman’s strong Biology curriculum, close faculty mentorship, and partnership with Fred Hutch, which selects two Whitman students each year for its Summer Undergraduate Research Program.

“Building relationships with faculty is one of the great things about being at Whitman, and it made the process of applying to this internship really nice,” Pforte says.

“The labs I took as classes at Whitman gave me a lot of practical experience in laboratory techniques and experimental design that were relevant to the research work I did at Fred Hutch.”

Pforte spent her summer regulating the gene expression of cancerous brain cells using CRISPR, the revolutionary gene editing technology. The experience taught her the hidden value of failure in the science world. 

“Every scientist knows that failure is a part of the process of doing research, but I didn’t quite understand what that felt like until this summer,” she says. “It was sometimes disappointing to not get the ‘right’ outcome, but it gave us the opportunity to reexamine what we were doing and the implications of the unexpected finding.”

The experience ultimately transformed her confidence as a scientist. “My internship showed me that I am more capable than I thought I was,” she says. “I got to successfully apply so much of what I have been learning at Whitman in a practical setting.” 

Between networking workshops, résumé reviews, and graduate school info sessions, she found the internship not just an immersion in cancer research, but a holistic preparation for a career in science. 

Pforte also fell in love with the city itself. “Seattle is an especially beautiful and lively place in the summer,” she says. “There were a lot of opportunities to meet other interns in the city and learn what they were working on, which was very cool. I hope to live and work there in the future.”

Advancing Biomedical Discovery

Ellie White ’27, a Biology major from Seattle, chose to intern in her hometown not only for its proximity to the University of Washington, where she intends to pursue her graduate education, but also for its status as an epicenter of scientific research. 

“It’s such a strong city for biology and biomedicine research, with places like Fred Hutch, Seattle Children’s and the Institute for Systems Biology, which are places I aspire to work someday,” she says. 

This summer, White interned at Fred Hutch, focusing on research into the mechanisms of latent HIV infection, work that aligns closely with her interests in immunology and infectious diseases. She secured funding for the position through a Whitman Internship Grant (WIG). 

“I’m thankful for the WIG and for my rigorous classes at Whitman for preparing me for scientific research,” she says.

White’s experience at Fred Hutch helped her grow tremendously as a scientist. “By the end of the summer, I had full responsibility to design my own weekly schedules and run experiments independently,” she says. “I loved working in the lab and generating new data that hadn’t been seen before. The opportunity to analyze that data and identify trends was so exciting.”

Building Connections Through Art

Lucas Pinaire ’27, an Art major from Portland, Oregon, interned at Horizon House, a nonprofit retirement community with an eclectic art collection. Pinaire spent his summer creating a digital inventory of the collection, reaching out to people for the acquisition of new art pieces and conducting research about anonymous pieces.

Pinaire chose Seattle for a very practical reason. “It was a matter of where I could find affordable housing for the summer,” he says. “Among the three or so cities I looked in, Horizon House in Seattle was the best opportunity.” 

Over the summer, he came to appreciate Seattle’s interconnected professional landscape. “I enjoyed connecting my work with the larger Seattle community,” he says. “In one instance, I met with representatives of an archival project underway at the University of Washington. I got to hear about what they were doing, and we discussed whether my work could be of any use to them.”

Funded by a WIG, Pinaire’s experience was made possible in part by Whitman’s rigorous coursework and strong alumni network. “Coursework I had completed for classes at Whitman proved to be strong examples of my familiarity with artistic research and art generally when reaching out to Horizon House,” he explains. “Additionally, many residents at Horizon House are Whitman alumni, and they were eager to introduce themselves and show me around once I had begun my internship.”

The experience was very enlightening to Pinaire, especially about his intended career path. Before the internship, he had a vague idea of his desire to work in the art scene. “Now, having been able to work with an art collection and speak with staff from the Seattle Art Museum, I know I’m interested in art museum work specifically,” he says.

Exploring How Language Shapes Young Minds

For Natalie Weimholt ’26, a Brain, Behavior and Cognition major from St. Paul, Minnesota, the summer was an opportunity to explore how language shapes children’s thinking. She interned with University of Washington’s Language, Cognition and Development Lab in Seattle, where she researched how the language parents use influences children’s development of spatial and mathematical reasoning.

Weimholt chose the lab because of her deep interest in language development—and Seattle for its vibrant urban environment and professional opportunities. “Seattle worked out great for me because I had connections to other Whitman students and graduates in the area,” she says.

Her internship was supported by a WIG, and she was quick to credit Whitman for helping her secure the position. “I wouldn’t have been able to do the internship without receiving a WIG,” she says. “I also received lots of support from my professors while I was searching for and deciding on an internship—especially Thomas Knight, my major advisor.”

For Weimholt, the most meaningful part of the experience was connecting personally with the children behind the data. “I got to experience the personal side of each individual child for a research project that will only report the numbers,” she says.