Campus community invited to research showcase for KGS summer interns
LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 22, 2025) — The Kentucky Geological Survey (KGS) at the University of Kentucky will celebrate its fourth annual Paul Edwin Potter Internship Showcase 9-11 a.m. Wednesday, July 30, at UK’s Mining and Mineral Resources Building. The public is invited to learn about the wide range of geoscience-related research conducted over 10 weeks this summer in the Mundy's Landing area of Woodford County, Kentucky.
The event highlights the exceptional summer work of this year’s Potter interns through five-minute lightning talks and academic posters. It’s a vibrant forum where peers, faculty and UK community members can engage directly with student-led geoscience research.
The Paul Edwin Potter Internship Program provides students from Kentucky and surrounding states the opportunity to conduct geoscience research projects alongside KGS researchers and staff. This summer’s interns hail from the University of Kentucky, Western Kentucky University, Berea College, Murray State University, Morehead State University and Appalachian State University.
Students will present individually designed projects at the showcase, across a spectrum of scientific inquiry, including investigating the effects of cultivation on soil infiltration rates, whether the faults at Mundy's Landing act as a fluid conduit, and the effects of different vegetation densities and types on flooding. Each intern chose their own research topic and was guided and advised by a broad range of KGS experts.
“Presenting a research project is intimidating and I’m glad my first time will be in a supportive environment,” said Emmerson Willhoite, 2025 Potter intern and UK senior. “It’s pushing me out of my comfort zone in the best way possible.”
The Potter Internship Program was created to provide students with an opportunity to gain hands-on experience with geoscience research and help them build their professional and personal skillsets. Students selected for this program work 40 hours a week, attend professional development training, develop new fieldwork and research skills.
“Translating 10 weeks of research into one poster and a five-minute talk is harder than I expected, but it’s been a really good exercise in concisely visualizing and sharing complex data,” said Finley Gardner, 2025 Potter intern and Murray State University senior.
The showcase fosters connections within Kentucky’s geoscience community, supports the interns’ professional growth and demonstrates KGS’s role in Kentucky’s geoscience workforce development.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.