Hema Lochan, Media and Curatorial Intern at the Zion Human History Museum in Zion National Park
[ACE]: What do you do here in your EPIC internship?
[HL]: I am a Media and Curatorial Intern at the Zion Human History Museum in Zion National Park! I’ve helped digitize the herbarium collection at the museum, I am working on updating the website, and creating finding aids for researchers! I’ve also been learning hands-on skills, such as how to handle and work with artifacts!
Can you tell me about your background?
I grew up in a very different place – New York City, so working in the national park has been a dream! I just graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Anthropology and a certificate in Environmental Studies.
How did you find out about ACE, and what attracted you to this position?
I’ve always wanted to with the NPS, and I love museums, so this became a perfect fit! I had never been to Utah before, and I always wanted to learn how the behind-the scenes of museums functioned! I’ve been learning all this and more while I’ve been here.
Can you tell me a highlight and a challenge that you’ve had so far during your internship?
I’ll tell the challenge first – when I got here, I was surprised that there was not much on the native culture on the land and its history. There were a lot of visitors, but they were not really focused on learning about the tribes that were here before Zion became a National Park. But that leads into the highlight – I’ve been learning so much about it here at the museum and trying to share what I’ve learned with others. For example, Zion National Park was originally Mukuntuweap National Monument before it was renamed – its original name came from the tribes that lived in the canyon before other settlers called it home as well!
Any goals for when you complete your internship?
I’d love to see the new museum website updated with the new information and finding aids! I hope the hands-on experience I’ve learned here will help me in other museums and collections!
Do you have any advice you’d give to someone looking to join EPIC or get into this field?
DO IT! There is so much that goes behind the scenes in a museum – from inventory, to making sure artifacts aren’t damaged, to cataloging new accessions. You will never be bored because there is so much to learn and so much really interesting things to get involved in.
