Minority Students from Coppin State University (CSU) and University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) Spend Ten Weeks Working in UMBI Research Labs located in the Center of Marine Biotechnology in Baltimore

Baltimore, MD - This summer is the fourth year in which the Center of Marine Biotechnology (COMB), part of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI), has hosted the annual LMRCSC (Living Marine Resources Cooperative Research Center) Summer Internship Program. This program is sponsored by the Educational Partnership Program (EPP)National Marine Fishery Service (NMFS) branch of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) through the LMRCSC program based in University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES). UMBI is one of six institutes within the LMRCSC that provides hands-on research opportunities for minority students during a 10-week long internship.

The goal of the LMRCSC program is to prepare minority students for careers in research, public policy, and management of fisheries through hands-on biotech experiments, and to foster research collaborations in areas of interest to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) between the partnering institutions. The overall program provides support for undergraduate and graduate fellowships, as well as the research internships.

Faculty members and laboratory staff at UMBI’s Center of Marine Biotechnology (COMB) provided the students with one-on-one mentoring opportunities throughout the 10 weeks. Dr. Allen Place, Dr. Yonathan Zohar, Dr. Rosemary Jagus, Dr. Gerardo Vasta, Dr. John Trant and Dr. Shaojun Du provided the students with laboratory experiences ranging from disease to reproduction and development using the oysters, finfish and blue crabs as subjects. Dr. Yonathan Zohar, Director of UMBI’s Center of Marine Biotechnology said during a program in which the six students formally presented their internship learning experiences to parents, faculty mentors, and program sponsors, “We at COMB are all excited about participating in this program, and helping students gain a better understanding of the marine sciences. We hope this experience will influence your career choices and that you pursue further learning opportunities in marine biology and biotechnology.” Dr. Zohar also praised the parents and mentors for being there to support the students that day.

This year, four students from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Lonnie Gonsalves, Vincent Dominique, Belinda Hauser, and Nicole Wilson; and two students from Coppin State University, Teaike Butts and Alexis Austin, participated in the LMRCSC program at COMB. During their formal presentation, Coppin sophomore Alexis Austin, who only had a high school biology class before he joined the internship program at UMBI said, “Not knowing a lot of biology before joining this program, it was an interesting experience to learn new things outside of the classroom.” He went on to say, “I did not like the solitude of lab work because I’m a people person, but there is another side to Marine Biology which is field research. I really enjoyed the field research aspect of the program because I got to be outside and interact with people.” Lonnie Gonsalves, a graduate from Eastern Carolina University who will remain at COMB as a graduate student registered through UMES, encouraged fellow participants to stick with the program and come back for a second internship. “Being in this program year after year, I have had the opportunity to reflect and see how I have progressed, as well as how other students have progressed,” Lonnie said. “And, I can now see how much ahead of the game you are after you participate in this program. My advice to fellow students is to continue in this intensive, hands-on program, because each year you become 80-90% ahead of every other student in the science field.” Mr. Gonsalves will be back at COMB in September as a UMES graduate student doing his research in Dr. Zohar’s lab at UMBI’s Center of Marine Biotechnology.

(From left to right) Dr. John Trant; Belinda Hauser- UMES; Alexis Austin- Coppin State University; Nicole Wilson- UMES; Teaike Butts- Coppin State University; Vincent Dominique- UMES; Dr. Rosemary Jagus; Dr. Shaojun Du; Dr. Allen Place; Dr. Joe Pitula; Lonnie Gonsalves; Dr. Yonathan Zohar

During the program, Dr. Gerardo Vasta, faculty mentor to Teaike Butts, a Coppin NcNair Scholar, noted during her presentation that his student, “deserved particular praise because she worked 20-25 hours per week at the Best Buy in addition to putting in long hours at the lab.” Dr. Joe Pitula, who came from UMES to support two of his students, praised the LMRCSC partnership for its efforts to build up the research capabilities of partnering institutions through the research collaborations. Dr. Pitula and his graduate student, Lara Nagle also spent time at COMB this summer learning the molecular techniques developed by COMB’s Dr. Allen Place to detect the blue crab pathogen, Hematodinium perezei.

Dr. Jennie Hunter-Cevera, President of UMBI noted that this is just one of several summer and year-round internship opportunities offered at UMBI. “We are committed to helping Maryland grow its biotech workforce and to engage students at all levels of learning and from all social and economic backgrounds,” said Dr. Cevera. “For many students, a hands-on learning, summer internship experience at UMBI can change a student’s life, and give them a whole new direction in learning. I am proud of our faculty at all of our centers who influence the lives of young people and share their time and talents with future would-be scientists.”

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Celebrating our 20th anniversary year, UMBI is the first and only biotechnology research institute within the University System of Maryland and was established in 1985. The University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI) consists of five major research and education centers and is dedicated to advancing the frontiers of biotechnology. UMBI’s centers of research include: CARB, the Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology located in Rockville; CBR, the Center for Biosystems Research located in College Park; and COMB, the Center of Marine Biotechnology, MBC, the Medical Biotechnology Center, and IHV, the Institute of Human Virology, all located in Baltimore. For more information, visit www.umbi.umd.edu