We accept students from both the MAST Medical at Homestead and TERRA Environmental Research Institute high schools to take part in a research experience for eight weeks during the summer.
Participants gain critical thinking skills and a better understanding of scientific design and methodology. The internship emphasizes writing and presentation skill development, preparing students for their future academic and professional careers.
Before their internship, students complete at least five online safety courses, as well as all human resources volunteer paperwork. On orientation day, they are provided with hourly log sheets, lab composition books, campus maps, food vendor information, intercampus bus schedules, FIU One Card services and volunteer parking permit forms. Program Administrators provide an orientation to lab safety, program expectations and FIU’s Code of Student Conduct.
Along with engaging in innovative biomedical and behavioral research, students participate in weekly professional and academic development workshops, weekly intern meetings, and a Responsible Conduct in Research seminar. Interns are required to submit an abstract of their research and give a PowerPoint presentation of their project at the end of program symposium. Awards are given to first-, second- and third- place presenters, who are invited back to present at the MARC U*STAR symposia.
We have successfully completed our 10th annual FIU Summer Research Internship Program! Congratulations to our 31 high school participants who all gave outstanding presentations of their research at the Mini-Symposium on Friday, August 9th, 2019 (agenda attached).
We would like to take this opportunity to recognize our top three presenters and their mentors:
1st Place Oral Presentation:
Rolando Casas
Mentor: Dr. DeEtta K. Mills
Department: Biological Sciences; International Forensic Research Institute, College of Arts, Sciences and Education
Title: Collection of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) For Early Plant Disease Detection: A Comparison Between Passive and Dynamic Sampling Techniques
2nd Place Oral Presentation:
Elizavetta Stetsenko
Mentor: Dr. DeEtta K. Mills
Department: Biological Sciences, International Forensic Research Institute, College: Arts, Science, and Education
Title: Exploration of Various DNA Polymerases for Enhanced PCR Amplification
3rd Place Oral Presentation:
Hannah Aziz
Mentor: Dr. Rene Price
Department: Earth and Environment; College of Arts, Science, and Education
Title: Chemistry of Surface Water and Groundwater in Dade-County
These three interns will be invited back to FIU to present their research at the MARC U*STAR & QBIC Mini-symposium in October.
We would like to thank all the mentors who opened their labs to the interns and provided them with guidance and support throughout this summer. From the College of Arts and Sciences: Dr. Matthew DeGennaro, Dr. Jamie Theobald and Dr. DeEtta Mills (Biological Sciences), Dr. Yuan Liu, Dr. Konstantin Bukhryakov, Dr. Francisco Fernandez-Lima, Dr. Jaroslava Miksovska and Dr. Joong Ho Moon (Chemistry & Biochemistry), Dr. Anthony Dick and Dr. Lorraine Bahrick (Psychology), Dr. Angela Laird (Physics), and Dr. Rene Price and Jennifer Rehage (Earth & Environment). From the College of Engineering and Computing: Dr. Ranu Jung, Dr. Jessica Ramella-Roman, Dr. Anuradha Godavarty, Dr. Sharan Ramaswamy, Dr. Joshua Hutcheson, and Dr. Anthony McGoron (Biomedical Engineering).
We would also like to thank the FIU Departments, Faculty, Staff and Community Sponsors who supported the SRI this summer, especially the American Heart Association, who served as our primary sponsor. It was wonderful to host Ms. Indira Case, American Heart Association's Community Impact Director of Multicultural Initiatives and Mr. Alex Alamzan, Miami Heart Walk Chair, at our event.We have successfully completed our 9th annual FIU Summer Research Internship Program! Congratulations to our 22 high school participants from TERRA Environmental Research Institute & M.A.S.T. Medical @ Homestead and 2 FIU MASS Experience Fellows, who all gave outstanding presentations of their research at the Mini-Symposium on Friday, August 10th, 2018.
We would like to take this opportunity to recognize our top three presenters and their mentors:
1st Place Oral Presentation:
Mariaguadalupe Vilchez
Mentor: Dr. Jennifer Rehage
Department: Earth and Environment; College of Arts, Sciences and Education
Title: Examining the Potential Decline of Jack Crevalle in Florida
2nd Place Oral Presentation:
Shaileen Barberena
Mentor: Dr. Eliza Nelson
Department: Psychology; College of Arts, Sciences and Education
Title: The Relation Between Gross and Fine Motor Skills and Language Outcomes
3rd Place Oral Presentation:
Christian Fernandez
Mentor: Dr. Jennifer Rehage
Department: Earth and Environment; College of Arts, Sciences and Education
Title: Recruitment Behavior of Gray Snapper (Lutjanus griseus) in Fishing, Catch-Release, and Non-Fishing Areas
These 3 interns will be invited back to FIU to present their research at the MARC U*STAR & QBIC Mini-symposium in October.
We would like to thank all the mentors who opened their labs to the interns and provided them with guidance and support throughout this summer. From the College of Arts and Sciences: Dr. Matthew DeGennaro, and Dr. DeEtta Mills (Biological Sciences), Dr. Francisco Fernandez-Lima and Dr. Jaroslava Miksovska (Chemistry & Biochemistry), Dr. Eliza Nelson and Dr. Lorraine Bahrick (Psychology), and Dr. Jennifer Rehage (Earth & Environment). From the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine: Dr. Kalai Mathee (Human and Molecular Genetics) and Dr. Marisela Agudelo (Immunology). From the College of Engineering and Computing: Dr. Ranu Jung, Dr. Jessica Ramella-Roman, Dr. Sharan Ramaswamy, Dr. Joshua Hutcheson, Dr. Anthony McGoron (Biomedical Engineering), and Dr. Alexander Perez-Pons (Computing and Information Sciences). From the Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work: Dr. Deodutta Roy (Environmental and Occupational Health) and Dr. Consuelo Beck Sague (Health Promotion and Disease Prevention).
We would also like to thank the FIU Departments, Programs, Faculty, Staff and Community Sponsors who supported the SRI this summer, especially the American Heart Association, who served as our primary sponsor. It was wonderful to host Ms. Indira Case, American Heart Association's Director of Multicultural Initiatives, at this event.
We have successfully completed our 8th annual FIU Summer Research Internship Program! Congratulations to our 30 high school participants from TERRA Environmental Research Institute & M.A.S.T. Medical @ Homestead and 1 Miami Dade College participant, who all gave outstanding presentations of their research at the Mini-Symposium on Friday, August 11th, 2017.
We would like to take this opportunity to recognize our top three presenters and their mentors:
1st Place Oral Presentation:
Jack Polk (MAST)
Mentor: Dr. Deng Pan
Department: Computing and Information Sciences; College of Engineering and Computing
Title: Optimal Service Deployment for Network Function Virtualization
2nd Place Oral Presentation:
Desiree Pico (TERRA)
Mentor: Dr. Jeremy W. Chambers
Department: Environmental and Occupational Health; Robert Stempel College of Public Health
Title: Mitofusin 2 expression in the ventral midbrain of mice with mitochondrial dysfunction
3rd Place Oral Presentation:
Fernando Yzquierdo (TERRA)
Mentor: Dr. Robert Lickliter
Department: Psychology; College of Arts, Sciences and Education
Title: Conspecific Recognition in Neonatal Bobwhite Quail Chicks (Colinus Virginianus)
These 3 interns will be invited back to FIU to present their research at the MARC U*STAR & NIGMS RISE Mini-symposium in October, and the 1st place presenter will be invited to FIU”s Biomedical & Comparative Immunology Symposium in March.
We would like to thank all the mentors who opened their labs to the interns and provided them with guidance and support throughout this summer. From the College of Arts and Sciences: Dr. M. Alejandro Barbieri, Dr. Laura Serbus, Dr. DeEtta Mills, and Dr. Sian Evans (Biological Sciences), Dr. Francisco Fernandez-Lima, Dr. Yuan Liu, Dr. Kevin O’Shea, and Dr. Jaroslava Miksovska (Chemistry & Biochemistry), Dr. Nadja Schreiber-Compo, Dr. Lorraine Bahrick, and Dr. Robert Lickliter (Psychology), Dr. Jennifer Rehage (Earth & Environment). From the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine: Dr. Kalai Mathee (Human and Molecular Genetics). From the College of Engineering and Computing: Dr. Ranu Jung, Dr. Sharan Ramaswamy, Dr. Joshua Hutcheson and Dr. Anthony McGoron (Biomedical Engineering), Dr. Deng Pan (Computing and Information Sciences) and Dr. Seung Jae Lee (Civil and Environmental Engineering. From the Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work: Dr. Jeremy Chambers (Environmental and Occupational Health) and Dr. Benjamin C. Amick III (Health Policy and Management).
Lastly, we would like to thank all the FIU Departments, Programs, Faculty, Staff and Community Sponsors who supported the SRI this summer, especially The American Heart Association, who served as our primary sponsor.
We have successfully completed our 7th annual FIU Summer Research Internship Program! Congratulations to our 29 high school participants from TERRA Environmental Research Institute and M.A.S.T. Medical @ Homestead who gave outstanding presentations of their research at the Mini-Symposium on Friday, August 12th, 2016.
We would like to take this opportunity to recognize our top three presentations:
1st Place Oral Presentation:
Ashlee Sealy
Mentor: Dr. Ranu Jung
Department: Biomedical Engineering; College of Engineering and Computing
Title: Lower Misaligned Prosthetic Simulator
2nd Place Oral Presentation:
Uzair Farid and Lingwei “William” Kong
Mentor: Dr. Chunlei Wang
Department: Mechanical and Materials Engineering; College of Engineering and Computing
Title: Analysis of Carbon Surface Characteristics and Renewable Materials in the Manufacture of Environmentally Friendly Batteries
3rd Place Oral Presentation:
Renzo Cavero
Mentor: Dr. Yuk-Ching Tse-Dinh
Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry; College of Arts, Sciences and Education
Title: Expressing recombinant Human Topoisomerase 3β in Escherichia coli
Additionally, we would like to thank all the mentors who opened their labs to the interns and provided them with guidance and support throughout this summer. From the College of Arts and Sciences: Dr. M. Alejandro Barbieri and Dr. Sian Evans (Biological Sciences), Dr. Francisco Fernandez-Lima, Dr. Yuk-Ching Tse-Dinh and Dr. Jaroslava Miksovska (Chemistry & Biochemistry), Dr. Nadja Schreiber-Compo and Dr. Robert Lickliter (Psychology), Dr. Jennifer Rehage (Earth & Environment). From the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine: Dr. Marisela Agudelo and Dr. Nazira El-Hage (Immunology). From the College of Engineering and Computing: Dr. Ranu Jung, Dr. Anuradha Godavarty, Dr. Sharan Ramaswamy, Dr. Jorge Riera Diaz and Dr. Anthony McGoron (Biomedical Engineering), Dr. Ismail Guvenc (Electrical & Computer Engineering) and Dr. Chunlei Wang (Mechanical and Materials Engineering). From the Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work: Dr. Benjamin C. Amick III, Dr. Elena Bastida and Dr. Consuelo Beck-Sague.
Lastly, we would like to thank the FIU Departments, Programs, Faculty, Staff and Community Sponsors who supported the SRI this summer.
We have successfully completed our 6th annual FIU Summer Research Internship Program! Congratulations to our 31 high school participants from TERRA Environmental Research Institute and M.A.S.T. Medical @ Homestead who gave outstanding presentations of their research at the Mini-Symposium on Friday, August 7th.
We would like to take this opportunity to recognize our top three presenters:
1st Place Presentation:
Catarina Vale
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Ranu Jung
Department: Biomedical Engineering; College of Engineering and Computing
Presentation Title: Influence of stimulation profile on ability to obtain desired respiratory volume during diaphragmatic pacing
2nd Place Presentation:
Andrea Rondon
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Aaron Mattfeld
Department: Psychology; College of Arts and Sciences
Presentation Title: Motivated learning: Do losses motivate more than gains?
3rd Place Presentation:
Joaquin Morales
(Partnered Presentation with Alejandro Perez)
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Anthony McGoron
Department: Biomedical Engineering; College of Engineering and Computing
Presentation Title: Synthesis of Chitosan Microspheres for Drug Delivery with Electrical Field Assisted Method
Additionally, we would like to thank all the mentors who opened their labs to the interns and provided them with guidance and support throughout this summer. From the College of Arts and Sciences: Dr. DeEtta Mills, Dr. Laura Serbus, Dr. Phillip Stoddard and Dr. M. Alejandro Barbieri, (Biological Sciences), Dr. Francisco Fernandez-Lima, Dr. Yuk-Ching Tse- Dinh and Dr. John Landrum (Chemistry & Biochemistry), Dr. Shannon Pruden, Dr. Lorraine Bahrick, Dr. Eliza Nelson, Dr. Aaron Mattfeld, Dr. Nadja Schreiber-Compo and Dr. Erica Musser (Psychology), Dr. Jennifer Rehage and Dr. Krish Jayachandran (Earth & Environment). From the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine: Dr. Jeremy Chambers (Cellular Biology and Pharmacology) and Dr. Marisela Agudelo (Immunology). From the College of Engineering and Computing: Dr. Ranu Jung, Dr. Jessica Ramella, Dr. Sharan Ramaswamy and Dr. Anthony McGoron (Biomedical Engineering), Dr. Alexander Perez-Pons (Electrical & Computer Engineering) and Dr. Seung Jae Lee (Civil Engineering).
Lastly, we would like to thank the FIU Departments, Programs, Faculty, Staff and Community Sponsors who supported the SRI this summer.
The Summer Research Internship (SRI) program completed its 5th year in 2014! This summer we hosted 28 high school students from TERRA Environmental Research Institute and MAST Medical @ Homestead. Interns completed 1 in-class and 5 online lab safety courses, volunteered a minimum of 20 hours per week for 8 weeks, and attended weekly professional development workshops including Preparing an Oral Presentation of Your Research, Bioethics & Research Misconduct, and Library and Data Bases Resources. The summer interns were placed in scientific research laboratories at the Modesto Maidique and Engineering Center Campuses at FIU.
This summer students were placed with mentors in 8 departments of 3 Colleges at FIU. They include from the College of Arts and Sciences: Drs. Eric Von Wettberg, Sian Evans, M. Alejandro Barbieri -Biological Sciences; Drs. Francisco Fernandez-Lima and Jaroslava Miksovska -Chemistry & Biochemistry; Drs. Shannon Pruden, Lindsay Malloy, Anthony Dick, and Erica Musser –Psychology; from the College of Medicine: Dr. Jeremy Chambers -Cellular Biology and Pharmacology, Drs. Madhavan Nair, Marisela Agudelo and Vidya Sagar -Immunology; from the College of Engineering and Computing: Drs. Ranu Jung, Sharan Ramaswamy and Anthony McGoron -Biomedical Engineering and Dr. Amir Mirmiran –Civil Engineering and Dr. Ismail Guvenc –Electrical Engineering. A total of 41 faculty mentors have participated in the SRI and 108 students have participated in the SRI program since 2010.
The interns culminated the program by submitting abstracts and giving oral presentations of their research project at the FIU SRI Mini-Symposium on August 8th, 2014. Students gave 10-minute oral presentations and answered questions from the audience of FIU faculty, students and staff, Miami-Dade County Public School Magnet Academy Leaders and students’ family members & friends. Refreshments were sponsored by FIU’s Office of Engagement and QBIC Program. Generous donations were received from Subway, Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt, ChicBerry Frozen Yogurt and Walgreens.
Judges awarded the top 3 student presenters with Barnes and Noble gift cards (sponsored by the Honors College), as well as invited them to present their summer research at FIU’s Annual MARC U*STAR & MBRS RISE Mini-Symposium in the fall. The 1st Place winner also received the book At the Bench by Kathy Barker and was invited to present her research at FIU’s Biomedical and Comparative Immunology Symposium in March 2015.
The Faculty and Student Research Training & Access Office (FSRTA) completed its 4th annual Summer Research Internship (SRI). This summer we hosted 29 high school students from TERRA Environmental Research Institute and MAST Medical @ Homestead. Interns completed 1 in-class and 5 online lab safety courses, volunteered a minimum of 20 hours per week for 8 weeks, attended weekly professional development workshops including Preparing an Oral Presentation of Your Research, Bioethics & Research Misconduct, and Library and Data Bases Resources. The summer students were placed in scientific research laboratories at the Modesto Maidique and Engineering Center Campuses at FIU.
This summer students were placed with mentors in 8 departments of 4 Colleges at FIU. They include
from the College of Arts and Sciences: Dr. Yuk-Ching Tse-Dinh - Chemistry & Biochemistry, Drs. DeEtta Mills and Phillip Stoddard - Biological Sciences, Drs. Eliza Nelson, Shannon Pruden, Lorraine Bahrick, Lindsay Malloy, Anthony Dick, and Nadja Schreiber Compo – Psychology, Drs. Jennifer Rehage and Krish Jayachandran – Earth & Environment; from the Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work: Dr. Mehmet Dorak -Epidemiology; from the College of Medicine: Dr. Jeremy Chambers -Cellular Biology and Pharmacology, Drs. Madhavan Nair and Samikkannu Thangavel -Immunology; from the College of Engineering and Computing: Drs. Ranu Jung, Sharan Ramaswamy and Amy Starosciak -Biomedical Engineering and Drs. Shekhar Bhansali and Herman Watson - Electrical & Computer Engineering. A total of 35 faculty mentors have participated in the SRI since 2010.
The interns culminated the program by submitting abstracts and giving oral presentations of their research project at the FIU SRI Mini-Symposium on August 9th, 2013. Students gave 10-minute oral presentations and answered questions from the audience of FIU faculty, students and staff, Miami-Dade County Public School Magnet Academy Leaders and students’ family members & friends.
Judges awarded the top 3 student presenters with Barnes and Noble gift cards, as well as invited them to present their summer research at FIU’s Annual MARC U*STAR & MBRS RISE Mini-Symposium in the fall. The 1st Place winner also received the book At the Bench by Kathy Barker and was invited to present his research at FIU’s Biomedical and Comparative Immunology Symposium in February 2014.
Continuous program evaluation including student and faculty feedback has played a key role in the success of this program. Follow up with our first interns who have now matriculated into colleges and universities across North America is currently underway! Preliminary data so far has revealed that 11 of the 42 college eligible participants are attending FIU. Of those who are freshmen at FIU, 5 are continuing their research with their summer research mentors. Three papers have been published by 2 interns, and 1 patent application was submitted. All students are pursuing degrees in STEM fields. Eighty students have participated in the SRI program since 2010, and continuous follow up is needed to track the outcomes of those currently in college and the junior & senior high school participants who will be entering college in the years ahead.
Several former SRI participants shared the following comments about their summer research experience:
The Faculty and Student Research Training & Access Office (FSRTA) completed its 3rd annual Summer Research Internship (SRI). This summer we hosted 36 high school students from TERRA Environmental Research Institute and MAST Medical @ Homestead. Interns completed 1 in‐class and 5 online lab safety courses, volunteered a minimum of 20 hours per week for 8 weeks, attended weekly professional development workshops including Preparing an Oral Presentation of Your Research, Bioethics &
Research Misconduct, and Library and Data Bases Resources. The students were placed in scientific research laboratories at the Modesto Maidique and Engineering Center Campuses at FIU. This summer we had students placed with mentors in 13 departments of 4 Colleges at FIU. They include from the College of Arts and Sciences: Drs. Lidia Kos, Manuel Barbieri and Philip Stoddard ‐Biological Sciences, Drs. Jaroslava Miksovska and Joong‐Ho Moon ‐Chemistry & Biochemistry, Dr. Jin He ‐Physics, Drs. Jennifer Rehage and Krish Jayachandran ‐Earth & Environment, Drs. Robert Lickliter, Lorraine Bahrick, Lindsay Malloy, Shannon Pruden and Asia Eaton ‐Psychology; from the Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work: Dr. Mehmet Dorak ‐Environmental & Occupational Health; from the College of Medicine: Dr. Jeremy Chambers ‐Cellular Biology and Pharmacology, Drs. Rene Herrera and Helen Tempest ‐Human and Molecular Genetics, Drs. Madhavan Nair and Samikkannu Thangavel ‐ Immunology; from the College of Engineering and Computing: Dr. Chunlei Wang ‐Mechanical & Materials Engineering, Drs. Anthony McGoron, Sharan Ramaswamy, Ranu Jung and Amy Starosciak ‐ Biomedical Engineering, Dr. Deng Pen ‐School of Computing and Information Science and Dr. Shekhar Bhansali ‐Electrical & Computer Engineering.
The interns finished the program by submitting abstracts and giving oral presentations of their research project at the FIU SRI Mini‐Symposium on August 10th in the MARC Pavilion. Dr. Andres Gil, FIU’s Vice President for Research gave the welcoming remarks at the symposium. Students gave 10 minute PowerPoint presentations and answered questions from the audience of FIU faculty, students and staff, Miami‐Dade County Public School Magnet Academy Leaders and students’ family members. Judges awarded the top 3 student presenters with Barnes and Nobles gift cards, as well as invited them to present their research at FIU’s MBRS RISE & MARC U*STAR Mini‐Symposium in the fall. The 1st Place winner also received the book At the Bench by Kathy Barker and was invited to present his research at FIU’s Biomedical and Comparative Immunology Symposium in March 2013.
This summer marked the second annual FIU TERRA Summer Research Internship Program. Participation nearly doubled from 15 interns in 2010, to 28 interns completing the program this year. Students from TERRA Environmental Research Institute included 12 from the Robotics Academy, 13 from the Biomedical Academy and 3 from the Environmental Academy. The cohort included 13 females, 15 males, and 75% of the participants belong to underrepresented groups in the biomedical sciences.
Students were assisted by program staff to schedule interviews with potential mentors in STEM departments. In 2011, 16 mentors from 9 departments in 5 colleges participated. This was an increase from 11 mentors in 2010. They include Drs. Bahrick (Psychology), Barbieri (Biology), Dorak (Environmental and Occupational Health), Herrera (Biology), Jayachandran (Earth and Environment), Kos (Biology), Lickliter (Psychology), McGoron (Biomedical Engineering), Mills (Biology), Moon (Chemistry/Biochemistry), Munroe (Mechanical and Materials Engineering), Nair (Immunology), Ramaswamy (Biomedical Engineering), Rehage (Earth and Environment), C. Wang (Mechanical and Materials Engineering) and Wnuk (Chemistry/Biochemistry).
Prior to their internship, students complete 5 online safety courses, as well as all human resources volunteer paperwork. On orientation day, they are provided with hourly log sheets, lab composition books, campus maps, food vendor information, inter-campus bus schedules, FIU One Card services, and volunteer parking permit forms. Dr. Charles Bigger provides an orientation to lab safety, program expectations and FIU’s Code of Student Conduct.
Along with engaging in cutting edge biomedical research, students participate in weekly professional development workshops, weekly intern meetings, library skills workshop and the Responsible Conduct in Research 2-day seminar. Interns are required to submit an abstract of their research and give a PowerPoint presentation of their project at the end of program symposium. Awards are given to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place presenters, and those winners are invited back to present at FIU’s MBRS RISE & MARC U*STAR Student Mini-Symposium. The 1st place winner is also invited to present at FIU’s Biomedical and Comparative Immunology Symposium.
FIU TERRA Summer Research Internship participants have gone on to place in the county, regional, state, national and international Science & Engineering Fairs. One participant was 1 of 60 finalists out of 75,000 applicants in the Google Global Science Fair. Since their internships, about half of our interns competed in the MIT InvenTeam competition this year and 2 students were awarded grants to organize scientific clubs at TERRA.
Four summer interns have continued their research projects into the academic year. Two students are working towards papers and 1 student attended a scientific conference with their lab. Participant feedback indicates that 21 students intend on returning next summer, and mentor feedback showed that all participating mentors are willing to host a TERRA student(s) in their lab again. The Earth and Environment Department has notified our program that they would like to expand their involvement and will take additional students next summer.
Florida International University’s Minority Biomedical Research Support Program (MBRS) is excited to announce its partnership with TERRA Environmental Research Institute, Principal Ms. Caridad Montano (Florida’s first Green and LEED certified high school) to establish a competitive high school summer internship program. Dr. Julie Sierra-Montes, TERRA’s science chair and former FIU MBRS Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) fellow, has recommended 23 bright and motivated students to intern in biomedical research laboratories on Modesto A. Maidique campus satisfying the students’ summer community service hours.
Students from TERRA’s Academies of Environmental Research & Field Studies, Biomedical Research, and Robotics & Engineering Technology were invited to FIU Friday, April 30, 2010 to learn about the RISE, QBIC and McNair Scholars Programs as well as listen to presentations given by faculty representing Biomedical Engineering, Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Psychology, Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering and Computing, Environmental Studies and the Departments of Molecular Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and Human and Molecular Genetics from The College of Medicine, describing their research programs.
Dr. Charles H. Bigger, MBRS Programs Director, addressed the students advising them of scientific research careers and interviewing skills. Many students had the opportunity to participate in on-site interviews with potential mentors, and 7 students have been selected to intern in the laboratories of Drs. Anthony McGoron, DeEtta Mills, Manuel Barbieri, Joong-Ho Moon and Rene Herrera, thus far. There has been great support and interest in this program from FIU’s science faculty and several interviews are scheduled with the remaining students in the coming weeks.
The eight-week internship will expose high school students to principles of research, lab procedures and safety, while being mentored by FIU’s top science researchers. The students will culminate their internship with a presentation of their learning experience at the end of the summer semester by way of a mini-symposium.
