University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute and Indiana University Offer a
Ten-Day Summer Course in Microbiology

Students from Baltimore City Community College, UMBC,
Hood, and Goucher Colleges Participate

Baltimore, MD – In an effort to foster the work of students typically underrepresented in science, the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute and Indiana University, with the support of the National Science Foundation’s Microbial Observatories Program, provided a ten-day intensive microbiology course at the Center of Marine Biotechnology (COMB). This was the first Summer Microbiology and Research Training (SMaRT) Microbial Observatory on Marine Sponges (MOMS) course.

At left, SMaRT MOMS participants Shalynn Mills and Ammar Hanif extract DNA from marine sponges.

Undergraduate students from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, Indiana University, Goucher College, and Baltimore City Community College participated in the program, as well as a graduate student from Hood College, a high school student from Howard County, and a high school science teacher from Montgomery County. The intensive program focused on the study of microbes, and the interactions among the different types of microbes living in close association with marine sponges. During the course, students were taught basic molecular laboratory skills including DNA isolation and gene sequencing. Students were provided with both instructional teaching and hands-on research opportunities.

“Often students do not have the opportunity to study “up-close and personal” microorganisms in their biology curriculum,” said Dr. Jennie Hunter-Cevera President of UMBI. “This type of intensive hands-on training fosters a greater understanding and appreciation for the members of this invisible yet extremely important world, connects the “micro” to the macro life forms, and may even inspire students to become the next generation of microbiologists.”

Dr. Russell Hill and Dr. Feng Chen, faculty at UMBI’s Center for Marine Biology (COMB), and Dr. Clay Fuqua from Indiana University were the lead coordinators of this effort. “The students were extremely hard-working and responded well to a real research experience where their data contribute to our on-going research program,” said Dr. Hill. “Students gave excellent positive feed-back which will be incorporated into the next SmaRT MOMS course to be held in 2006.”

Participants in the summer program include Susan Jackson from Indiana University, Anthony Agyapong from UMBC; Ammar Hanif and Shalynn Mills from Baltimore City Community College, Linda Nwachukwu from Goucher College; Sifat Chowdhury from Centennial High School in Howard County; Scott McIntosh from Hood College; and high-school teacher Jason Gvazdauskas (also a participant in the ExPERT Program).

The University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute was mandated by the state of Maryland legislature in 1985 as "a new paradigm of state economic development in biotech-related sciences." With five major research and education centers across Maryland, UMBI is dedicated to advancing the frontiers of biotechnology. The centers are the Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology in Rockville; Center for Biosystems Research in College Park; and Center of Marine Biotechnology, Medical Biotechnology Center, and the Institute of Human Virology, all in Baltimore.