Story by Patrick Makary
NOAA LMRCSC and NSF CREST-Center for the Integrated Study of Coastal Ecosystem Processes and Dynamics undergraduate student Ciara Schnyder recently earned a summer internship at The Diversity Project. The Project is a 10-week research intensive educational program whose aim is to expand participation of underrepresented minority students in marine and evolutionary biology.
Schnyder is a junior environmental science major at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and former intern in the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program at UMES, in 2015. She is excited to learn about the coral reefs of the Indo-Pacific Ocean and for the chance to study molecular genetics as part of the internship. “Because I am from California, I feel that this internship will introduce me to graduate programs in southern California that I can apply to this summer and in the Fall semester of my senior year,” Schnyder said. During her undergraduate studies at UMES she was able to learn new laboratory techniques that grabbed her attention and made her more interested to pursue marine biodiversity.
“Since I have been a part of LMRCSC, many opportunities have been brought to my attention that have become very beneficial in my environmental science/marine biology path,” Schnyder said. She also mentioned that she learned how to gather and analyze scientific data using different statistical tests.
