Jasmine Smalls

NOAA-EPP LMRCSC Doctoral Fellow 
Ph.D., Food Microbiology, Graduated December 2023
University of Maryland Eastern Shore

Jasmine Smalls earned her B.S. in Marine Science from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in 2014. She earned her M.S. in Life Sciences from Delaware State University in 2019. Jasmine returned to UMES to pursue her Ph.D. in the Environmental/Food Microbiology Safety Laboratory under the supervision of Dr. Salina Parveen. She successfully defended her thesis, titled, “Abundance, Antibiotic Resistance, Genetic Diversity of Vibrio spp. and Diversity of Microbial Communities in Blue Crabs and Seawater from the Maryland Coastal Bays.” Pathogenic Vibrios are a threat to humans who consume raw or improperly cooked seafood (e.g., oysters and crabs). Jasmine aspires to become an interdisciplinary environmental/seafood safety scientist and plans to work at seafood safety labs for a federal agency.

Research Theme: Healthy Habitats

NOAA LMRCSC Fellows attain the NOAA Core Competencies detailed in this rubric.

NERTO Project Title: Prevalence of Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus in Blue Crabs (Callinectes sapidus) and Seawater Harvested from the Maryland Coastal Bays.

NOAA Mentor: Dr. John Jacobs

Academic Advisor: Dr. Salina Parveen

Publications/Presentations

  1. Smalls, J., 2019. Prevalence of Vibrio parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus of Blue Crabs and Seawater from the Maryland Coastal Bays. NSF CREST Update Meeting, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, Maryland October 21, 2019.
  2. Smalls, J., amd Parveen, S. 2021. Vibiro parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus profiles and Microbial Community Assessments of Blue Crabs (Callinectes sapidus) and Seawater Harvested from the Maryland Coastal Bays. IAFP annual meeting, July 31 – August 3, 2022. Pittsburgh, PA. Poster Presentation. Student Travel Award recipient.
  3. Smalls, J., and Parveen, S. 2021. Microbial Community Assessments of Blue Crabs (Callinectes sapidus) and Seawater Harvested from the Maryland Coastal Bays. ARD annual meeting, April 2-5, 2022. Atlanta, GA. Poster presentation. Second place award recipient.

NOAA Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center
University of Maryland Eastern Shore (Lead Institution)
(410) 651-7870
Award numbers: FY 2021 Award #NA21SEC4810005
Funding Agency: NOAA Educational Partnership Program with Minority-Serving Institutions (EPP/MSI)

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