A select group of area high school students are participants in the inaugural UMES Extension 4-H STEM Research Internship Program from October 2025-August 2026. The 10 students from Somerset, Wicomico, Worcester and Sussex counties rose to the top of 60 applicants, having been vetted through a competitive selection process.
“The selection committee and I agreed that the quality of the applicant pool was extremely high, and all would have done well in the program. Narrowing the field to the number of applicants we could fund through the National 4-H Council grant was difficult,” said Ariel Clay, a 4-H youth development STEM specialist with UMES Extension.
The 10 finalists, Clay said, come into the program with a range of research interests, including genomics, horticulture, physics and biomedical sciences. They will meet at UMES on a weekly basis after school to tour research labs, meet faculty and learn about their research focus. They and a partner will be paired with a faculty mentor to develop their projects over the course of the academic year.
“We designed this program to be as authentic as possible so the students will get a real taste of what it is like conducting research at a university,” Clay said.
The interns will not only get meaningful hands-on research experiences early in their academic careers, they will also conduct their own projects from start to finish, she said.
Over the summer, the paid interns ($3,000) will implement their projects under the supervision of their mentors and UMES Extension 4-H educators and take part in a service-learning project.
“Engaging with these talented students enriches our faculty and introduces new perspectives into our research labs. Their involvement supports the advancement of ongoing projects, while helping us cultivate a strong pipeline of future scientists. The students, in turn, will work directly with faculty mentors to understand the rigor and excitement of scientific inquiry,” said Purushothaman Natarajan, an assistant professor in UMES’ Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences and co-principal investigator on the grant.
The internship is funded through a two-year grant with the second cohort commencing Fall 2026.
Participants are:
Bhoomika Chimnani, a senior at Snow Hill High School
Bornil Das, a junior at Delmar High School
Sara Dhekney, a sophomore at Parkside High School
Tasabih Elniema, a senior at Washington High School
Gianluca Figueroa Rivera, a senior at Wicomico High School
Peter Jin, a junior at James M. Bennett High School
Jash Patel, a junior at Delmar High School
Rudra Patel, a junior at Delmar High School
Brooks Schaeffer, a junior at Stephen Decatur High School
Madeline Tomlinson, a senior at Parkside High School
Gail Stephens, agricultural communications and media associate, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, UMES Extension, gcstephens@umes.edu., 410-621-3850.
Photos by Todd Dudek, agricultural communications, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, UMES Extension, tdudek@umes.edu.
