Silver Spring, Maryland - Student interns enrolled in the Office of Naval Research’s Naval Research Enterprise Internship Program (NREIP) and Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program (SEAP), who spent the summer at Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC) graduated from the 10 week program August 10.
Before receiving their certificates of completion they had the opportunity to present their research to family, friends, mentors and staff during a poster presentation.
“Many students in high school or college don’t have an idea of what career they may want to pursue,” Lt. William Graham, PhD, MSC, USN, Infectious Diseases Directorate (IDD), Viral and Rickettsial Diseases Department (VRDD) said. “By completing this internship, they were acquainted with available STEM career opportunities. Most importantly, perhaps a future career at NMRC.”
The interns worked on a variety of research projects with their respective mentors in a wide assortment of specialties, including operational and undersea medicine, wound infections, viral and rickettsial diseases, and biological defense research.
While addressing the interns, Capt. Adam Armstrong, NMRC’s commander, said, “I vicariously live through you all. Never stop working on yourself, be your own advocate, continue to work with and engage your mentors and your colleges that you have met this summer.”
According to college student Krystal Flores-Félix, who worked in the Undersea Medicine Department, her mentor’s Lt. Claire Modica, Ph.D. and Lt. John Casachahua, Ph.D., both aerospace experimental psychologists, made a difference.
“I greatly benefitted learning multiple new lab techniques and acquired knowledge in matters like statistics and animal behavior.”
Each year, NMRC welcomes high school, undergraduate, and graduate students from across the country as part of the Department of Defense Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) initiative. The NREIP and SEAP programs provide an opportunity for selected students to participate in research projects with a mentor at NMRC or other Department of the Navy (DoN) laboratories during the summer.
The SEAP and NREIP programs aim to encourage students to pursue careers in science and engineering, and to enhance their educational experience via mentoring by laboratory personnel and research project participation. Mentors provide interns with knowledge and practical experience, but also benefit personally and professionally themselves as a result of the program.
To be eligible for NREIP, applicants must be U.S. citizens currently enrolled at a four-year U.S. college or university accredited by the U.S. Department of Education and must have completed 31 or more college credits. To be eligible for SEAP, applicants must be U.S. citizens older than 16, or within two weeks of turning 16, and must have completed the ninth grade prior to the program start date.
Interested students can apply for NREIP at http://nreip.asee.org and SEAP at http://seap.asee.org/apply
About Naval Medical Research Center
NMRC's eight laboratories are engaged in a broad spectrum of activity from basic science in the laboratory to field studies at sites in austere and remote areas of the world to operational environments. In support of the Navy, Marine Corps, and joint U.S. warfighters, researchers study infectious diseases, biological warfare detection and defense, combat casualty care, environmental health concerns, aerospace and undersea medicine, medical modeling, simulation and operational mission support, and epidemiology and behavioral sciences.