PHOTO: PROVIDED BY LSAMP
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global citizens whose research will make significant
impacts on the world.
“In this age of globalization, it is imperative that
underrepresented minority students be given the
opportunity to do international research,” says Martha
Mondoa-Tchounwou, LSAMP-NICE co-principal
investigator and director of the Scholars Academy and
Student Support Services at Jackson State University in
Mississippi. “LSAMP-NICE provides a bridge between
international research institutions and minority-serving
institutions to make it easier for students to study abroad,
receive meaningful international experiences, and gain
vital knowledge and cultural skills that will make them
global citizens.”
Emmanuel Gras, a researcher and organic chemist at
CNRS (French National Center for Scientific Research)
and coordinator for the U.S/France/Belgium International
Research Experiences for Undergraduates (iREU) Site in
Translational Chemistry, says that every scientist learns
from meeting people from other countries and cultures
and that these exchanges are beneficial for both the
students and their host laboratories. “We get students
with different training and backgrounds who strengthen
their abilities in a different environment, and the U.S.
students are always so enthusiastic that they bring an
exquisite energy to our research teams.”Making research careers a reality
Like Fox, Anthony Keyes had the opportunity to do a
3-month summer research internship in France at the
University of Bordeaux and then returned to complete a
Master’s degree within the same French laboratory. Keyes
was a prime candidate because he had already done
research as an undergraduate at Jackson State University
in organic nanoparticles. LSAMP-NICE matched Keyes to
an organic polymer chemistry group in Bordeaux that was
developing iron oxide nanoparticles for targeted delivery
of anticancer drugs.
“From a research perspective, that summer was the
first time I felt like a scientist,” says Keyes, now in a Ph.D.
program at the University of Houston, Texas. “I had a clear
goal on where the project was headed and I was given
a large amount of independence, and we published the
work in a peer-reviewed journal.”
After finishing her first summer of research as an
environmental science student at United Tribes Technical
College in Bismarck, North Dakota, Kimberlee Blevins
had the chance to do 2 weeks of research in Costa Rica
through the All Nations LSAMP. Wrapping up collectingand analyzing data on how bee body size was related
to foraging distances, she was primed to do more
research. “I was hooked on the research bug, and doing
international research was the next challenge I wanted to
take on,” says Blevins.
Blevins joined a project to analyze camera-trap photos
of an invasive ginger plant to see which birds and
mammals were pollinating the plants. The trip to Costa
Rica reinforced her desire to help solve global problems
through her tribal ties to the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara
Nation reservation lands. She is pursuing a Master’s
degree in environmental science at Sitting Bull College
in Fort Yates, North Dakota, to investigate the health and
environmental impacts of oil and gas extraction.
Through another LSAMP-NICE–facilitated trip in
January, Casandra Salinas competed in the Ninth Annual
Undergraduate Poster Competition at King Abdullah
University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Thuwal,
Saudi Arabia. The week spent presenting her research,
networking with other student researchers from around
the world, and learning about KAUST and Saudi Arabia,
convinced Salinas that she should apply to microbiology
Ph.D. programs abroad as well as in the United States for
the next phase of her research career.
“I love traveling and I was pretty stoked about the
chance to present my research,” says Salinas.“The experience sold
me on applying to
graduate school,
because they
treated me like
a graduate
student there.”
— Maggie Fox