By: Dr. Rosemary Jagus, LMRCSC Project Director, UMCES-IMET

On 3 June 2013, sixteen undergraduate students joined the Twelfth Annual Living Marine Summer Program supported by the Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center (LMRCSC) at IMET. The LMRCSC is a NOAA-EPP funded partnership, with the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) as the lead institution. It was established to prepare a diverse student body for careers in research, management and public policy that support the sustainable harvest and conservation of our nation's living marine resources. The program consists of a 9-week research project guided by an UMCES-LMRCSC associated faculty mentor, along with orientation to working in a lab, weekly seminars on the use of molecular techniques in fisheries and environmental research, and a one-day workshop on communicating science. Interns will also have the opportunity to volunteer in outreach activities with Towson's SciTech program. This year’s interns, with an average GPA of 3.4, were recruited from the LMRCSC partner institutions: UMES, Hampton University and the Rosensteil School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Miami. Other students came from Cheyney University, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Rider University, Stevenson University, Tufts University, University of Maryland Baltimore County, University of Baltimore, and Universidad Metropolitana Puerto Rica. The students will present their research results on Friday 2 August. This event will be open to visitors.