ENGAGING STUDENTS FROM UNDERGRADUATE-CENTRIC INSTITUTIONS IN RESEARCH, INFORMATICS, AND EXPERIENTIAL OPPORTUNITIES IN FOOD MICROBIOLOGY

This project builds on our successful 8-week summer research program 'bugs in my food' funded through the usda-reeu since 2017. the objective of the current reeu is to engage undergraduate students through research, informatics, and experiential learning in food microbiology. our premise is that students from undergraduate-centric institutions have few chances to engage in hands-on research and are often unaware of research career opportunities in the agricultural sciences. to address this, we built strong relationships with faculty at undergraduate-centric institutions across pennsylvania, and the uprag. the summer begins with a 5-day microbiology boot camp with an off-site kick-off retreat on day 6. during the summer, students are guided through independent food microbiology research projects with a unique bioinformatics component in collaboration with one or more pds. weekly seminars run by the pds train students in experimental design, critical reading of literature, communication, graduate school, and other career opportunities in the agricultural sciences. students develop computational skills through working with genomics and microbiome data, learning how to draw conclusions from large-scale sequence data. visits to government agencies including fda laboratories inform students about such career opportunities. the summer culminates with an afternoon symposium, providing students the opportunity to present their findings, which they also do at the abasm meeting held each fall. pre- and post-program surveys, and formative and summative assessments measure gains in knowledge about scientific method, awareness of opportunities in graduate school and professional careers, and personal growth.