STEM interns presented results at the annual end-of-summer symposium
by Jan Janes on Sep 6, 2019STEM summer interns presented the findings of their varied experiments in the Gavilan College Science Quad.
The STEM Symposium student interns, along with many of their mentors,
shared the morning presenting their findings. More than 20 students participated
in the program this year.
Marla Dresch, STEM Activities Director, with SJSU Professor David Brooks and
SJSU Associate Dean Elaine Collins, along with STEM student Mario Escudero.
He has participated in the STEM summer intern program the past three years,
building on his research each summer.
Lex Dias presented his findings to Dr. Melody Moh, SJSU professor of computer
science investigating cyber security issues. She has mentored Gavilan STEM
students in cloud computing, mobile networks, privacy in cloud and networks,
and machine learning applications in cloud and networks.
Dr. Kathleen Rose, Superintendent/President of Gavilan College, hears Jonathan
Lewis’ STEM research presentation on machine learning in high school classrooms.
He worked with Dr. Melody Moh at SJSU.
Kimberly Leyva researched the predation of Monarch butterflies at various
life stages by Lady Bug beetles.
Former STEM student Ymer Björnson, now a graduate student and mentor at SJSU,
with Dr. Jennifer Johnston and STEM summer intern Donald Hanneman. The STEM
internship program offers students a chance to explore different areas of research
and build lifelong professional networks.
Dr. Cleber Ouverney, (center) professor of chemistry at SJSU, with two STEM
interns, Lex Dias and Vianca Ramirez. During their summer internship, they
worked in different labs with graduate student mentors Ivan Cheng and Joshua Garcia.
Dias and Ramirez offered a glimpse into their summer studies.
Lex Dias
My lab work drew me to pathogens in the microbiome. At the beginning, there was an intensity between what I knew, what I needed to know, and the knowledge of the lab team around me. I learned a lot, that gap slowly closed, and by the end I was running the experiment basically by myself, with a solid understanding. I learned how to really think critically in a lab, very different from a classroom botany or chemistry lab. Dr. Ouverney and the graduate students who mentored us asked us: how are you going to make this work? When there were unexpected results, they would ask us: what do you think this means? I am an older student who dropped out, worked, and then came back to Gavilan. This internship taught me that this is what I want to do. I want to be in a lab and work with others. The experience helped put everything in perspective moving forward.
Vianca Ramirez
I was given a list of labs to work in. Because I want to go into the medical field, I chose the project working with human pathogens. Even before working in the lab, we had boot camp where we learned to use the equipment. Dr. Ouverney took time out of his day to explain things, a really memorable mentor. Through the summer, I repeated the procedure several times, and each time it took a week to get halfway through. This internship has very high value to my studies. A lab is a lot different than the classroom environment, and I didn’t know much about microbiology before starting. When you work with others, you learn techniques even before getting to medical school. Coming out of this experience, I am a lot more confident, I see how far we’ve come in two months, and I have lifelong colleagues as I continue my studies.