Week 1: Kicking Off the 2026 IMET Summer Internship

The 2026 IMET Summer Internship cohort has officially arrived. A new class of undergraduate researchers stepped into the Inner Harbor ready to learn, ask questions, and get their hands on real science.

The interns were welcomed with an introduction by IMET Dr. Jenn Burns, Executive director at IMET. followed with remarks that set the tone for the summer: the work ahead matters, and the world needs their ideas, their questions, and their courage to seek solutions.

After breakfast and introductions, interns jumped into onboarding: paperwork, program expectations, and receiving their security and digital badges. They also took professional headshots to mark the beginning of their scientific journey.

From there, they toured the building, met their mentors, went on our famous Aquaculture Research Lab (ARC) tour and stepped into the labs where their summer research will take shape.

A Program With Purpose

The IMET Undergraduate Summer Internship Program has a legacy of equipping undergraduates with a focus on students from underrepresented or underserved backgrounds. For over 20 years, IMET has provided undergraduates with the tools, mentorship, and research experience needed to thrive in science. Interns are matched with a Principal Investigator (PI) to work on a dedicated project in one of IMET’s three key focus areas:

• Sustainable Seafood Production
• Environment, Animal, and Human Health
• Energy, Water, and the Environment

Throughout the summer, interns will go beyond benchwork. Weekly seminars, field experiences, and science communication workshops round out their training, helping them grow not only as researchers but as well-rounded science professionals.

Interns wrapped up the week with an ARC tour, a full building walkthrough, and their first afternoons in their assigned labs. By Friday, the cohort gathered in the G-020 Boardroom for a lunch and week review, a chance to decompress, share first impressions, and get a preview of what is ahead.

Meet the 2026 Interns

Week 2: Science Speaks! Finding Poetry in Research

The novelty of Week 1 has worn off, and that is a good thing! By the second week, the 2026 IMET Summer Internship cohort had begun to settle into the real rhythm of research: showing up, asking questions, and learning by doing. Orientation was behind them. The work was ahead.

In the Lab

Monday through Wednesday, interns were in their labs learning new techniques, getting comfortable with equipment, and building the kind of trust with their mentors that only comes from showing up and trying. By Thursday, each intern had a clearer sense of the project they would carry through the summer.

The mentors have made all the difference in those early days. As intern Ysabella Marin put it:

My mentors have been nothing but nice. They take the time to explain things to me when I don’t know or am unsure about it. I really appreciate them so far with the things I have been learning these two weeks. I look forward to seeing what comes next and learning more techniques from them.”

Workshop Spotlight: The Poetry in Science

On Thursday, the interns stepped away from the bench for something unexpected. Dr. Kathleen Gillespie, a IMET PhD alumna led a writing workshop exploring the intersection of science and poetry. Dr. Gillespie has built her career in science while writing and publishing poetry throughout it, and she shared how that creative practice has helped her connect with people outside her field.

Interns tried two exercises. In the first, they worked with two lists of words: science terms like theory, discovery, beaker, and test tube, alongside poetry terms like art, emotional, dramatic, and symbolism — and wove them into any narrative they chose, with no requirements, just their own thoughts. In the second exercise, interns took the abstract of a scientific paper and created a “subtractive poem,” removing words until a poem emerged from the language already there. The science, it turns out, had poetry in it all along.

Here what some of the interns thought of the workshop:

Week 3: Telling the Story of Science

By Week 3, the IMET Summer Interns had settled into their research projects and were spending most of their days immersed in the lab, collecting data, learning new techniques, and making steady progress alongside their mentors. That made this week especially exciting, as interns had the opportunity to step away from the bench and participate in the two-day Integration and Application Network (IAN) Communication Workshop. The change of pace gave everyone a chance to collaborate with one another, think creatively, and develop a new set of skills that are just as important as conducting scientific research.

The IAN Communication Workshop was a highlight of the internship experience, introducing interns to the art of science communication. Throughout the two-day workshop, participants learned how to identify their audience, simplify complex scientific concepts without sacrificing accuracy, and use storytelling techniques to make their messages more engaging and memorable. Through interactive discussions, hands-on activities, and collaborative exercises, interns practiced transforming technical information into clear, compelling narratives while receiving feedback from instructors and peers.

On the first day, interns explored the foundations of effective science communication and learned why thoughtful messaging is essential for connecting with the public, policymakers, and fellow scientists. They participated in engaging exercises that challenged them to organize their ideas, focus on key messages, and think critically about how different audiences interpret scientific information.

The second day built on those skills by giving interns additional opportunities to practice and refine their communication techniques. As they worked through presentations and interactive activities, their confidence continued to grow, and the energy in the room reflected how much they enjoyed applying what they had learned. By the end of the workshop, interns walked away with practical tools they can use throughout their academic and professional careers, along with a deeper appreciation for the important role communication plays in advancing science.

Stay tuned for Week 4, when the IMET Summer Interns will trade the lab for the field on their first field trip of the summer—an exciting opportunity to explore science beyond the bench and experience firsthand how research connects to the environment.

Week 4: Beyond the Beaker – Research and Career Insights 

Week 4 was short due to the Fourth of July Holiday, but still filled with plenty of learning and activities! The interns are getting settled and comfortable in their labs and working on their projects, which are now in full swing.

Intern Check-Ins:

Check-ins are a time for interns and the Program Coordinator to touch base about each intern’s individual experience with the program. Discussing how each intern’s research project is progressing, how they are working with their mentor, whether they are getting value from the professional development activities, and whether they are getting what they need from the internship experience ensures that each intern’s individual goals are being met. Intern Sofia Morais, mentored by Dr. Yi-Ying Lee, shared:

I’ve begun taking growth measurements of my algae cultures, and it’s exciting to obtain data on something that will benefit the future work of the Li Lab. I have never taken cell density measurements manually with a microscope, so this work has been helpful to gain experience with a new technique.”

Career Talk: Simon Brown, MD, DNR

On Wednesday, Simon Brown and Sean Briggs from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) came to IMET as seminar speakers and presented their research on Striped Bass. The pair reviewed the results from their long-running striped bass population surveys and elaborated on how their surveys are being used to gain insight into the population. The seminar emphasized the importance of data sharing in the scientific world. For example, scientists can use data from State agencies such as the DNR to help them understand results from other studies. Intern Ysabella Marin, working in Dr. Hill’s lab, thought “the seminar was interesting as he spoke about his survey and how he measures the fish that he catches. I like how they said that they capture more than one type of fish, even though bass are their primary target. I also like the scale of age that they found, and, interestingly, males are “younger” in age than females during the mating season. It made me think that this can be done to any other type of fish or possibly other marine life.”

Graduate Student Anne Baldino DNA Workshop

On Thursday, Graduate students Anne Baldino and Sam Christenson, along with faculty member Dr. Tsetso Bachvaroff, provided our summer interns with a day-long workshop focused on how DNA can be used to better understand biodiversity in aquatic systems. Students spent the morning in Towson SciTech’s lab learning about water samples taken from the Inner Harbor and using a variety of techniques to identify the microscopic organisms living in it. How do scientists identify such microscopic organisms? – DNA! 

To start, Anne, Sam, and Dr. Bachvaroff demonstrated how the researchers could use microscopes and pictorial keys to visually identify species. The interns found this to be a fun game, but very challenging. In the afternoon, the interns learned how to identify species based on their DNA. In this approach, a scientific program called  BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool) is used to compare DNA sequences obtained from the water sample to DNA sequences in the BLAST database. Matches confirm the identification of organisms in the water sample. BLAST is a commonly used scientific tool, and now our interns know what it is and how to use it – something that will be helpful if working with DNA in the future. 

Intern Spotlight: Asia & Ysabella 

Week 5: Connecting the Dots – From Fieldwork in Oxford to Grad School Prep 

Week 5 is a busy week with a field trip and a graduate student panel: the all-day field trip to the Cooperative Oxford Laboratory on Wednesday and a graduate student panel on Friday. Between these activities, they are working hard on their projects and learning from their mentors.

Field Trip: Cooperative Oxford Laboratory

The van leaves at 8:00 am on Wednesday with very sleepy interns, but by 10:00 am, they are full of energy as they pull into the driveway at the Cooperative Oxford Laboratory. Greeted by Bart, John, and Krysta, the group was introduced to the many things that happen at the Laboratory with NOAA, MD DNR, and the Coast Guard.

 The students traveled to the dock to get an up-close look at the monitoring system the lab has set up and the intricate pieces that capture different environmental parameters. The excitement got palpable when they had the opportunity to use hand tongs to gather oysters from the water as watermen do. They were very proud of their collection!

Next, they went to see a very cool fish – Atlantic Sturgeon! This “living fossil” with scutes instead of scales is endangered, and the monitoring program brought up a lot of questions from the interns about how the equipment used for monitoring works. 

After having fun with the Sturgeon, they headed to the pathology, histology, and virology labs with Ava, Rose, and former IMET student Ammar, who works for MD DNR. The afternoon was all about getting to know the town of Oxford and community resilience. Oxford, being on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, is facing constant issues with flooding and is actively taking measures to better prepare for this issue. To better understand and learn about community resilience, the students went on a bingo scavenger hunt that was very competitive and fun. Throughout the field trip, students were able to connect what they were doing for their research projects with research happening in Oxford. 

Take a look at what the interns had to say about the field trip:

Graduate Student Panel

Friday lunch included getting questions about graduate school answered by graduate students. Many of our interns are considering or planning to attend graduate school after graduation, so led by MD Sea Grant and in collaboration with other UMCES Labs, our students had the opportunity to have their questions answered. There isn’t a guide to graduate school, or at least that’s what we thought. At the end of the panel, a guide created by a graduate student was shared with the interns to provide some basic information and reminders as they consider grad school as the next step. Conversation continued after the panel ended among our students, expanding to include options for international graduate education and what that looks like. Here’s what Corey Bradley, an intern working in the Tracy Lab, had to say about the graduate student panel.

“The graduate student panel was very informative, and I took away many valuable insights that will help me when I apply to graduate school. Hearing about the panelists’ different academic journeys and research experiences made the idea of graduate school feel less intimidating. Overall, Week 5 was very engaging and provided valuable insight into both the current applications of scientific research and the future opportunities available in the field.”

Intern Spotlight: Mariangeli & Cora