By Allie Rossman
This summer James Quick and Megan Gibson participated in the eight-week George Washington Carver Internship program. They were among 29 students from throughout the United States selected to attend. The program is sponsored by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and introduces both college and high school students to various areas of research at Iowa State.
James Quick had the opportunity to experience several firsts.
Quick, a junior at North Carolina A&T State University, said he never thought his first flight in an airplane would be to Iowa. And he never thought he’d be spend part of his summer camping along the Mississippi River studying turtles.
“It was a huge culture shock camping out in the middle of nowhere and working 12 hour days,” Quick said.
Megan Gibson from Fort Dodge, Iowa was searching for a biology summer research program when she found the internship program at Iowa State.
Gibson, a junior at Grinnell College in biology, plans to go to medical school to become a pediatrician.
Gibson studied genome modification on sorghum with Bing Yang, associate professor of genetic development and cell
biology. The goal of the research is to create a higher yielding sorghum that is less susceptible to disease. She was impressed with the research and Iowa State.
"The beautiful campus and open atmosphere are a few of my favorite things about Iowa State,” Gibson said.
The summer program includes social activities and other informative outings. Gibson said her favorite trip was taking a tour of the DuPont Pioneer headquarters in Johnston, Iowa.