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CIAM STUDENT LANDS WORLD-

CLASS SUMMER INTERNSHIP

OPPORTUNITY

I know what you did this summer, this

might sound like a scary movie for most king

of us, but to Beatrice Garca Rodriguez,

it was more like a dream come true.

Indeed Beatrice, a graduate student in


and learning from the best in the
CIAM, landed a world-class internship in
business, is a great honor.
Berkeley, California. But not at any place

in Berkeley! Beatrice was interning at the More importantly, Berkeleys lab has

renowned Lawrence Berkeley National always been at the forefront of science

Lab (LBNL). For most of us in the field, and technology, responsible for creating

LBNL is home to thirteen (13) Nobel 5,600 jobs locally and 12,000 nationally.

prizes. In addition, seventy (70) Lab Considering, the overall economic

scientists are members of the National impact on the US economy, technologies

Academy of Sciences (NAS), one of the developed in the Berkeley lab, could

highest honors for a scientist in the benefit our struggling island of Puerto

United States. That history of excellence Rico in more ways than one (LBNL

in science and technology carry a lot of impact is estimated at $1.6 billion a year).

weight in the scientific community. Technologies developed at Berkeley Lab

Therefore, having one of UPRRPs and currently used in medicine,

students wor agriculture and industry are generating


revenues in billions of dollars and Specifically, Beatrices research at

thousands of jobs yearly. Berkeley aims at developing genomics

tools that will allow her to monitor

microbiome dynamics on and around the

island of Puerto Rico. By monitoring the

spatial and temporal dynamics of the

microbiome inhabiting these

environments, stakeholders will be

provided with a better understanding of

species taxonomic diversity and the

mechanisms underlying adaptations to

natural or man-made catastrophes.

Using next generation sequencing

technologies, Ms. Garca plans to

characterize the microbial diversity


Ms. Garcas work at Berkeley is focused
inhabiting distinct locales in Puerto Rico,
on an area which is seriously lacking
discover new genes and pathways, and
(though needed) on the island of Puerto
identify unique and rare species which by
Rico: Genomics Sciences and
themselves alone can be an indication of
Technology. As you may be aware,
environmental changes or perturbations.
recent developments in tools and

technology to explore and manipulate

genomes, is revolutionizing medical,

agricultural and environmental sciences.


Communities Group at the Joint

BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), Lauren Tom.

According to Ms. Tom Over the course

of 2 months, she learned how to

download and install bioinformatic tools

via the command line, troubleshoot

issues, and apply her new skill set to the

analysis of metagenomic data. She


Amidst major budget and personnel
successfully used MaxBin to bin
cuts, having Beatrice at Berkeley is a
genomes from assembled metagenomic
testimony of the quality of our academic
reads and EMIRGE to separate 16S
programs. We will continue seeking
reads from raw sequencing data.
opportunities for our students and
Beatrice gained hands on experience in
graduates, while ensuring they land
bioinformatics that will serve as a solid
excellent job opportunities upon
foundation as she pursues her graduate
graduation, stated Dr. Clifford J. Louime,
education.
mentor and advisor of Ms. Garca. While

at Berkeley, Ms. Garca was mentored by

world-renowned scientist, Dr. Steven

Singer, Director of Microbial

Communities and Deputy VP of

Deconstruction. She also worked

alongside one of the Principal Research

Associate from the Microbial


no doubt that she will have a bright future

in science or any other field she chooses

to pursue. Ms. Garca is expected back

to UPRRP campus at the beginning of

the new Fall semester 2017-2018. Lets

wish her all the best!

Upon return to UPRRP campus, Ms.

Garca plans to share her expertise

(lessons learned) with the student body

by hosting a college-wide seminar. In

addition, she will complete her Masters

thesis research entitled Spatial and

Temporal Dynamics of Puerto Ricos

Coastal Waters Microbiome Using Next

Generation Sequencing Technologies.

And as Dr. Jorge Ortiz, CIAM Director

once said about Ms. Garca She is very

smart, talented and hard-working. I have

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