OREM, Utah — Four Utah Valley University students have received Station1 fellowships that will allow them to participate in a 10-week research program starting on June 7, 2021, in Lawrence, Massachusetts, that integrates science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) with the humanities, arts, and social sciences to find sustainable solutions to societal problems.

Porter Bischoff, from Provo, Utah; Thomas Carmona, from Reno, Nevada; Kilee Davis, from Blackfoot, Idaho; and Victoria (Tori) Hooper, from Potomac Falls, Virgina, will represent UVU in the 2021 Station1 cohort. The fellows, including those from UVU, were chosen after a lengthy admissions process and selected from hundreds of applicants across the U.S. and internationally.

The fellowships will connect the students with leading science and technology companies and/or research laboratories and pair them with top scientists and engineers in the Boston Innovation Zone, providing hands-on experience working with new, state-of-the-art technology. 

“Professors from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), my doctoral alma mater, started Station1,” said Astrid S. Tuminez, president of Utah Valley University. “Their goal is to make science more inclusive and impactful through education, leadership training, and apprenticeships for underrepresented populations. This aligns perfectly with UVU’s mission and values, and we are excited to be partnered with Station1.”

2021 UVU Station1 Fellows with program intern assignments:

• Porter Bischoff, a biotechnology major, will intern with GC Therapeutics Inc., which uses synthetic biology to program patient-derived stem cells into any cell type with best-in-class efficiency, speed, and scalability.
• Thomas Carmona, a double major in biochemistry and psychology, will intern with Takachar, an MIT-spinoff, environmental biotechnology company. Takachar transforms waste biomass into marketable products using a process called oxygen-lean torrefaction.
• Kilee Davis, a biotechnology major, will intern with the Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute, which was launched in 2013 to address critical challenges facing oceans, human health, and the environment through innovative scientific research and education.
• Victoria Hooper, an exercise science and biology major, will intern with Re-Nuble, an MWBE-certified agricultural technology company that uses organic cycling science technology that transforms unrecoverable vegetative food byproducts for soilless farming.

 

Several Station1 fellows are immigrants to the U.S., born in Cuba, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Mexico. All of the fellows are first-generation college students, low-income students, and/or students of color. Students were recruited from undergraduate STEM degree programs at community colleges, minority-serving institutions, and baccalaureate institutions. 

The fellowships provide a 34-hour immersive inclusive leadership and collaboration workshop, 270 hours of research project experience in internships, and 100 hours of instruction in shared curriculum delivered by a team of interdisciplinary instructors. All participants will be required to present their final research projects at the end of their fellowships.

For more information about the fellowship program, please visit the Station1 page.