Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP) High School and Undergraduate Internships

Why Participate?
- Connect with professional and near-peer mentors
- Earn a stipend
- Gain a competitive edge on your resume
- Learn about the culture of STEM and lab research
- Participate in webinars on topics relevant to exactly where you are in your STEM journey
- Work on cutting-edge research in a state-of-the-art facility
- Many locations across the country!
Learn and perform research related to a project studying the stability and interactions of microbial communities that is led by Dr. Joshua Chan at the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Dr. Pankaj Trivedi at the Department of Agricultural Biology at Colorado State University. Below are the descriptions for some example projects:
Intern project 1: Modeling the impacts of chemical conditions and community composition on xylan degradation.
Apply modeling tools to soil microbial metabolic models to explore and predict how the environment’s chemical condition and/or the composition of the microbial community influence the microbial metabolic interactions and the resultant xylan degradation performance. Interesting predictions can benefit the construction of synthetic communities for the ARO project and will be tested experimentally by other team members of the ARO project. Learn how computational modeling can aid biotechnology research and predict microbial metabolism based on science and engineering principles.
Learn these knowledge/skills: basics in microbial metabolism, microbial interactions and ecology, metabolic modeling, artificial intelligence (reinforcement learning), and Python programming.
Intern project 2: Modeling the effects of regulatory circuits for xylanase expression on xylan degradation.
Apply the same modeling tools as in Intern project 1 but with a different goal of modeling the impact of different regulatory circuits for controlling xylanase expression, including for example constitutive expression, xylose-negative feedback inhibition, quorum sensing activation. This helps evaluate potential engineering strategies to be used for the ARO project. Interesting predictions will be tested experimentally by other team members of the ARO project. Learn how computational modeling can guide engineering efforts.
Learn these knowledge/skills: basics in microbial metabolism, synthetic biology circuits in regulation of gene expression, metabolic modeling, artificial intelligence (reinforcement learning), and Python programming.
Intern project 3: Modulating xylanase expression in Bacillus subtilis or Escherichia coli.
Monitor and modulate the expression of xylanase in B. subtilis or E. coli using synthetic biology tools. Possible methods of modulation include constructing a library of differential constitutive expression levels using synthetic promoters and ribosomal binding sites, deregulation of catabolite repression, or a synthetic circuit based on xylose feedback or quorum sensing. The engineered B. subtilis strain will be tested in synthetic communities by other team members of the ARO project. Get introduced to the exciting field of synthetic biology.
Learn these knowledge/skills: basics in microbiology and molecular biology, synthetic biology approaches for modulating gene expression.
Intern project 4: Characterizing xylan-degrading soil microbial communities
Determine microbial functions and interactions by co-culturing soil microorganisms under selected xylan-degrading conditions. Characterize the growth, metabolite conversion, xylanase activity, and composition of a synthetic community of interest and its sub-communities. The data generated will be used for modeling the communities and designing engineering strategies by other members of the ARO project.
Learn about the complexity of microbial communities and interactions, and the opportunities in engineering them.
Stipend
- Paid full-time internship for approximately two months (300 hours) during Summer 2025, at a rate approximately equivalent to $20/hour
Eligibility (High School)
- Must be a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident
- Open to high school students who received a high school degree within 60 months and have not started college
- Other eligibility requirements determined by locations. Some locations designed for participants from underserved groups.
- Internships take place on site, unless otherwise noted
- Commuter program: Housing, meals and transportation not provided
- No commitment to join the military.
Eligibility (Undergrad)
- Must be a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident.
- Open to undergraduate students or those who revived an undergraduate degree within 60 months and have not started graduate school.
- Participants must be in a STEM major, preferably with a background in life sciences/agricultural sciences/bioengineering or other related subjects.
- Internships take place on site, unless otherwise noted
- Commuter program: Housing, meals and transportation not provided
- No commitment to join the military.
Applicants will submit a brief essay highlighting their interest in science and engineering research, and education and career plan.
Questions?
Email (AEOP Internships and Fellowships are administrated
by the Rochester Institute of Technology.)
Leave a Reply