Nearly 10 years after interning at HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Mississippi-based educator Mariah Hawkins brings her students back to the Institute for a new field trip experience
By Lillie Mermoud
HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology has always held a special place in Mariah Hawkins’ heart. In the summer of 2016, Mariah joined HudsonAlpha’s campus through the Institute’s BioTrain internship program, a competitive program designed for college students looking to deepen their lab and professional skills.
Mariah spent the summer working under Faculty Investigator Jane Grimwood, PhD, in the Genome Sequencing Center at HudsonAlpha, where she helped study and assemble a reference genome for the cotton plant.
Once the internship was over, Mariah returned to Alcorn State University to finish her studies. At the time, she did not imagine she would one day become a teacher, but as life led her in a different direction, she became a science educator and never looked back. Today, she teaches at Hattiesburg High School in Mississippi.
“The invaluable skills I learned during my time at HudsonAlpha continue to shape my teaching today,” said Mariah. “I never anticipated a career in education, but I am grateful for the path I chose because I can pass on the knowledge I’ve gained to my students.”
Now, years later, Mariah is returning to HudsonAlpha not as an intern, but as a mentor. Recognizing the impact that hands-on learning had on her own career, she brought her students from Hattiesburg High School to the Institute earlier this year, ensuring they had the same opportunity to explore the world of biotechnology hands-on.
During their field trip to HudsonAlpha, Mariah’s students took part in a new lab experience called Shoots and Roots, where they explored how plants survive and thrive in different environments. They worked hands-on with real plant samples, comparing different plant tissues and discovering how plants use pigments to protect themselves and harness sunlight for growth. Later, students participated in a simulation to understand how plants turn genes on and off in different parts of their cells. Along with the hands-on experiments, Mariah and her students also went on a behind-the-scenes tour of HudsonAlpha, getting a glimpse into real-world scientific research.
“HudsonAlpha was our top choice for providing students with a real-world perspective on biotechnology outside of the college research setting, and my students’ experience at HudsonAlpha was truly transformative,” said Mariah. “Since visiting, many of them have been inspired to pursue careers in the field. They haven’t stopped talking about the field trip, and it’s clear that their time at HudsonAlpha left a lasting impact!”
Mariah’s students are part of the Mississippi Base Pair Consortium, a two-year biotechnology research program designed to introduce high schoolers to careers in STEM. A collaboration between the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of Mississippi Medical Center, the program provides students with mentorship, lab experience, and exposure to cutting-edge research. By bringing them to HudsonAlpha, Mariah ignited the same passion for science that she discovered during her own time as a HudsonAlpha intern.
