The NSF Research Experience and Mentoring (REM) program supports hands-on research and ongoing mentorship in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) for high school students, STEM teachers, undergraduate STEM students, faculty, and veterans.
REM activities are designed to enhance the academic and career trajectories of participants who may not otherwise become engaged in a research project, and to advance research supported by the NSF Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) program and Engineering Research Centers (ERC). REM activities may also enable the building of long-term collaborative partnerships among EFRI- and ERC-supported researchers, community colleges, local four-year colleges, and local school districts.
REM participants engage in authentic research projects during the summer and professional development activities through the academic year, working side by side with their REM mentors.
Dr. Michael Betenbaugh is the lead PI of the EFRI grant and supervises the overall program coordinate interactions between the UMBC and JHU sites. He will meet with Mr. Reeser daily to discuss project progress and next steps for the JHU high school REM participants. He meets weekly with Dr. Miller and Mr. Reeser as part of a check-in to monitor progress towards program goals and set plans for the following week’s objectives. Dr. Betenbaugh also meets daily with the REM participants to discuss research progress and next steps and to address research challenges to overcome. Dr. Betenbaugh meets weekly with REM mentors to help them learn and grow as supervisors of their REM high school participant protégés. Setting up an organized management and communication infrastructure involving REM high school participants advised by REM undergraduate mentors who are supervised by Mr. Reeser, an experienced high school science teacher (see below), provides the ideal environment for providing an enriching experience in both STEM education and learning how to work together as a team.
Professor Betenbaugh is the founder and site-director of the Advanced Mammalian Biomanufacturing Innovation Center (AMBIC), an NSF sponsored I/UCRC consortium, and a Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. His research focuses on systems biology, metabolic engineering, and biomanufacturing for eukaryotic systems, with a focus on algae, cocultures, and mammalian cells. The goal of his group is to understand expression systems at the molecular level using ‘omics profiling and apply this information to improve the production capabilities of these systems, with special focus on improving product yields and product quality. His group combines experimental measurements, analytical profiling, and systems models in order to direct subsequent metabolic and biochemical engineering efforts to improve capabilities of these production cell lines, including production of biofuels and chemicals in microalgae and monoclonal antibodies in mammalian cells. He has managed a number of multi-institutional and multi-PI projects from NSF, NIH, and DOE and previously served as Chairman for his Department. He has trained more than 50 PhD students as well as 30 MS students, and has worked with hundreds of undergraduates and high school students over his career. Many of these were funded through NSF REU supplements. Dr. Betenbaugh is active in a number of organizations including AIChE, ACS, and Engineering Conferences International and has received several awards both for his research work and community activities. He also serves as an Associate Editor of the journal, Biotechnology and Bioengineering.
Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, UMBC, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250
Professor Stephen Miller manages day to day operations at UMBC and supervises the development of mentor training modules for the REM participants at both institutions. Dr Miller is an Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at UMBC, a research and education-focused university that is nationally recognized for its diverse student body and for excellence in undergraduate education. For twenty years his lab has been using green algae as research models both for investigating basic fundamental mechanisms of biology and as platforms for biotechnology applications. The primary biotechnology focus of his lab is to enhance algal growth and lipid production, using genetic engineering methods to modify pathways that regulate growth and lipid biosynthesis. He has trained and mentored 10 PhD students, two MS students, and 75 undergraduates, including 33 underrepresented minorities and 57 women. He has previously mentored 20 students in the REM program, including 15 minority students and 11 women.
Associate Professor, Department of Natural & Physical Sciences, Baltimore City Community College, 801 W. Baltimore Street, Baltimore Maryland 21201
Professor Madabushi helps Dr. Miller recruit RPs from BCCC, trains these RPs in basic molecular biology techniques, and helps Dr. Miller and his students supervise the RPs’ research projects. Dr. Madabushi was trained in structural biology, biochemistry, and molecular biology and her research at BCCC continues in these areas, with a focus on stem-cell biology. She currently teaches Molecular Genetics and other courses at BCCC in the Biotechnology Program, where she is Director of Certificate Programs, and where has been full-time, tenure-track/tenured faculty since 2012.
Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, 1400 West Cold Spring Ln., Baltimore, Maryland 21209;
Mr. Reeser is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the REM program at Johns Hopkins University and assists Dr. Miller on the development and implementation of mentor training programs for the REM participants. He also serves as a research participant. He makes sure that students and their undergraduate mentors are progressing daily on their research projects and meets, along with the REM participants, each day with Dr. Betenbaugh to discuss progress and objectives for the following day.
Mr. Reeser has been a teacher at the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute (Poly), named in November 2019 as the top STEM high school in the state of Maryland, for 11 years and teaching for a total of 24 years. His current teaching assignments at Poly are AP Environmental Science, Marine Biology and Honors Biology. While at the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute he has developed an aquaponics system, raising fish and plants together sustainably, which has become a model of project-based learning schools for other schools throughout the country. During the summer, he serves as Senior Research Coordinator for high school students from underserved populations elected to complete a research internship in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department lab of Dr. Michael Betenbaugh at Johns Hopkins University. In his day to day duties as the Research Coordinator, he will provide guidance in research protocols, scientific poster creation, writing research papers, and preparing research presentations.
