GOMA STUDENT JOSHUA STANLEY
... you’ll never know until you try
the finest scientists in the area of genomics,” HudsonAlpha Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Darrell Ezell, PhD, said. Joshua started with HudsonAlpha in February of 2021, interning in Dr. Kankshitha Swaminathan ’s lab two days a week, in between classes and band practice. He is a section leader for the mellophones for the Marching Maroon and White at Alabama A&M University. In fact, it was an interaction with Dr. Swaminathan and a push from some friends during his freshman year of college that led him to her lab on the fourth floor of HudsonAlpha. “My genetics teacher invited Dr. Swaminathan to talk about the GOMA program. As soon as we heard about it, my friends who were in the same class texted me: ‘Josh, this is your chance! Plant Genomics is what you wanted to do.’ So I jumped on the opportunity.”
T here is the age-old idiom, “you nev- er know until you try.” Well, Joshua Stanley didn’t know he wanted to study plants, instead focusing his sights on the medical field. “I chose to be a biology major and wanted to go on the physical therapy track.” Plant science wasn’t even on his radar until an enthusiastic botany professor changed his career outlook. “I thought, ‘why is she so interested in plants? What is it about plants?’ So I started to research and watch YouTube ® videos and began to really like it. I took a genetics course and enjoyed that too, so I mixed the two.” The Alabama A&M University senior biology major is part of HudsonAlpha’s HBCU GOMA Co-op Program, a three-way partnership between the Alabama Governor’s Office of Minority Affairs (GOMA), HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, and Alabama’s 14 historically Black col- leges and universities. “The program provides a year-long opportunity for students to gain mentorship under some of
Landing firmly on his feet in Dr. Swaminathan’s lab, Joshua spends his days in the lab doing various things, from submitting grant proposals to helping senior scien- tists and lab associates with DNA and RNA extraction. He says this level of exposure and hands-on learning wouldn’t have been possible without the Institute. “Labs are now being taught online. I have not had real lab experience since chemistry four years ago. This research experience is especially important for me to learn if I want to do this long term as a career.”
HUDSONALPHA INSTITUTE FOR BIOTECHNOLOGY
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