Student lands internship at MSU’s Summer Plant Genomics Program

Tiffany Feebish, a Henry Ford II Honors Program student majoring in Biotechnology at HFC, credits her current internship at Wayne State University and this summer’s internship at Michigan State University (MSU) to HFC’s Biotechnology Program.

“I really enjoyed doing lab work in my Biotechnology classes. It taught me how to do research and not go into any work situation blindly. I received these internships because of my lab skills,” said Feebish, of Brownstown.

Feebish is currently interning for Dr. Edward Golenberg, a professor in the Wayne State Dept. of Biological Sciences whose research interests include plant development evolution, invasive species control and plant reproductive evolution. Feebish assists Golenberg and his graduate students in looking for differential expressions in the sex-determining genes of spinach plants.

“Tiffany’s doing a great job. She’s a hard-worker and she’s picking up very quickly the necessary skills that are essential for research. I’m very pleased with her performance,” said Golenberg.

Once her internship at Wayne State ends in early May, Feebish heads to MSU where she’ll begin her Summer Plant Genomics Program for Undergraduates internship. This is a full-time position that runs for 10 weeks. Feebish will be under the direct supervision of a faculty member in the Plant Genomics at MSU Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program.

“I’ve been enjoying my internship at Wayne State and I’m looking forward to beginning my internship at MSU,” said Feebish.

At MSU, Feebish will fully participate in lab work, attend seminars and networking events with MSU faculty and graduate students that will introduce her to diverse research projects and provide information regarding careers within the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. She will also attend a series of workshops designed to advance professional development, including responsible conduct of research, research ethics, presentation skills, scientific writing, and GRE test-taking strategies. During the final week, she will present her research in a poster format at the annual MIDSURE conference at MSU and also give oral presentations to MSU’s plant science community.

Feebish applied for the MSU Plant Genomics internship last year and didn’t get it. She applied again this year with high hopes, keeping busy at Wayne State as she anxiously awaited to hear back from MSU.

“I was very surprised and very happy. MSU is a very prestigious school, especially in plant science, and it will be a privilege spending the summer there,” said Feebish.

Her interest in plants and botany began at a young age. She would assist her mother when she was gardening. Her mother taught her about various plants – which ones were edible, which ones were poisonous, among others.

A 2013 alumna of Carlson High School in Gibraltar, Mich., Feebish will graduate with her associate degree in Biotechnology at the end of 2016. Upon graduating from HFC, she plans to transfer to either MSU or Wayne State where she will complete her undergraduate degree.

“The Biotechnology faculty at HFC are very proud of Tiffany. She is an excellent student with superb laboratory skills and a great love of both plants and DNA. We are confident that she will continue to do fantastic work at MSU,” said Dr. Jolie A. Stepaniak, HFC director of the Biotechnology Program.

To learn more about HFC's Biotechnology Program, contact Stepaniak at 313-845-9646 or jastepaniak@hfcc.edu.