Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture
Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

A newsletter for faculty, staff and students

July-August 2005 • Vol. 31, No. 4

College hosts 4 Carver Interns

Four students were George Washington Carver interns this summer in Bumpers College. The Carver Project gives students in historically black universities and those serving Hispanic communities the opportunity to work with a faculty mentor in a graduate school environment. The U of A hosted 18 George Washington Carver Project interns this summer.

Peronne Joseph, a junior at Dillard University in New Orleans, worked on a project to improve the treatment of diabetes with her faculty mentor, Professor Kaiming Ye, in the UA department of biological and agricultural engineering. She helped develop a DNA structure that will allow a novel protein to the added to the cells of research animals.

Peronne Joseph uses a microscope in the lab of faculty mentor Dr. Kaiming Ye at the University of Arkansas where she was a George Washington Carver summer intern.

Joseph’s project is part of a research program by Ye to develop a breakthrough in the management of blood glucose levels in patients suffering from diabetes. Ye developed the glucose indicator protein, which works with a micro-sensor implanted under the skin to detect and signal low blood glucose.

This technology has the potential to allow diabetics to manage blood glucose levels more efficiently and accurately with no pin pricks, Ye said. The research is supported by grants from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

She is a biology major and plans to pursue a graduate degree in biology, possibly at the University of Arkansas.

Jesse Laws-Rodriguez, a junior at Langston University in Langston, Okla., assisted Dr. Charles Rosenkrans in the UA department of animal science in a project he is conducting in cooperation with Langston University. The project is to determine how different proteins in the blood of goats are related to different characteristics in the animals.

Laws-Rodriguez is pursuing a double major in chemistry and biology and plans to continue his education after graduation in physical therapy.

Deanna Baker, a junior at Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena, conducted DNA analyses to assist Dr. Charles Rosenkrans in the UA department of animal science in a project that could lead to development of a new DNA test for cattle.

Deanna Baker works in the lab of faculty mentor Dr. Charles Rosenkrans at the University of Arkansas as a George Washington Carver project summer intern.

Baker is a biology major, and she said she is considering applying to veterinary school after graduating from Mississippi Valley State University.

Lynette Horton, a junior at Alcorn State University in Lorman, Miss., wrote a research paper about the need for Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) grants to help farmers in Northwest Arkansas reduce the negative impact on water quality of certain agricultural practices. CREP is a program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in cooperation with other agencies.

Horton is an agricultural economics major at Alcorn State University. She said she is considering applying for graduate school in agricultural economics at the University of Arkansas.

			Lynette Horton works on an agricultural economics project with faculty mentor Dr. Harold L. Goodwin at the University of Arkansas where she was a George Washington Carver summer intern.
	Jesse Laws-Rodriguez works in the lab of faculty mentor Dr. Charles Rosenkrans at the University of Arkansas where he was a George Washington Carver summer intern.