For my internship, I worked in a program under the Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (JIFSAN) which was established between the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the University of Maryland (UM). I worked at the FDA location in Laurel, Maryland. The project I worked on focused on optimizing detection methods for the parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis in water. The goal was to increase the amount of possible resources that could be used during the detection method and still produce reliable results. For example, one of the things we focused on was testing a different brand of water filter than what was written in the method to see if we could use it and still produce the expected results Most days, I did the same kind of tasks. A few times we went to a UM farm in Upper Marlboro, Maryland to collect from the agricultural water source. We collected about ten 50 L carboys full of water. Back at the lab, we would split the water into smaller 10L carboys and then spike them with known amounts of C.cayetanensis. Then we would run the water through a filter and backflush it to collect the filtrant. Next, we would perform DNA extraction to isolate C.cayetanensis so we could perform polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The PCR results would tell us the concentration level of the parasite detected in the sample. Since we knew how much C.cayetanensis was originally added to the sample, we knew what the PCR results should look like. If the PCR results did not match what was expected, we would know that the alteration to the detection method was not effective. By observing others, I noticed that there were often problems with results not coming out as expected. For example, a PCR that takes hours to prep, set up, and run would be unsuccessful so the researcher would have to figure out what went wrong out of all the different factors. This reflects the scientific method from hypothesis to trial and error. The scientific method is extremely important to research and is constantly used. Another example is even when there is already an established detection method, it can always be improved. One of the possible improvements is with new materials or resources. This involves the scientific method as one needs to pick the change they want to make and then develop a way to test this change. This experience has allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of the scientific method and how it is used in professional research environments. I have learned that I really do enjoy research lab work which I only had some experience with. My plan before entering college was to pursue a career in biological research and that has persisted even after my internship. Since my internship was pretty close to what I envision as a career, it allowed me to really see what my future could look like. It helped me develop my lab experience such as micropipetting and PCR. I think I was prepared well for my internship as I had previous lab experience so I just needed to learn the methods they use at that site. For my next steps, I will look into coursework that is associated with similar topics like genetics and bioinformatics. I was interested in those topics so I want to try some associated classes. This internship will be important for my future experience since I plan to continue in this kind of field of research. It will help me to get future post-graduate experience in school and work. I was a member of a research team at my internship. I was mostly a lab assistant so I performed lab work that I was instructed to do by my mentor. It was a new experience for me as I had never worked in a setting like that before but I think I adapted well. I would recommend this opportunity to a future student as it is a very good opportunity to get lab experience while staying local (in Maryland) and also getting paid. It was very easy to apply as you just had to fill out a short application and write a small paragraph. Since JIFSAN is part of the UM system, you can also work during the fall and spring semesters and get breaks for finals.