My practicum was an internship under the Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (JIFSAN) internship program. Through this, I worked at the Food and Drug Administration in Laurel, Maryland. There I worked in a research laboratory where the main focus was detection of Cyclospora cayetanensis in water. Cyclospora cayetanensis is a parasite that causes a gastrointestinal illness when consumed through produce or water. I found the JIFSAN program website through a College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS) email. From there, I found the application for the internship and applied for it. There were multiple site supervisors who could contact you personally to set up an interview. My site supervisor was the second person to interview me so when he offered me the position, I was able to accept it and enter the JIFSAN internship program. For an off-campus internship like mine, I would recommend using UMD resources such as emails and career and internship fairs. You would most likely need to apply to the internship on your own but paying attention to those resources will allow you to broaden your opportunities. For my research laboratory, I performed many filtrations of agricultural water that was spiked with C.cayetanensis. This allowed us to optimize the detection method by changing various parts of the protocol (like a different brand of filter or different size tube). After the filtrations, we performed DNA extraction to isolate the DNA of the C.cayetanensis. Then we performed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with the DNA samples which would tell us the concentration levels of the parasite. Since we knew how much of the parasite we added to the water originally, we knew what the PCR results should show. If the PCR results were not what we expected then we would know that the detection method did not work effectively. I learned about what it's like to work in a professional biological research laboratory. I got lab experience with multiple different machines and techniques like PCR and micropipetting. I also learned about how scientific procedures are developed and modified. Working in food safety allowed me to gain a greater appreciation for all of the research that goes into improving it for the general public. There is a great amount of research that goes into detection methods/tests that would allow for safer foods before and after they enter the market. This experience has helped me confirm that I want to pursue a career in biological research in a laboratory setting as it was very close to what I envision for my future.