Smithsonian internship for DSC students

Two students of the Dominica State College (DSC), Jeanne Royer, a Biology major, and Dwight Degonzague, an Agriculture major, will participate in the 2011 Dominica Academy of Arts and Sciences (DAAS)/DeFilipps  Summer Internship Programme at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.,  the world’s largest museum complex and research organization in art, science, history and culture.

The students were selected based on their academic records, interviews, evaluation by DAAS of their essay entitled The Value of the Smithsonian as an Institution of Learning.  They emerged as the top students from this process.

The Summer Internship is in honour of the late Dr Robert DeFilipps, author of the 1998 publication Useful Plants of the Commonwealth of Dominica. Part of Dr DeFilipps’ estate was bequeathed to DAAS. From that, DAAS is able to fund this internship for the students.

The internship will take place from July 22 – 30.  During the internship the two  students will assist in cataloging the 5,000 Dominican herbarium collections at the Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History while enhancing their knowledge from the vast international displays including the Carib Indians in the National Museum of the American Indian.
Curator and Research Scientist in the Department of Botany, Dr John Kress, has assigned Dr Gary Krupnick to mentor the students on their internship.

The students will be accompanied by Lecturer, Sharon Allicock-Joseph.  Mrs. Allicock-Joseph lectures in the Faculties of Arts and Sciences and Applied Arts and Technology. She teaches Agriculture and Biological related courses and will be an asset in providing guidance and leadership to the students on the internship programme.

Last year’s two DSC students, Kelda David and Shawn Francis, who participated in the internship programme, continue to speak very highly of the quality of the learning experience they received.  The DSC is confident that this year’s participants will have an equally enriching experience.

The DSC recognizes the tireless efforts of Dr Clayton Shillingford, Member of the DAAS Board of Directors and Chair, Agriculture and Environment Committee for making this internship possible.  Dr. Thompson Fontaine and Mr. Gabriel Christian of Maryland are also recognized for housing and transporting the students while at the Smithsonian Institute, in Washington D.C.

Dean of the Faculty of Applied Arts and Technology and DSC’s organizer of the Internship, Mr Rawle Leslie, is excited about the programme and believes that it is a splendid opportunity for the students to be exposed to an international organization to broaden their knowledge in Plant Science.

DSC is always seeking ways to expand and enrich the learning experience of its students.  This internship fits quite well in the mission of the DSC to provide its students with world class learning opportunities.  This is also a clear example of the positive result of international networking which the College aggressively pursues on a continuous basis.