Inaugural Winner Lands West Coast Internship

Desirae Nance, a Chemical Engineering major at the prestigious HBCU, Hampton University just completed a challenging yet rewarding freshmen year in her first stint away from home. The most exciting part came towards the end!

After a conversation with her CSA assigned mentor, Tibra Wheeler, she realized that although just a freshmen, it is never too soon to chase her dreams. That is when Desirae started to research and came across an interesting opportunity in Irvine California. After looking into things and ultimately applying, Desirae was ecstatic to learn she had been offered the chance to accept an internship at the UC Irvine Summer Research Undergraduate Fellowship!

            The program involves eight weeks of faculty-mentored research, graduate school preparation workshops, scholarly research skills training, communication and well-being workshops. Desirae also shared with CSA that she will be presenting a final presentation at the end of the summer on her findings to complete the experience.

Desirae gave credit to her CSA mentor for pushing her and imparting wisdom when applicable. She also credits the organization for connecting her to someone who looks like her. A strong African American woman in the STEM field could not have been a better match. Desirae stated below:

 “The mentor I received was impactful because she was also a STEM major. This allowed me to see and learn about her pathway, while also helping look for various internships.”

Desirae, we are so proud of you at CSA and excited about what is to come next. If you’re reading this, we will keep you abreast of Desirae’s journey as a future black, female chemical engineer.