Interested in joining the BAELab?
I mentor graduate students through the UMBC Biological Sciences program, and undergraduates from multiple departments via the BIOL 499 Directed Research course. Currently, I am not taking graduate students. Read here for information about the Biological Sciences graduate programs.
I like to have undergraduate students attend weekly laboratory meetings for 2-6 months before enrolling in BIOL 499 or transitioning to a paid position with me. As we are an evolutionary biology laboratory, I prefer to recruit undergraduate students that have taken BIOL 142: Foundations of Biology: Ecology and Evolution, and are interested in research in ecology, animal behavior, and/or genome evolution. Students interested in healthcare careers would be better served by interning in a biomedical research laboratory (here is the UMBC Biological Sciences faculty research directory to see the breadth of biology research conducted at UMBC).
Recommendation Letters
I am happy to provide letters of recommendation to my trainees, students, and advisees when appropriate. Please provide me with your current CV/resume, information on the opportunities you are applying for (include pertinent dates and any important talking points I should bring up in my letter), the format my letter should take, and where my letter should ultimately be sent. For the most timely response, I require at least three weeks notice before new letters are due.
Contact information
Mercedes Burns
Department of Biological Sciences
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
ILSB 215, 1000 Hilltop Circle
Baltimore, MD 21250
E-mail: burnsm [at] umbc [dot] edu
Office: +1-410-455-2147