Fargo, N.D. – Outstanding students from across the country are now participating in the NDSU Summer STEM program, organized by NDSU’s Office of Multicultural Programs in the Division of Equity, Diversity and Global Outreach with support from the Office of the Provost.

Stephanie Dunton, a biology major from Virginia State University, Petersburg, is among 12 students taking part in this year’s program. “I am really enjoying it. Everything is the maximum, the top of the line for me,” said Dunton, who is conducting research on plant phenolics with postdoctoral research fellow Dipayan Sarkar and Kalidas Shetty, associate vice president for international partnerships and collaborations and professor of plant metabolism and food security in the Department of Plant Sciences.

Planning a career in health care, Dunton is using NDSU facilities to study plant chemical compounds at the molecular level. She’s looking at plant phenolics from fruits and vegetables, looking for ways to improve disease prevention and better manage illnesses.

The STEM program gives underrepresented ethnic minority students majoring in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields the opportunity to engage in research and also encourage them to apply for graduate school. The hope is that a significant number of these students will choose continuing their education at NDSU.

This year, students are working in a variety of academic areas, including pharmacy, mathematics, computer engineering and cereal and food science. They have traveled to NDSU from Prairie View A&M University, Virginia State University, Delaware State University and Mississippi Valley State University. Now in its seventh year, the program began May 20 and continues until July 15, when the students are scheduled to give oral and poster presentations on their research.

NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private research universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.