Lauren Black

Lauren Black was born and raised in Florida, and moved to Maryland in the fall of 2019, where she then transferred from her Florida community college to the College of Southern Maryland. She initially studied graphic design before changing her major to biology. At the College of Southern Maryland, Lauren was awarded the NSF S-STEM scholarship, an award for academically gifted low-income students. Through this award, she was able to get her first internship, working with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Lauren earned her associates degree in Biology in May of 2023 before taking part in UMD's very own SOARE: SWAG program, an REU targeting underrepresented students studying agricultural and related sciences. She officially transferred to UMD last fall, and, so far, has enjoyed her experience. Lauren has participated in MANRRS, and  worked as a research intern in the Agroecology Lab for the fall semester. She looks forward to what more her time at Maryland has in store.