{"id":17547,"date":"2026-08-24T06:59:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T10:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.umes.edu\/scm\/?p=17547"},"modified":"2026-08-26T15:48:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T19:48:53","slug":"third-cohort-of-stem-stars-program-becomes-a-family-affair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.umes.edu\/scm\/third-cohort-of-stem-stars-program-becomes-a-family-affair\/","title":{"rendered":"Third cohort of STEM STARS program becomes a family affair\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"A
University of Maryland Eastern Shore President Heidi Anderson (center-right) poses with members of the third cohort of the STEM STARS program. The program is led by executive director Dr. Tiara Cornelius (center-left).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The third cohort of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore\u2019s Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Students Achieving Results in Science (STEM STARS) program entered college already connected to the campus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This grouping of the program, whose mission is to increase the number of students from underrepresented groups who pursue and earn PhDs and MD-PhDs in STEM disciplines, distinguished themselves from prior classes in the eyes of program executive director Dr. Tiara Cornelius<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe first thing that stood out to me wasn\u2019t really tied to their academics, it was more so tied to legacy,\u201d said Cornelius, a 2007 UMES graduate. \u201cMany of the students in this cohort either had one parent or both parents or grandparents who attended the University.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program, which had its first cohort arrive at UMES in the summer of 2023<\/a>, was made possible through a $2.5 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute\u2019s (HHMI) Driving Change Initiative Award<\/a>. In that time, the program enrolled 29 students in various STEM majors, with two members of its first cohort graduating within three years<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of their experience, the STEM STARS students immerse themselves into research opportunities while receiving mentorship from members of previous cohorts. Previous opportunities by past cohort members have included presentations at global conferences and the ability to have their work go in space.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All members of the three cohorts, which are automatically enrolled into the Richard A. Henson Honors Program, were selected by Cornelius. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the students in the third cohort\u00a0with familial ties\u00a0to UMES is\u00a0Carrington Rashaw<\/strong>, a sophomore exercise science major. Reshaw, whose\u00a0parents not only\u00a0graduated from\u00a0UMES but also worked there,\u00a0said\u00a0it was never far from\u00a0her mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI actually grew up on campus and lived there until I was nine,\u201d\u00a0Rashaw\u00a0said. \u201cSeeing the tight-knit\u00a0community in\u00a0both\u00a0UMES and Princess Anne,\u00a0and\u00a0the support I received on campus, I knew from an early age that I belonged at this school.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rashaw said\u00a0being selected for the group put into perspective the importance of the program and\u00a0the detailed\u00a0process\u00a0Cornelius goes through when\u00a0choosing\u00a0the members of the cohort.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI initially didn\u2019t realize how selective it was until I\u00a0realized that nine other freshmen received this scholarship, which really impressed me,\u201d\u00a0Rashaw said. \u201cDr. Cornelius does a really good job of making sure that everyone in the cohort has the\u00a0necessary\u00a0organizational, time management and professional skills\u00a0required, which\u00a0I\u00a0appreciated because it put me on the right track my freshman year.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another legacy member among the third cohort is sophomore Kylie Martin<\/strong>, a mathematics from Nokesville, Va. Martin\u2019s connection to UMES was multi-pronged as both of her parents graduated from the institution, and her older brother Makai<\/strong>, is a member of the charter STEM STARS cohort. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat really led me to the STEM STARS program was my brother hyping up Dr. Cornelius and the opportunities they had, and he really sold it to me,\u201d she said. \u201cShe has been the backbone of the program through the support and guidance she\u2019s given us.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
From left: Makai Martin, a member of the first cohort of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore STEM STARS program, and his sister Kylie Martin, a member of the program’s third cohort, speak with UMES President Heidi M. Anderson during a STEM STARS reception held in May.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Martin said being in the program has helped elevate herself as a student. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt gives you a sense of drive that is completely different from anything I\u2019ve ever experienced before,\u201d she said. \u201cBeing a STEM STAR allows you to hold yourself to a higher standard and every semester you have to meet that bar and continue to be academically forward.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cornelius said the addition of a fourth cohort is on hold in order to find additional funding that will replace the HHMI grant money once it expires.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to make sure that before we take on any additional students we are able to help them financially during their time here at UMES,\u201d she said. \u201cRight now, our focus is making sure our first three groups finish their academic journeys.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The third cohort of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore\u2019s Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Students Achieving Results in Science (STEM STARS) program entered college already connected to the campus.  This grouping of the program, whose mission is to increase the number of students from underrepresented groups who pursue and earn PhDs and MD-PhDs in STEM disciplines, distinguished themselves from prior classes in the eyes of program executive director Dr. Tiara Cornelius. …Read more Third cohort of STEM STARS program becomes a family affair\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1559,"featured_media":17552,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","wds_primary_category":103,"footnotes":""},"categories":[103],"tags":[121,138,120],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-17547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-hbcu","tag-stem","tag-umes"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1559"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17547"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=17547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}