Jenny Hedges has always been a high-performing student. That's why Gwinnett Technical College BioScience faculty had no doubts that her internship with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources would lead to success.
Just finishing her associate's degree in BioScience Technology, Hedges wanted to apply her laboratory training to an aquatic environment for her required internship. Girl meets fish – at the Buford Trout Hatchery.
Hedges proposed her idea for the internship while networking at a Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies conference last year, and Georgia DNR management took her up on it. She worked in the Gwinnett Tech Bioscience lab to develop a vaccine to treat fish for a disease known as enteric red mouth disease, a bacterial infection that is found in both marine and freshwater fish and can wipe out an entire hatchery.
Her love for marine and freshwater fish began while she was majoring in marine biology at the University of West Florida. Later, while living in Tampa, Hedges – who is also a mom – worked with sea turtles and dolphin as a volunteer at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. During her internship at Gwinnett Tech, she worked for the college's BioScience department as a lab assistant while attending classes.
Hedges immunized some 60,000 fish through the internship project, which was implemented at the hatchery on the banks of the Chattahoochee River just downstream from Lake Lanier and the Buford Dam.
"This was a complex project which required all of her laboratory skills along with a willingness to roll up her sleeves and jump in – literally," said Dr. Phillip Gibson, PhD, Gwinnett Tech's Bioscience program director.
Gwinnett Tech currently has 150 students in its rigorous BioScience program, which began in 2006 and has met huge success placing graduates in clinical research jobs with local bioscience companies. The school's first class of environmental lab techs graduates this summer.
Generally, graduates are placed through their internship work. In Hedges' case, the school is hoping she'll stay on as an instructor that can inspire other students with her innovation and work ethic.
