In Summer 2024, DeBakey High School senior Justine Chavez took part in the prestigious Borlaug-Ruan internship at the World Vegetable Center in Taiwan. Her experience sparked a passion for plant science, particularly from a breeding perspective. Returning home to Houston, she set her sights on wheat research and reached out to Texas A&M Research Specialist Dr. Surujdeo-Maharaj. This collaboration led to the creation of the “Beyond Wheat” project.
During the same summer, Dr. Surujdeo-Maharaj received USU-Apogee wheat, developed by Dr. Bruce Bugbee at Utah State University for his Controlled Environment Medicinal Plant Production (CEMPPro) internship program. Apogee wheat is designed to thrive in controlled environments, including the International Space Station. As part of the CEMPPro internship, students successfully grew this special wheat in automated desktop growth chambers (MV1s) similar to those used in space!
Now, Justine is taking her research further by exploring how the spacing density of Apogee wheat grown in deepwater culture affects productivity. She’s leveraging MV1 technology to automate the process and collect valuable data.
Follow along with her exciting journey and leave a comment to support her work!
Justine really gives DeBakey its name! Congrats on that amazing intership and hope your research goes well. Dr. Maharaj always sets the bar for excellence in his field.
this inspiring story of how your debakey community service hours could turn into a carrer and lifes work and i find it extremely interesting how they used space growing methods to grow their experimental wheat
Good job Justine! I liked the work you did in your experiment and I am proud of the discoveries that you have made. This will help lots of people to farm in controlled environments.
I admire how you liked what you were doing in Taiwan so much, that you decided to bring it with you to Houston and reach out to others who could help you. Awaiting the results!
Good luck on expanding your research 
