STLCC Training: Plant Transformation

As biotechnology and agribusiness continue to grow in the St. Louis region, companies are struggling to attract enough workers to keep up with the growing demand for their products. Thousands of jobs are being created in the biotechnology and agriculture sector each year, giving students ideal opportunities.

Through programs such as St. Louis Community College’s biotechnology program, students are able to receive top notch training in the biotech field. This fall, learn the fundamentals of plant transformation in an 8-week laboratory course, Advanced Topics in Biotechnology: Introduction to Plant Transformation, while earning 3 transferable college credits.

The course, taught by industry expert, Kevin Lutke, Manager of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center’s Plant Tissue Culture and Transformation facility, is taught at St. Louis Community College’s Center for Plant and Life Sciences located at BRDG Park. The class starts on August 20th and ends October 11th and takes place on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Since St. Louis Community College’s biotechnology program’s inception in 1999, more than 90% of STLCC biotech core course students have been hired by local biotechnology companies such as Millipore, Centocor, The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Microbe Inotech Labs, Monsanto, Pfizer, Sigma-Aldrich, Covidian, Divergence, Gallus BioPharmaceuticals, and research labs at Washington University School of Medicine.

STLCC Biotechnology program graduate, Dave Busby, is incredibly thankful to the St. Louis Community College and how it provided the training he needed to create a new career opportunity. “I would not have made it to where I am without their continuous support. It was really meaningful when they told me that if I ever needed anything, to come and see them, and they truly meant it. If I needed help with something today, I know they wouldn’t hesitate to respond.” Read Dave’s story here.

To enroll in the course, contact Jennifer Hill at 314-513-4953 or Julie Fickas at 314-513-4892.

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