Instead of relaxing over his summer vacation, Rory Danielson spent seven weeks working in biopharmaceutical manufacturing. As an intern at Bayer’s West Berkeley facility, Danielson supported the manufacture of treatment for hemophilia. His tasks included checking expiration dates, maintaining sanitary conditions and recording critical information.
“It is great to have a real, professional job experience, especially having the responsibility of doing all these tasks and knowing that if I didn’t do something right, there would be consequences,” said Danielson, a high school senior who plans to attend Berkeley City College after graduation and pursue a career in biotechnology.
Danielson’s internship stems from a commitment between Bayer and the City of Berkeley to expand on-ramps to biotechnology careers, via the Biotech Partners program. The program connects youth who might not otherwise have considered biotech an option with paid learning opportunities, expanding the biotech talent pool. Bayer and the City came together in 1994 to launch the wholly independent nonprofit Biotech Partners, which pairs students with paid internships, academic support and wraparound services to persist in pursuing educational goals.
Latrell White, left, and Rory Danielson documented their work experience as interns at a Bayer poster session. Courtesy of Biotech Partners
“Historically, 100% of Biotech Partners students have graduated high school, and 97% go on to post-secondary education, many to Biotech Partners’ community college program,” said Executive Director Lynda Gayden.
“Biotech Partners’ pioneering program, in partnership with Bayer and over 35 corporate partners, has successfully opened pathways to STEM careers for more than 5,050 students, facilitating nearly 2,000 industry-based internships. Students have earned a cumulative $4.278 million, and the program has placed 100% of community college graduates seeking bioscience employment in full-time jobs.”
In addition to ongoing financial support for Biotech Partners, the company typically has about 20 interns from high school and community college come through the program annually.
From classroom to career
Biotech Partners internships are not unpaid shadowing roles; they are paid positions where students contribute to real-world projects. This summer, for example, Berkeley City College student Emiliano Santana-Thoele worked with a Bayer team to test various resins for purifying proteins. He learned to operate an ÄKTA system, sophisticated automated chromatography equipment used for protein purification.
“I had done protein purification before using resins, but never with an automated machine,” he said. “So, using the ÄKTA was a whole new leap for me.”
This type of hands-on experience in an internship helps close the gap between academic theory and industry practice, giving students a chance to explore what a full-time biotechnology career could entail. Interns work alongside seasoned professionals, including Biotech Partners alumni.
For Bayer, the internship program has become an important part of the company’s talent pipeline. Nearly a dozen current Bayer Berkeley employees are graduates of Biotech Partners, and two of them, Lauren Rawlins and Elvia Hernandez, directly assisted with this year’s intern cohort. That group included Mya Marie Davis, a Berkeley City College student.
“My main focus is being able to get any experience and exposure in this field,” said Davis, who is currently completing her second internship at Bayer. She is majoring in biotechnology and expects to transfer to a four-year program in the spring of 2026.
Mya Marie Davis, a Berkeley City College student, is completing her second Biotech Partners internship at Bayer. Courtesy of Biotech Partners
“It’s been very beneficial having Lauren as a mentor. Since she has had previous experience, there’s a certain expectation she holds for her team, so I can get the maximum exposure to everything.”
For her part, Rawlins said she is focused on encouraging Davis to connect what she has learned both on the job and in school with jobs she can apply for after graduation.
“She’s getting a lot of different perspectives,” Rawlins said. “I hope it is helping her figure out exactly what she wants to do in the next five years.”
Creating community connections
A core mission of Biotech Partners is to open doors for students who might otherwise not have the opportunity to explore a biotechnology career. The program focuses its recruitment efforts on Berkeley High students, creating connections between students and local employers such as Bayer. Biotech Partners also has programs with Oakland Tech, Antioch High School and Marin City’s high school.
Santana-Thoele said many of the adults in his family had a skeptical view of science, so Biotech Partners introduced him to an entire field he otherwise may have overlooked. At the same time, his work helped normalize scientific concepts within his own family, fostering more informed conversations about health, including the management of his grandfather’s diabetes.
Bayer intern Emiliano Santana-Thoele, right, works with Brody Seebass at Bayer. Courtesy of Biotech Partners
“Having a kid do some higher level of science in school actually helps network families to realize that science is just another career path and not the far-off thing as it is seen in a lot of communities,” Santana-Thoele said. “Having a child work in science elevates your whole family and thus your community.”
Berkeley High School student Latrell White first learned about Biotech Partners when the coordinator of his school’s National Society of Black Engineers organization recommended that he take the class that prepares students for the internship. Spending the summer interning at Bayer was a positive experience, said White, who is now applying to the UC San Diego and San Diego State University, where he plans to study biochemistry.
“The big takeaway is how to handle an actual job like that and how to be involved in the company that you’re working for,” he said.
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