1. Who are you doing research with this summer and what kind of research project are you doing ?

I am doing research in Dr. Adejare’s lab. I have been doing my research in his lab since spring semester 2015. My research is on the synthesis, enantiomeric resolution, and pharmacological effects of three lead compounds that my lab has been interested in.

2. What do you find fascinating in the research that you’re doing ?

There is so much that I find interesting about my research, it’s really hard narrow it down to one thing. One intermediate step in my synthesis requires me to convert an alcohol group to an azide. This step often causes the reaction to turn a bright pink color for a short period of time. After synthesizing a compound you have to purify it. One way of doing this is through flash column chromatography. In separation of the compound, what was once just an off-yellow oil, you can start seeing colorful lines changing color as you push solvent through. It is interesting to me how each compound acts differently with solvent interactions, colors, and even smells.

3. What skills are you learning through the USURF experience ?

So far this summer, I have learned to operate independently from the guidance of the graduate students that I work with. Of course they are there to help me if I need it, but solving my own problems when something goes wrong has helped me grow as a scientist.

4. What are the challenges you’re encountering in your research ?

When we first started out in the science field, everything was a known fact. Now that we have moved beyond general classes, we are learning that so much is still unknown. Hearing this in a classroom and experiencing this first hand are very different. After preforming a few small scale experiments with consistent results, you would expect to have similar results when scaling them up in a larger experiment; however, we have had a lot of difficulty figuring out why this is not always so. When your results don’t give you the data you were hoping for, it can be both frustrating and a good challenge.

5. How is your USURF experience impacting the way you view your field ?

The more I am in lab, the more comfortable I feel, and the more I love it. When I first started at USciences I knew I wanted to be involved in science but wasn’t exactly sure how. After being in lab and doing hands on work changed that immediately. I now know I want to do research. USURF lets me focus on my research without worrying about grades at the same time; because of this I can definitely see myself with a job like this in the future.

6. Tell us something interesting about yourself.

I love animals. Growing up we always had cool pets: lizards, snakes, fish, turtles. Now at home we have a hedgehog, two sugar gliders, two rats, many fish, and three cats.