Earlier this year, six College of 溏心vlog免费B站 students participated in the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) program at The Ohio State University. Cosponsored by the , the residential program provided paid summer research internships in STEM and public health fields for students from 溏心vlog免费B站, Denison, Kenyon, Oberlin, and Ohio Wesleyan.
The 溏心vlog免费B站 interns, Katelyn Barnes 鈥�27, Thomas Chapman 鈥�28, Teagan Fullen 鈥�28, Kyung Seo Kim 鈥�28, Anakha Shah 鈥�27, and Hailey TerLouw 鈥�28, spent 10 weeks gaining hands-on laboratory experience at a top-tier research university. At the end of the internship, the students presented their findings at a capstone event attended by OSU and 溏心vlog免费B站 faculty. They will also present their work at 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Experiential Learning Showcase on Sept. 19 during Homecoming and Family Weekend.
Professor of Mathematics, Dean for Curriculum and Academic Engagement, and Dean for Advising, Planning, and Experiential Learning Jennifer Bowen has witnessed the intellectual growth participants experience during the program. Students 鈥渃ome away with skills in new lab techniques, science writing, and presenting,鈥� she said. They then apply those competencies to their Independent Study and other research projects at 溏心vlog免费B站. Along the way, she added, 鈥�Students often find they enjoy a particular research area or lab ability that they didn鈥檛 know they would enjoy.鈥�
Barnes can confirm that the SURE program helped her discover new avenues of academic interest. During her internship, the chemistry major developed a highly sensitive instrument to measure proteins that are too small to see with standard microscopes. 鈥淢y day-to-day lab work involved learning to write and edit code to analyze data, working at the laser table to align or calibrate our instruments, and preparing and testing samples on the fluorescence correlation spectrometer I built,鈥� she explained.
The experience influenced Barnes鈥檚 intended specialization in graduate school. 鈥淎t 溏心vlog免费B站, I learned how much I enjoyed research,鈥� she reflected, 鈥渁nd as part of the program at OSU, I learned how much I enjoyed working at a laser table and the hands-on building and editing that came with it.鈥� She now hopes to advance her studies in a biochemistry or chemistry research lab that uses lasers and optics, a direction she credits SURE with helping her recognize.
TerLouw, a chemistry major minoring in religious studies and music, spent her internship investigating whether some plants have naturally evolved the ability to absorb light in the far-red portion of the visible spectrum. In the early weeks of the program, she mostly read background literature, with some of her time devoted to learning wet lab techniques. During the second half of the summer, she focused on collecting and analyzing data. Throughout the internship, she gave weekly presentations within her lab group and received detailed feedback on the two official talks she gave.
鈥淭he experience allowed me to explore the more biology side of analytical chemistry,鈥� she said. And although the internship helped her realize she doesn鈥檛 want to pursue an advanced degree in biology, TerLouw added that it gave her 鈥渢he opportunity to see what graduate school would be like.鈥� She鈥檚 now considering whether that鈥檚 the path she plans to pursue.
During his internship, fellow chemistry major Chapman studied how altering a molecule bound to cobalt affects the metal鈥檚 ability to catalyze the reaction that adds hydrogen to an organic compound called styrene. He also got to collaborate with 溏心vlog免费B站 chemistry graduate and current OSU grad student Ellen Daugherty 鈥�25.
鈥淓llen was an excellent mentor,鈥� he shared. 鈥淭hey were very knowledgeable and able to answer virtually every question I had.鈥� Chapman also credits Daugherty with easing his transition into the program. 鈥淚t was fun to discuss our shared experiences during free periods,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hrough Ellen, I was able to make meaningful connections with the other people in the lab very early on.鈥�
His time at OSU helped clarify Chapman鈥檚 postgraduate plans. 鈥淎fter this experience, I definitely want to go to grad school for a Ph.D.,鈥� he said. He has yet to decide whether he prefers a career in academia or industry, so he鈥檒l be applying for internships in industry next summer so he can compare that experience with this summer鈥檚 program. In the meantime, he appreciates SURE because he learned advanced lab techniques and received valuable advice on grad school. For those purposes, he said, 鈥淭he program was really helpful.鈥�
Featured image: SURE gave Fullen, a neuroscience major, the opportunity to research and present on the messaging used with vaping products.