We only have 1 week to go. Most professionally and technically as possible, explain to us what you have learned from your research experience.
End of a Great Day
Enjoying a productive meeting
We only have 1 week to go. Most professionally and technically as possible, explain to us what you have learned from your research experience.
Enjoying a productive meeting
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July 22, 2021 at 7:00 pm
Honestly, I have learned so much from my time at UTEP from correct lab techniques to doing dilutions. I have always been very week at diluting, I struggled in college and at work. I never truly understood why diluting percentages had to be so exact, but now I feel like I am a pro. I feel confident enough to teach it to my students and know that I am doing it correct. I can’t wait to take all my new lab techniques back to the classroom and have my student’s practice. Lastly, my students always ask why they need to do teamwork projects if they one day want to just get a doctrine degree and work in a lab. I knew some teamwork was involved but this experience has shown me how much teamwork and good communication is so important in the lab. Thank you for this opportunity.
July 22, 2021 at 9:26 pm
I have learned so many new things and also I have brushed up on some skills that I know but haven’t used in sometime. Serial dilutions are one of those things that I haven’t done in awhile but once I started it was like I never stopped doing them. I also had to do assays and standards. I am so glad I knew how to do these things because they are important to do calibrations with. I have been exposed to so much new equipment, that helps as we sample our water. It reads how much PFOA’s are in the samples and how much Nitrate is in the samples. Getting the opportunity to use equipment that I have never used before is so awesome. I have never worked with reactors or had to sample from them and even though it is a simple task it can be tricky at times. I have had so much fun learning.
July 23, 2021 at 3:04 pm
I have learned a lot of laboratory technical skills and procedures such as Polymerase Chain Reaction, Gel Electrophoresis, Gel Extraction and Isolation, Gel Purification, Gibson Assembly, Teansformation of Bacterial Cells, MiniPrep, DNA Sequencing and Mammalian Cell Transection. All of this techniques follows a certain protocols which you can read and master overtime. The most important learning experiences for me are the professionalism of all the diverse community of people of all ages, ethnicity and gender that I have met during the internship. Their passion, patience and dedication for research in finding solutions for a better world.
July 25, 2021 at 4:06 am
To me this research experience was unique as I feel like I have learned a yearlong material in 4 weeks only by hearing, watching, and doing without following a written procedure or reading lab manuals, though it is overwhelming! Salute to my mentor Vanessa for her sincere intention to make me learn and take me through the research experience and the possible difficulties in the discovery projects, even though all those things are not required to complete my assigned project. Moreover, this experience clearly gave me an idea about the connection between the high school and university level chemistry. What students are learning in high school chemistry class especially freshman year college chemistry (AP Chem.) is the basics of all experiments. For example, I have seen the application of dilution, weighing, pipetting, centrifugation (separation of mixture), titration, electromagnetic spectrum and electron transition and electronic structure of atoms, Beer’s Law, and spectroscopy. I have more working knowledge on spectroscopy techniques now which I can take back to my classroom. This was one of my goals of this program as I wanted to know the connection. I am grateful to the lab team for the flexibility and support for my project and thanks for the opportunity to RET team.
July 26, 2021 at 2:47 pm
I think the same about the learning in four weeks…. It was a practical experience with rea results that can be translated into the classroom
July 26, 2021 at 2:48 pm
I have also used a lot of the lab techniques that I learned back in high school and college so I’m glad to see that we learned proper protocol for a reason.
July 25, 2021 at 5:34 pm
First, let me say how thankful I am to my mentors Oara and Pratiksha. They have re-ignited my passion for science. With this last year being as challenging as it was, I really needed this hands-on experience to lift my spirits and spark my brain to problem solving again. I have learned so much about Nanoparticle-enabled Solar Membrane Distillation (NESMD) and how this system can distill water even at higher salinities with LED lights or the Sun. I have learned how those same carbon black nanoparticles can be used even without a membrane to distill water and then use the vapor through a rock-filled condenser to re-mineralize water in one system. Thanks to Oara, I met a wonderful Geologist who showed us so many cool minerals under the microscope. We learned how the Electron Probe Micro Analyzer works to determine the composition of rocks. I am thankful for Christina’s leadership and dedication. She helped me grow personally and professionally. Thank you to Naomi Halas for opening her lab for students and teachers to learn. I am truly grateful for this experience at NEWT. I hope I can spark that same excitement and joy for learning in my students this year to tackle real world problems.
July 26, 2021 at 2:46 pm
I know what you mean! This last year was truly a struggle but I’m also very glad to take the things we’ve learned back to our students. Making science applicable makes it so much more exciting to learn than when its just a concept that has nothing to do with the student’s lives.
July 26, 2021 at 2:44 pm
I have learned a lot of technical lab skills as well as furthered my content knowledge throughout these 5 weeks. I was able to refresh on some lab skills that I haven’t used for awhile, like measuring out precise amount of a powder and creating saturated solutions, but I also got to learn some lab techniques that I have never seen before such as using furnaces to control cooling rates and how an x-ray diffraction machine tells you crystal structure. As for the content knowledge I gained, I was able to learn about band structures and how the distance of those bands determine the physical properties of solids such as how they look, how much resistance they have, and how their electrons act in different temperatures. I think the content knowledge I gained is incredibly important because it connect physics to chemistry in a way that I didn’t even know they connected before. It explain why things are the way they are and has real life ramifications that I can show to my students.
July 26, 2021 at 2:45 pm
It has been an awesome ride and I have learned so much from this experience ! Last week I completed all my tests and the Scanning Electron Microscopy photographs, and I started putting it all together. I am excited to prepare a semester long project for my students with this topic, which opens up a world of possibilities for applications, while connecting the lesson in the curriculum.
I am very grateful for this research opportunity and expect to continue doing more research on the subject.
July 27, 2021 at 4:12 pm
I have definitely learned a lot. First of all, flexibility when it comes to a schedule… getting used to the times that graduate students work is definitely a challenge. Second, learning about a topic you know nothing about- this was the most exiting part of this internship. I love doing research and sometime I wish I could go back to school to do a doctorate degree and then I realized that you need time.. and money…. but the research portion is the best! Third.. have more confidence in yourself. Sometimes I had to remind myself that I was ready for the challenges that my mentor threw at me, and it was mainly because she saw that I was ready, even if I didnt see it yet. And fourth, it is great to work with younger people that know so much!- I was in awe sometimes at some of the projects that the students in our lab where working on… their level of ‘smart’ is incredible and I got to be a part of their group for the summer!
July 28, 2021 at 7:25 pm
I have also learned a great deal in the lab. My work has involved stem cells. I have grown my own. I can now tell when they are ready for experiments. I have learned the lab’s method for counting stem cells and how to passage them. The media in stem cells has to be changed every day. I am amazed because the lab uses such small amounts of substances but they never like to waste anything. They are economical.
July 30, 2021 at 6:23 pm
This has been a phenomenal experience. Thank you to the RET program, Dr. Ball, and Michael (my mentor) for all of your help and support. I highly recommend to everyone. This has been one of the best summer experiences.
July 30, 2021 at 8:04 pm
I learned a great deal about material engineering and chemistry kinetics. Can’t wait to share this with my students and team. Keeping my head down and continuing to work. Cheers!
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