Becoming a Chemistry Researcher through INBRE

Andria has been interested in chemistry since junior high.

INBRE…It is an opportunity to learn what it is like to be part of the scientific community in a way other than just academia. This is not my first time being in the INBRE internship program, although it’s been a few years. INBRE is a program that helps students get research, lab, and writing experience away from the academic lab scene. So far, this summer has been interesting. The lab I am working in has been my research lab for the last year. So I already know the people I work with pretty well. We mesh well together and are able to get things done in a comfortable environment. Our research is focused on diabetes. Here comes my nerd moment…I am doing research that I have been interested in doing since I was in Jr. High and High school. Not most kids dream about doing research at 13 years old, but I knew chemistry was for me when I borrowed my Jr. High science teacher’s college level organic chemistry book to read for a month. INBRE is an opportunity to explore the research side of the science fields and to be able to see if this is the area of science that I want to be in.

This summer will be interesting because I will be learning multiple new techniques and be refreshing on some old techniques to use in the lab. I have already been working on programs like MOE (Molecular Operating Environment) and ChemDraw (which I just recently learned). These programs and other instruments I will be using (like the NMR) are things that not all undergraduates have the chance to learn and work with. ISU and INBRE have made that a possibility for students, like me.

Another factor of this summer internship is meeting other science students in the different fields. I am a chemistry student but I am working with biologists and biochemists in my research lab. Within the INBRE program, I am meeting psychology students, microbiology students, and neurology students. There is such a wide range of science fields and INBRE works to bring those fields together.

#MolecularOperatingEnvironmentMOE