From left: Mackenzie Lucero, Dr. Martin Kurnik

Research within the chemistry department has been invaluable because it has allowed me to connect the dots between learning and applying chemistry. In the lab I use chemical formulas to do things such as make solutions and calculate Gibbs free energy. I feel much more confident using these formulas because they are no longer complicated formulas on a page but rather tools to help me understand things, such as the stability of a protein. I will use this new appreciation and confidence to help me as I continue to study chemistry.

In the past month I have learned important laboratory skills, for example, I know how to overexpress and purify proteins using Nickel-NTA (nitrilotriacetic acid) chromatography columns and SDS Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. I have also learned, to a greater extent, what it means to conduct research. Conducting academic research here at UCSB has been really fun and in many ways an eye opening experience. Along the way my perspective has changed on a few things:

• Initially I thought that a researcher worked alone, this is true to an extent, however research is also a group effort. Within the Plaxco group, we have meetings to discuss research updates where everyone can brainstorm to help each other if a problem has arrived. Also, since there is new research being published all of the time it is impossible to read it all, so we get together and share new scientific journal articles in order to be up to date with the latest research.

• I was unaware of how long it takes to conduct research. I have been working on overexpressing and purify proteins and over the course of the last couple of weeks some challenges have arrived. When these challenges arrive the project schedule shifts a little. I now understand that these challenges are what research is all about! We are doing experiments and working with new biomolecules and techniques that have not been done before, so it’s perfectly fine for complications to arrive. Research is about learning and exploring all that we can about a new subject. Ultimately, we can publish and share our new knowledge for others to either replicate or have a start point for their own research.

I would definitely recommend for everyone to take part in academic research because it allows you to apply what you have learned in class as well as develop critical and analytical thinking skills. Research is challenging but also extremely rewarding, and I am so thankful to God for the opportunity I was given to do research this summer within the chemistry department in the Plaxco group.

Pictured above from left: Dr. Hui Li, Dr. Martin Kurnik, Mackenzie Lucero