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Thursday, July 30, 2015

Amadou Diallo 7-30-15

Today I did my last experiment and finished my poster.

Jordan Pestok 7/30/15

Today I worked on my paper. Tomorrow is the symposium.

Jisca 7-30-15

        Today, I made some changes to my paper and sent it back to my mentor so she could look at it again. 

Amber Latona 7/30

Today I worked on my paper.
Tomorrow is the symposium wooo!!!!

Jisca 7-29-15

        I finished my paper and sent it to my mentor to look over.  I also got my poster and it looks really good. 

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Jeramiah Jones 7.29.15

Today i combined the rust with the activated carbon samples and worked on my poster slides.

Jeramiah Jones 7.28.15

i worked on my poster, research paper, and created more rust.

Sarine McKenzie- 7/29

Today, I worked more on my poster, article, and research paper. My poster will be done tomorrow, all I really need left is to insert a few graphs, and write my discussion. My mentor and I will most likely begin our tdt tomorrow, or she will stay later today and begin it. That's all for today, see you tomorrow!

Follow-Up Survey

STUDENT FOLLOW-UP SURVEY
 
The Student Follow-up Survey is available on the web at www.acs.org/projectseed, scroll down then click Follow-upSurvey All Summer I and II students are required to complete the survey during their last three weeks of the program. Upon completion of the survey, an electronic confirmation will be issued.  This confirmation should be kept as proof of the students having completed their survey electronically.

You must print the electronic confirmation. If you close the page before you print the sheet you will not be able to go back. The sheet will say something along the lines of thank you for completing the survey.

Stephen Lau - July 29, 2015

     In my group meeting today, I presented my poster to my group and it allowed my mentor the time to edit my poster.  Luckily there were very minor mistakes and had my poster sent down to Fisher Hall.  It is finally done...

Cheyeanne Perez 7/29/15 summary

All I did today was write my paper and send it to my secondary mentor 

33 days down : 7 left    
1 work days until symposium

Amadou Diallo 7-29-15

Today I finished up my poster and started writing my research paper.
Tomorrow I'll continue to work on my research paper.

Jordan Pestok 7/29/15

Today I helped clean out the mass spectrometer. it was pretty interesting to see it come apart and see it in a little more detail. I mean its not like the entire machine was taken apart or anything like that but it was nice to see the inner workings of it. Also I worked on my paper some more. Tomorrow I will keep working on my paper and prepare for the symposium on Friday.

Amber Latona 7/29

Today I spent time working on my paper and I went down to get my poster and it looks really nice.
Tomorrow I will work on my paper some more and prepare for the symposium on Friday.

Amadou Diallo 7-28-15

I worked on my poster and then we had a tour of Duquesne.

Amber Latona 7/29

Today was a busy day. First, I made some final corrections/editing on my poster.
Then the Bayer SEED students came and we ate lunch, went on a tour of campus, and had a financial aid seminar which took most of the day. After that, we toured the chemistry floor and then I took my poster down to the print shop.

Tomorrow I am going to work on my paper.

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Stephen Lau - July 28, 2015

     Didn't have much time to work because of the tour but I made every minute count.  At last my result is basically finalize after going over the data of four different runs on 2MD.  Poster is nearly complete I just need my mentor need to finalize and edit.  Tomorrow I have a group meeting to attend to and probably be ready to print right after or not since we're having a group lunch...

Cheyeanne Perez 7/28/15 Summary

Well today I fixed my corrections and sent it to my professor jut to make sure there weren't any more simple mistakes and..... he hasn't emailed me back. I'm pretty sure that everything is correct but I just wanted to make sure. So I believe I am ready to print my poster tomorrow morning. 

We had the tour today and we got to meet the two SEED students from Bayer, they were pretty cool. I really enjoyed the tour, besides the heat, and I'm really glad that i got to ask that gentleman about the FAFSAs because I will be the first one out of my family to go to college and my mom and I were really confused about what to do.

32 days down : 8 left   
2 work days until symposium

Jisca 7-28-15

        Today, we had a group SEED meeting and the first year students presented.  We then went on a tour of Duquesne and I learned a lot of things that I didn't know about this campus.  I turned in my poster and worked on my paper for the rest of the day. 
        Tomorrow, I plan on working on my paper and sending it to my mentor so she can look over it. 

Sarine McKenzie- 7/28

So today, we had a SEED group meeting, and I presented my elevator speech because my poster isn't done yet. Then we went on a tour, which was nice, but it was incredibly hot & humid! Tomorrow I'll be working on my poster and paper some more.

Jordan Pestok 7/28/15

Today I presented my poster to all of the SEED people this morning in the meeting. After that the Bayer people came over and we had the tour around Duquesne and Mellon Hall. Tomorrow I will continue to work on my paper.

Monday, July 27, 2015

Amber Latona 7/27

Today I worked on my poster all day. Kasey helped me graph data and a bunch of other things.
I am almost finished with my poster so I will probably be editing for the rest of the night before I submit it to Dr. Aitken to look at.
Tomorrow there is a SEED meeting and a few other things going on. I will submit my poster.

Stephen Lau - July 27, 2015

     I got most of my poster done and now all I need is the conclusion and results which can finally be determine after going through the new data with new forcefields and solvation model with my mentor tomorrow.  Tomorrow I will finish my poster...

Jisca 7-27-15

        Today, I made some changes to my poster and my paper.  Tomorrow, I will turn in my poster and continue working on my paper.

Sarine McKenzie- 7/27

So today, I worked on my poster, article, and research paper. I also have been working on my elevator speech for tomorrow. We haven't made the tdt complex yet, so we'll most likely get to that tomorrow. Until then!

Amadou Diallo 7-27-15

Today I worked on finishing my poster.
Tomorrow I will probably start my research paper.

Jordan Pestok 7/27/15

Today I finished up my poster and took it to the printing center to have it print. It should be done tomorrow morning. For the rest of my time I worked on my final paper and got most of it done but I still need to have my mentor and secondary mentor read over it and make changes to it and everything else but its coming along nicely. Tomorrow I have to present my poster during the SEED meeting. Also tomorrow I will continue working on my paper.

Cheyeanne Perez 7/24/15 and 7/27/15 summary

Welp I presented on Friday and they all said I did really well but there were a few things to change. and I changed them and sent it to Dr.Cascio and now I believe I'm practically done.

31 days down : 9 left   
4 work days until symposium

Angel 7/27/15

Today I was working on my poster. I'm doing slides so I was making sure everything was tidied up for my presentation tomorrow. Since tomorrows going to be so busy when I go home I'll probably finish up any undone work.

Blog Challenge 2: Amadou Diallo

  1. Where are you from?
  2. Where did you go to high school?
  3. Where did you go for your undergraduate degree?
  4. What did you major in and why?
  5. Where did you go for graduate school?
  6. What was your first job after graduate school?
  7. Why did you become a professor?
  8. Did you have any other career aspirations?
  9. Are you interested in other subjects outside of science?
  10. What are your hobbies?
     Dr. David Seybert is from the city of Hazleton, PA which is in eastern Pennsylvania. He attended Hazleton High School. He completed his undergraduate degree at Bloomsburg State University as double major in biology and chemistry. When he first started college he only majored in biology because he aspired to become a marine biologist but once he started taking upper level classes of chemistry he decided to major in that also. It was also at this time that he decided he wanted to become a professor. He attended Cornell University for a PhD in biochemistry. After graduate school his first job was as a postdoc researcher at Duke University. After postdoc he got a job as an assistant professor at Duquesne University. He wanted to become professor for two reasons, he loves teaching and he wanted independence. Other than science Dr. Seybert is also interested in math because he believes it works well with science. Dr. Seybert also has many hobbies, he plays the clarinet and the saxophone and he occasionally runs 5K races. He also has an interest in soccer, he was a soccer coach for 15 years and he also has season tickets for the Pittsburgh River Hounds so he always attends their home games.

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Friday, July 24, 2015

Stephen Lau - July 24, 2015

     So today I had my mentor to look at the two systems I ran alanine scanning on and the data continues to seem irrelevant to the experimental data so I ran in again with different forcefields and option which MOE had.  I successfully ran alanine scanning on 2MD again 3 times today each performing differently from the rest.  I also was finally was able to work on my poster because the error which kept popping up and preventing me from using the outline was that LaTeX, the program I use was out of date so I had to update that.  I have most of my information already for it so I just have to finish up my results and see if there is any relevance to the experimental work for the results or just assume that performing alanine scanning computationally is more difficult than we imagine...

Amadou Diallo 7-24-15

Today I Worked on my poster and my data.

Amadou Diallo 7-23-15

Today I worked on my poster.

Amadou Diallo 7-22-15

I ran assays with a higher concentration of BSA to see if there was a difference between the ones with lower concentrations.

Jisca 7-24-15

        Today, I presented my poster in my group lab meeting.  I had to do a 30 second speech first and then a 5 to 10 minute one if someone asks me to elaborate at the symposium.  I also made changes to my poster and added things to my paper. 
        Next week, I will work on my paper and poster and have my mentor check through them. 

Poster Acknowledgements

In addition to the acknowledgments you were given from your mentor, you must include the following:

Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh (SSP)
Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh (SACP)
The Pittsburgh Local Section of the ACS
Project SEED
Dean Reeder and the Bayer School of Natural and Environmental Sciences
 
 

Sarine McKenzie- 7/24

So today, we had group meeting, and we had to go to another seminar during lunch. After lunch, I worked on my poster, research paper, and article. I have yet to start my second mixed ligand complex, so I assume that I will being that on Monday.

Amber Latona 7/24

Today I spent the day imputing my EDS data into excel spreadsheets in order to calculate % error and average formula. The results are pretty decent and accurate for the most part.

On Monday, I am going to make graphs for the EDS and then make my graphs from the XRPD and UV/Vis so I can put them all onto my poster.

Jordan Pestok 7/24/15

Today I just worked on my poster all day. It is almost done .For the most part I just need my mentor to look it over and okay it. Or change it probably. Tomorrow I will put any finishing touches on my poster and probably start my final paper.

Stephen Lau - July 23, 2015

     I did a lot of stuff today including running alanine scanning on two new systems, KH1060 ligand and 1,25(OH)2D3 ligand.  I got the results and put them in my work after having my mentor check the two previous systems that I ran alanine scanning.  I will...start my poster tomorrow...

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Amber Latona 7/23

Today I finished running the UV/Vis and I also finished analyzing XRPD data.
Tomorrow I am going to begin graphing my EDS data and try to graph some XRPD data if I have time to. I will also try to begin formatting my poster and converting my slides over.
I have quite a bit to do still and I am starting to feel stressed because my poster has to be completed on Tuesday :/. But Kasey has been helping me with a lot so I don't feel so rushed.

Jisca 7-23-15

        Today, I added things to my poster since.  I also worked on my poster. 
        Tomorrow, I will present since we didn't have group meeting today and continue adding things to my poster. 

Sarine McKenzie- 7/23

In the morning, I worked on my poster and I typed up what I have written so far for my article. After lunch, I worked more on my poster, and I've gotten a lot of it done so far. Tomorrow, I have a group meeting, and after that I'll most likely work on my poster some more, and perhaps start on my second mixed ligand complex.

Jordan Pestok 7/23/15

Today I finished typing my steps to sequence an unknown peptide and revised it. And revised it. And revised it. And you get the point. That's what I did today. Tomorrow I will probably, you guessed it, revise it.

Cheyeanne Perez 7/23/15 Summary

Today I preformed another mini prep on my two mutants and checked the concentrations and they were really good. Tomorrow I have to dilute them to get them ready for Pitt then we have that fancy lunch meeting then I have to present in front of my lab group and I'm really nervous.

29 days down : 11 left  
5 work days until symposium

Final Paper Guidelines

The final paper will be due on August 7th. The final day of Project SEED.

The page limit set by the National Project SEED is 3-5 pages. However, the usual paper from Duquesne is 5-10 pages. I will read the papers during the final week, but your mentor will be the one who determines when it is finished.

This paper will be written similarly to any laboratory report. There are seven sections that need to be included in your paper:

1. Abstract
2. Introduction
3. Experimental Methods
4. Results & Discussion
5. Conclusions
6. Acknowledgements
7. References

Everyone should talk to their mentor ASAP as to what they should be including in their paper and start working on it. You should ask your mentor when they would like a first draft.

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Stephen Lau - July 22, 2015

     I did a lot of work today and by that I mean I finally organized the data from the 2MD:VDR interaction and started on the TEI-9647 ligand.  I also had to redo some other work since some of my files on MOE were lost when it randomly shut down.  Tomorrow I will probably begin my poster after finish up implementing the data form TEI-9647...

Jisca 7-22-15

        Today, I worked on my poster and it is almost done.  I also ran the 24 hour ODCA deposition through the IR and saw that the peaks were not there. 
        Tomorrow, I will present in my group meeting.  I will also work on my paper. 

Sarine McKenzie- 7/22

So today, I had a lot of downtime, so I submitted my 2nd blog challenge, then I worked on the 2nd crucible article. Yesterday, my mentor made a new batch of our starting material, so I took an IR of that after lunch. Then, I worked on my poster.

Angel 7/22/15

Today I was able to get through 3 more sets of samples. I have enough data for my poster at least, but I want to try to get all my samples finished by the end of this week.

Amber Latona 7/22

Today I spent all day doing UV/Vis and also analyzing more XRPD data.
I only have one more sample to put in the UV/Vis which I will do tomorrow morning. Tomorrow I will also finish my XRPD data and begin graphing and analyzing all of my data to put on my poster.

Jordan Pestok 7/22/15

Today I interviewed my secondary mentor, Khiry, for the blog challenge. I also wrote the biography we had to do for the blog challenge. I rewrote the steps you need to take in order to sequence an unknown peptide. I went into more detail about what exactly you have to do. I am still typing up what I wrote about sequencing. Finally, to go along with my steps to sequencing an unknown peptide, I wrote a background full of information explaining how everything works and what some of the terms mean. I also added a diagram of the known fragmentation pathways that peptides typically follow using VAAF as an example. Tomorrow I will finish typing up my steps and hopefully have my mentor look over it.

Blog challenge #2

1. What did you get Your Ph.D in?
2.When did you begin teaching?
3.What are some of the classes you teach?
4. What are some of the groups your affiliated with?
5. What studies have you done here in Pittsburgh by yourself, or with students?
6. Who is working in your lab this summer?
7.Have they all taken any of your classes?
8.Are they all participating in the Symposium?
9. Who helps with you in Analytic Chemistry?
10. Were you worried when we were having problems with the SEM?

Dr. Stephanie Wetzel is a professor at Duquesne University. She has her Ph.D in Analytical Chemistry. She began teaching here at Duquesne back in 2004. She teaches a variety of class including Analytical Chemistry, Forensic Chemistry Lab, and various other course here at Duquesne. She is a member of the SSP (Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh), and also the ACS (American Chemical Society). Dr.Wetzel has done various studies within Pittsburgh with students on GSR, on its examination, and transfer. Dr. Wetzel has three students working in her lab this summer for the Duquesne Symposium next week. Mike, Mary, and Sarah have all had Dr. Wetzel for the Forensic chemistry Lab. Holly, and Logan often help Dr. Wetzel with the Analytical chemistry work. They are graduate students. Dr. Wetzel is a really cool and awesome mentor when we I was having problems with the SEM she would stay later after I was gone to try, and work out what she could. Dr. Wetzel is an amazingly dedicated person who strives to make others better.

Cheyeanne Perez 7/22/15 summary

Today I collected my colonies and am allowing them to shake incubate over night to preform a mini prep tomorrow.


28 days down : 12 left    
6 work days until symposium

Important Information

URP Symposium - July 31st

If you are making a printed poster for the symposium instead of a powerpoint slide poster it must be to the print shop by the end of the day on Tuesday, July 28.

All printed posters should be 36in X 44in.

All printed posters must bed saved with the title "ChemYourName2015URPSEEDPoster"

Seminar Friday

The URP seminar will be Fisher Hall Room 719 at Noon. This seminar is mandatory.

Financial Aid and Admissions Seminar

The Project SEED students from Bayer MaterialScience will be visiting us on Tuesday or Wednesday. At Noon there will be a pizza lunch. Directly following will be a campus tour, a financial aid/admissions seminar, and a tour of the Chemistry Department.

Bayer Tour

On Tuesday, August 4th we will visit Bayer MaterialScience. You will be participating in a poster symposium that will be visited by technical staff of Bayer MaterialScience.

Keep an eye out for additional information about the final paper.

Blog Challenge 2: Stephen Lau

1) Where are you from and what high school did you go to?
2)  What college did you go to as an undergraduate and why?
3)   How did high school affect your decision for college or field in which you study in?
4)    Why did you choose to study in the field of chemistry?
5)     What kind of undergraduate programs did you do in  college?
6)      What is your preference and why, computational or experimental chemistry?
7)       Why did you choose Duquesne as your choice to undertake your graduate school?
8)        What do you plan to do after receiving your degree?
9)         What is your goal in life?
10)         When do you plan to retire after being successful in what you want to do?

Kendy Pellegrene

     Kendy Pellegrene is a another member of Madura's Research lab and is from Blairsville, PA.  She went to Blairsville high school and pursued her career in pharmacy in Washington and Jefferson College because it was not too far yet not too close to her hometown.  She wanted to make sure she could go somewhere away from her high school and start anew where she can learn new opportunities and meet different people.  It was decided to follow in the field of pharmacy becasue she had enjoyed biology all her life.  Through her time getting her master's degree in biology, Kendy has come to love cellular and molecular biology which are basically background information on how drugs work, which ultimately have led her here to research more into this topic in Madura's research group.  Kendy undergone research throughout her years at W&J with another professor, researching on different types of mushrooms. She had also done a program at Pitt over the summer which related to her field of study biology.  After all her experiences, Kendy has no preference in either computational or experimental labs because she finds them both important to research.  However, she finds computational more difficult but mostly because she has more experience in experimental labs.  Kendy decided to partake her PHD at Duquesne because it was another college close to her home and yet not too far away from it.  She also previously performed a collaboration project with Dr. Madura so she was already familiar with some of Duquesne's professors.  After receiving her degree she plans on getting a job in the industry where she can hopefully end up retiring early and travel the world in her spare time.  Through her busy research though, she continues and pursue her life goal...and that is to live an enjoyable and carefree life.

Blog Challenge #2 - Jordan Pestok

Questions

Where did you go to high school?

What classes did you like the most?

Where did you go to college?

Why?

What was you major and why?

Why did you choose to work in Dr. Van Stipdonk’s lab?

What are you researching?

What do you want to do when you are done with graduate school?

What would be your major if it was not science related?

What advice would you give people who plan on taking chemistry as their
major?
 
Biography

Khiry Patterson went to college at Duquesne University and stayed there for graduate school. He chose Duquesne University because of its location. It was in a big city but did not feel like it on the campus. It also allowed him to be close to home when he was studying. Khiry graduated from Norwin Area High School. Creative writing was his favorite class but he always liked biology as well. Khiry choose biology as his major when he first entered college but soon changed to chemistry. He thought he would be doing more dissecting in biology. When he found out he was wrong and discovered how small everything really was in biology, he turned his attention to chemistry and switched his major. Khiry said that if he had to choose another major that was not science related he would choose music.

Khiry is currently studying in Dr. Van Stipdonk’s lab. Khiry choose to work with Dr. Van Stipdonk because he seemed to have to most interesting lab. He is researching the fragmentation of peptides. He modifies peptides on the N terminus of peptides and compares the CID spectrum of the modified peptides to the native unmodified peptide. After Khiry is finished with graduate school he is not positive what he wants to do, but medical school is a very real possibility.  The advice he would give to students who want to take chemistry as their major is to be good at math. A lot of chemistry is math so you had better be good at math. He also says to ask for help in the beginning and not to wait until you are too lost to catch up. It is always good to make relationships with your professor. Finally, Khiry says do not stress out in chemistry.

Blog Challenge #2 : Jisca

        For this blog challenge, I questioned Ashley Blystone.  She is a graduate student that works in my lab.  The following questions are what I asked her.

        1. Where you interested in majoring in chemistry as a high school Student?
        2. What influenced you to choose the field of chemistry?
        3. What college did you attend as an undergraduate?
        4. How different was it to transition from high school to freshman year in college?
        5. How many years did it take for you to graduate?
        6. How many years have you been a graduate student at Duquesne?
        7. Is working in this lab as a graduate student similar to when you were an undergraduate?
        8. Did you choose to work in your research lab or was it assigned to you?
        9. Do you have any published papers?
      10. Would you consider your job fun?
      11. Do you get along with the other members in your lab?
      12. Did you work in any other graduate student labs before Duquesne?
      13. Did you participate in a summer research lab as an undergraduate?

        Throughout high school, Ashley Blystone was always interested in science.  She really liked the subject of Biology.  Ashley attended Westminster College in Wilmington, Pennsylvania.  Going in as an undergraduate, she thought that the field of Forensics was a good thing for her as a career path.  It sounded very sophisticated and attracted her attention.  When Ashley actually visited the departments at Westminster College, she was sure then that the Chemistry department was the best for her. 
        To her, freshman year in college was not that different than high school.  She took many AP courses in high school, which helped with her classes in college.  Since Ashley had many credits already done by the time she graduated high school, it helped her to graduate college in 4 years.  She participated in an undergraduate summer research program at Penn State the summer before her senior year.  She worked in the department of Forensics and Chemistry.  As an undergrad, Ashley had a paper/journal that she worked on.  It was a collaboration with other students in her lab.  They worked on 4-ethylphenol in beer.  This later became published after she graduated. 
        So far, Ashley has worked in 2 different graduate schools after graduating college.  Her first experience was at FYU.  It was an good experience for her but she likes Duquesne better.  Coming to Duquesne, Ashley had the chance to choose the lab that she wanted to work in.  After going through the Chemistry and Biochemistry department, she choose to work in Dr. Gawalt's research lab.  This is her second year as a graduate student at Duquesne University.  She likes it here because she is more self motivated in the labs than any other place she has been to.  She gets along with everyone in her lab and likes to help the undergraduates with their projects.  What Ashley likes the most is when her lab has group meetings.  She likes sharing her work with others and having them put their inputs into it.
       
       

Blog Challenge 2: Cheyeanne Perez

Blog Challenge 2, interviewing a grad student, Nick Ferraro

Questions asked

Year graduated high school?
Favorite color?
Favorite food?
Favorite holiday?
Costume worn freshman year of high school while trick or treating?
 
What classes do you believe provided you with the most knowledge?
Do you have any words of advice for incoming freshman? 
Any advice about what groups to join and when?
How would you describe college to someone who is going for the first time?

Why did you choose to come to Duquesne University?
What did you want to do at first? What changed your mind?

What accomplishment are you most proud of?

Lessons have you learned from going to college?
Is there anything thing you would have changed to better prepare for college?
What are you future plans?

Biography/interview
 
Nick and I both went to the same school so I found it only reasonable to interview a fellow Mckeesport high school student that graduated in 2010.

To start the interview out I started with simple little questions to break the ice and let him get more comfortable to have better answers.

Nicks favorite color is bright red, not just typical red, but vibrant original red. His favorite food is spaghetti and his favorite holiday is Christmas. He even remembers what he worn his freshman year of high school to go trick or treating, which was just a typical scary mask with a black shirt and black pants.

After asking the simple questions I asked more about his younger high school years and advice he would have for high school students.

For personal knowledge I wanted to know what classes could possible be beneficial from high school to help with the college transition and he explained that any advanced class will help. "They give more work to prepare you", "it helps you gauge your work load and prepare for how much you have to study". Nick did not  really know what to say as advice, he says that it is hard to just choose one thing to say when there's so much he could tell people, however, he would advise to just stay balanced with everything. Be balanced with school, work,study, and leisure. He also said that as an incoming freshman there is no need to really join any thing, just to stick with school at first until you get more comfortable, then you could join the honors programs that go along with your major. To students he would describe college as just going by fast but some times it take forever but you do not realize what all you have really done.

Then I focused more on his college experience and career path.

Nick chose Duquesne University because he really like being close to home as well as working in Dr.Cascios lab. At first he wanted to be just a regular doctor and become a orthopedic surgeon but after summer research he realized that was not for him, especially after seeing an open heart surgery, he realized that he did not want to have all the pressure of a surgeon. Throughout college his biggest accomplishment by far is just doing well in his classes. He feels that it shows that even though other do not have to study, he does study and still is just as smart as anyone else. The biggest lesson he learned from college is definitely that "you can still excel in multiple things if you learn time management". After being in college he realized that there are a few things he would have changed in high school to better prepare for college, the biggest thing being that he should not have taken so many study halls his senior year and taken more classes just to do it. His future plans include getting his PhD and just getting a simple job some where using the skills hes learned simply just working in a lab with a machine.

Sarine McKenzie- Blog Challenge #2

 
Blog Challenge #2 - Breeanna Mintmier
(Interviewed by: Sarine McKenzie)
 
Questions
  • Where are you from?
  • How old are you?
  • What are your career goals?
  •  Why did you choose Duquesne?
  •  What are you currently working on?
  •  When did you realize that you wanted to be a chemist?
  • If you decided that you didn't want to pursue a career in Chemistry anymore, what would you do?
  • Do you have any hobbies?
  • How many days a week do you work in your lab, or study?
  • Does this subject come easily for you?
 
Biography
 
             Breeanna Mintmier was born on February 3, 1991. She’s from Indiana, Pennsylvania, and she’s a graduate student completing her third year at Duquesne University. Breeanna works under Dr. Partha Basu in the Chemistry and Biochemistry department, where she is currently working on a molecular cloning project. Her project consists of manipulating DNA in order to express her target protein, when and how she’d like. On average, Breeanna works about ten to twelve hours per day, and even more when she works at home. Breeanna admits that in her project, the protocols are simple, but making it work is more difficult and frustrating.
           Originally, Breeanna didn’t think that she would be pursuing a career in Chemistry. She was in Pre-Med, studying to become a doctor. It was her Chemistry teacher at IUP that inspired her to become a chemist. She got involved in undergraduate research and working in labs. Breeanna decided on coming to Duquesne University after finding out about its small campus, its friendly, family-like departments, and its closeness to home. She says she enjoys studying Chemistry, and there’s nothing that comes to mind that she’d rather be doing. In her free time, she enjoys playing videogames, reading, and is an avid Lego-builder. Her goal for the future is to work at a national lab or industry.
 

Sarine McKenzie- 7/21

Today, I filtered out my bdt solution, and we found out that our compound had too much water in it, and also that it's sensitive to water. After that, I went to group meeting. Then, I spent the remainder of my day on Chemdraw, drawing up structures for Dr. Basu. Tomorrow, we'll work on the characterization of our compound. 

Jeramiah Jones (Blog Challenge #2)

Sara Dille
Graduate Student
Department of Chemistry/Biochemistry
Questions:
How old are you?
Where are you from?
What high school did you attend?
What colleges did you attend?
Why are you pursuing a career in chemistry?
If not chemistry what would you do as a career?
What do you do to relieve stress?
If you could live anywhere in the world where would you go?
Who do you see as role models?
What do you do in your free time?
Biography:
Sara Dille is a 27 year old Duquesne University Graduate student who is currently in the 3rd year of obtain her PH.D. Her hometown is Bethel Park, PA. Where she attended Bethel Park High School. Sara was a part of the swimming team, and played the violin. At first she didn’t like school because her classes never interested her until she found science. It was her calling, and she loved it and excelled at her science courses. When she graduated from high school she wanted to pursue a career as a zoo keeper and went to Wheeling Jesuit University to get a bachelor degree in biology, but then switched her major to chemistry because she knew that biology wasn’t what she wanted to major in.She switched to chemistry to pursue a career in research, or teaching at the college level. After she obtained her undergrad degree in chemistry she as was the first in her family to have a college degree.Then went on to get a masters at Indiana University. Instead of stopping at a masters she wanted to further her education by getting a PH.D at Duquesne University. She said that she loves Duquesne because it is full of great people. Sara also loves it here because of the friendships she’s created, and an able to conduct her own research. In 5 to 10 years she said she would she herself graduating, starting a career in teaching or research, and also establishing herself on her career path. From grad school being stressful ways she relieves stress is that she spends time with friends/family, read, and watch Netflix. When asking about her role models she said that her parents were because their hard-working, kind, and compassionate. When asking if she could live anywhere in the world, her response was London. Another question was if you won a mega million lottery what would you do first her response was “pay off my debt and my friends”.

Jeramiah Jones 7.21.15

Today i ran my standards through A.C and ran the standards through A.C 1 sample 1 with 1 and 2 grams of A.C

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Stephen Lau - July 21, 2015

     Again I try make sense out of the data I received to the experimental ones but it is found that some of the mutated residues do not match possibly due to errors when alanine scanning was ran on VDR.  I also quickly demonstrated my work to the SEED meeting today and now I will probably brief my work once again tomorrow in my group meeting.  After I will find a way to implement my other antagonist even though they do not exist in the PDB...

Jisca 7-21-15

        Today, I presented in our SEED group meeting in the morning.  I also added more things onto my poster.  After the 24 hours passed for the deposition, I took the cobalt coupons out of the solution and into the oven.
        Tomorrow, I plan on working on my poster and paper.  I will also use the IR to see if the monolayers formed on the cobalt coupons. 

Amber Latona 7/21

Today I attended the SEED meeting in the morning and presented. After the meeting, I worked on some of my analysis for my XRPD results and then I began using the UV/Vis/NIR Spectroscopy machine and got about halfway done with my samples. I also posted my blog challenge.
Tomorrow I am going to finish UV/Vis, work on XRPD analysis, and also begin working on my template for the poster.

Blog Challenge #2: Amber Latona

For this blog challenge, I interviewed Dr. Wheeler.

$fullname

Ralph A. Wheeler, Ph.D.

Professor and Department Chair
Bayer School of Natural and Environmental Sciences
Chemistry and Bochemistry
Mellon 308


Below are a list of the questions I asked him.

1.) Where did you attend high school?
2.) Where did you attend college? Graduate school?
3.) Intended major?
4.) What do you like most about working here at Duquesne?
5.) If you could offer anyone advice/words of wisdom, what would it be?
6.) Describe a time when things were not working out in your favor and what you did to overcome it.
7.) One word to describe yourself.
8.) Long term goals? (5-10 years)
9.) Proudest Achievement?
10.) Was there a specific person in your life/career path who has made a difference?
11.) Biggest fear?
12.) One thing about yourself that others would be surprised to know.
13.) If you won the lottery, how would you use the money?
14.) What do you like to do in your spare time/for fun?
15.) How do you handle stress/pressure?




    Dr. Ralph A. Wheeler grew up in the hometown of Tucson, Arizona where he attended a small high school while taking on challenging courses at a young age. He then graduated with a BS in Chemistry from Harvey Mudd College which was a school for only science and engineering. Dr. Wheeler then went on to earn his PhD in Applied Theoretical Chemistry from Cornell University. Dr. Wheeler worked with Professor Andy McCammon at the University of Houston as a post doc for two years before he then taught at the University of Oklahoma in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry for 20 years. He then moved to Duquesne University where he now serves as Chair of the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department. Dr. Wheeler has always been interested in science, however, he intended on becoming a Chemical Engineer, until Theoretical Chemistry sparked his attention. Dr. Wheeler's favorite thing about working here at Duquesne is the interaction with students. He loves to help and mentor whenever possible. If he could offer any words of advice to others, it would be "be creative and be persistent."  He therefore describes himself as someone who is persistent. He likes to describe himself as persistent because he never gave up in times of hardships. Dr. Wheeler grew up with a single/widowed mother at young age living with 7 siblings. He set his expectations high in order to graduate from college, etc. He mentioned some interesting facts about his mom in particular, (who he refers to as his hero and someone who has made a tremendous difference in his life). While telling me about his mother, I told him that she must have had a lot of determination and his reply was "My mom always told me 'I just did what I had to'...". I respected his response because I felt comfortable talking to him since we had similar lives growing up and dealing with hardships, but we always got through them with a little ambition, determination, and most importantly, PERSISTENCE. Dr. Wheeler also discussed a time in grad school when things were not working in his favor. He mentioned that can be a stressful time for grad students for multiple reasons. He mentioned that his PhD advisor was not around much and he would sometimes get frustrated if his research was not going according to plan. He pushed through it with his character trait "persistence" and also just determination and a positive mindset.
   Dr. Wheeler's long term goals include helping to build a nationally recognized science department here at Duquesne. His proudest achievement is being the first to graduate college and receiving his PhD in his family. Dr. Wheeler's biggest fear is not living up to his own expectations (which I would say is one of my own fears). Others would be surprised to know that Dr. Wheeler was once one of the Top 50 chess players in the country back in the day. If he had won the lottery, Dr. Wheeler said "I would invest and then give away the rest of the proceeds to charities close to heart."  In Dr. Wheeler's spare time, he enjoys dancing and working out and he often deals with stress by engaging in those activities along with setting aside time to clear his mind! *


Image result for duquesne



 







Amadou Diallo 7-21-15

Today I ran assays with BSA as the crowder.
Tomorrow I will experiment with higher concentrations of BSA.

Jordan Pesotk 7/21/15

Today was pretty much the same as yesterday. I continued working on my poster. I looked over my steps to sequence a peptide and changed them a little bit. Tomorrow I will probably test my steps to sequence a peptide.

Angel 7/20/15

My samples are finally running, and giving data!!! So happy I was getting worried since we only have a couple more weeks before the symposium.

Angel 7/21/15

Today I have been running samples on the SEM all day. I only stopped for lunch today. Now that everything is going smoothly, and I'm starting to get data I'm feeling a little calmer. Tomorrow the same deal.

Cheyeanne Perez 7/21/15 Summary

Today I did a transformation and figured out what I should ask on of the graduate students tomorrow because I have actually had stuff to do I haven't gotten around to asking yet.

27 days down : 13 left  
7 work days until symposium

Stephen Lau - July 20, 2015

     Had a long day or should I say night cause I spent most of my time analyzing the data and compared it to the experimental data.  Some of my work matched while others were somewhat off.  With this I needed to organize it into by presentation for tomorrow (today).  I hope I'll have time to put my data in my work or possibly do it after the SEED meeting.

Monday, July 20, 2015

Amadou Diallo 7-20-15

Today I started to work on my poster a little.
Tomorrow I will start experimenting with BSA as a crowder.

Jisca 7-20-15

        Today, I added some things in to my power point and my poster.  I also made a graph of the spectra of one of the depositions.  Since the 24 hour ODCA deposition did not work, I decided to try it again today.  This time, I cooled the cobalt coupons on ice for 30 minutes before I started the deposition.
        Tomorrow, I plan on taking the cobalt coupons out of the deposition and into the oven. I also have to present in our meeting tomorrow. 

Jeramiah Jones 7.20.15

Today i attempted to make rust to add in my A.Carbon but ill have to continue tomorrow. Also i got my results from the I.C system and plotted my data. 

Amber Latona 7/20

Today I interviewed Dr. Wheeler for the blog challenge and I found out many things about him that I did not expect...he is a very nice person.
Tomorrow I will post the interview.
I also worked on my power point for the presentation tomorrow.
Tomorrow I will present (elevator speech) and begin working on some more analysis. I may start using the UV/Vis/NIR tomorrow.

Jordan Pestok 7/20/15

Today I mostly just worked on my poster. I began to add more details and write out some of the actual steps I did in my experiment. I also wrote out the steps you have to do in order to use the mass spectrometer to identify an unknown peptide. Tomorrow I will continue to work on my poster.

Sarine McKenzie- 7/20/15

So today was really cool. I got to work in the glove box for the first time, and it was a little nerve wracking simply because you have to be really careful so that you don't spill or break anything in there. So while I was in the glove box, I combined my solution (starting material and ACN) with another solution and as of right now, it's still in the box. Right now my mentor is teaching, so I'll begin my interview with a grad student from my lab, so that I can type and revise the biography tomorrow. So that's pretty much it for today, see you tomorrow!

Sarine McKenzie- 7/17/15

So I totally forgot to write my blog on Friday, so I'm doing it today. On Friday, we had a group meeting, and I presented a short powerpoint on what I have done so far this summer. Then the grad students from my lab presented, and after that, I didn't really do anything.

Cheyeanne Perez 7/20/15 Summary

Well I'm finished in my lab for today, I started another two mutations today hoping I'll get the results soon. 

I showed one of my mentors the beginning of my poster and she said it looks really well and gave me a couple pointers of what I should change. So I'll change that and email it to my mentor to check and make sure its all up to his standards and then I'll present tomorrow and learn what I have to learn more about before I present in front of my lab group on Friday at 2.


26 days down : 14 left  
8 work days until symposium

Cheyeanne Perez 7/17/15 Summary

Sorry guys late again on posting this blog. Butttt ohh well. My samples were sent to Pitt so I should get the results soon. I did a little more on my poster so I have to finish up the rough draft then show my mentor and a couple people in my lab for constructive criticisms. I have to get a pretty good basis of what I'm doing being I have to present tomorrow as well as Friday or Thursday in my lab group. 

25 days down : 15 left
9 work days until symposium

Friday, July 17, 2015

Jisca 7-17-15

        Today, I used the IR to see if the monolayers were present.  I also worked on my poster and power point that I will be presenting next week in my group lab meeting and SEED meeting.

Jordan Pestok 7/17/15

Well I don't have too much to tell today. I started putting together my poster and have been working on that most of the day.

Amber Latona 7/17

Today I set up an appt. to interview Dr. Wheeler on Monday for the blog challenge.
I spent most of the day working on my power point and editing some more things.
On Monday, I am going to interview Dr. Wheeler, work on my power point some more, and if I have time, I am going to finish working on my patterns for XRPD.

Have a great Weekend!
Tomorrow is my grad party be there or be square :)

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Jordan Pestok 7/16/15

Today I printed out the most useful data for my peptides VAAF and YGGFL. I labeled the peaks on each of the papers. Then, I took that data and put each of the peptides in a chart in Excel which took all afternoon.

Jeramiah Jones 7.16.15

Today i remade my standard solutions in a larger volume and then went down to the I.C system to get it analyzed.

Angel 7/16/15

Today I was just working on my poster since Holly wouldn't be in today. Tomorrow morning she will definitely be in, and we will get more results since now everything runs well with SEM now.

Angel 7/15/15

Today we were able to get a better image though it was hard for the EDS to read it. We may have to mess with the contrast, and brightness tomorrow, but it's moving along.

Angel 7/14/15

Today we went down to The SEM, but we were still having a little trouble with the picture. I think tomorrow we can work it out so hopefully it will.

Sarine McKenzie- 7/16

Today, we recrystallized my starting material. Then, we took an IR and a NMR of our product, and the IR was near perfect, but the NMR still shows that we have impurities or isome in our compound. So between today and tomorrow, we're going to figure out what we can do to remove that from the starting material. Tomorrow, we have group meeting, and I have to present what I've done so far this summer. That's pretty much it, see you tomorrow!

Amber Latona 7/16

Today I spent time running more samples through the SEM.
Tomorrow I am going to spend most of the day working on my power point and updating it from last year since I present on Tuesday.
If I have time tomorrow, I will also continue analyzing my XRPD results.

Cheyeanne Perez 7/16/15 Summary

Today I checked the concentrations of my DNA from my mini-prep that I ran on a gel yesterday. They all turned out really well that I even had to dilute one of them because the concentration was too high and placed them in tubes to be sent to Pitt to be sequenced. 

I also had a group meeting today and two of the undergrad students presented their posters for the symposium and I found out that I have to present next week which means I have to make my poster asap. I know basically how I'm doing it but ill need help making sure everything is correct.

24 days down : 16 left
10 work days until symposium

Amadou Diallo 7-16-15

Today I ran some assays with the 7% and 10% ficoll solutions as crowders.
Tomorrow I will probably start to use a different crowder but I'm not sure yet.

Jisca 7-16-15

        Today, I had a group meeting in my lab but I didn't have to present.  I took the cobalt coupons out of the ODCA deposition and put them in the oven.  I also ran the ODPA deposition through the  IR to see if the monolayers are still present after the rinse in THF.  The peaks were in the correct places in the spectra so I sonicated the cobalt coupons in THF for 15 minutes. 
        Tomorrow, I plan on using the IR to look at the cobalt coupons of the ODPA and the ODCA depositions. 

Stephen Lau - July 16, 2015

      Today I worked on my presentation and researched more about antagonist for my vitamin d receptor.  My mentor printed out an article about agonist and antagonist since the first article he gave me were specifically agonist. I will have to find a more suited antagonist ligand for the VDR tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Jisca 7-15-15

        Toady, I ran the 24 hour deposition through the IR and saw that the peaks were in the correct spots.  Since the monolayers formed, I rinsed the cobalt coupons in THF for 15 minutes.  I also made another solution to use on the cobalt coupons.  My solution was octadecylcarboxylic acid using THF as the solvent.   My solution was okay so I started a 24 hour deposition in ODCA.
        Tomorrow, I plan on checking the 24 hour ODPA and ODCA depositions. 

Stephen Lau - July 15, 2015

     I finally finished my abstract, however I do have to make a few slight changes so I'll have to email Philip Clarke tomorrow about some stuff.  I also talked with my mentor about my presentation and there are a few things I'm going to have to change.  I already started on some minor things but I will have to probably find another antagonist for my project.

Amber Latona 7/15

Today I spent most of my time using the EDS. Tomorrow I will be doing the same thing for most of the day.
I am about half way done with running my samples through the EDS.
Time is running out quickly.

Amadou Diallo 7-15-15

Today I worked on making higher concentrations of ficoll.
Tomorrow I will run assays with them.

Jordan Pestok 7/15/15

Today I mostly just worked on my abstract. I had a work lunch with my mentor today to figure out what I am going to be doing with the rest of my time here. I registered for the symposium and submitted my abstract. Tomorrow I will look at a new peptide in the mass spectrometer.

Sarine McKenzie- 7/15

Today, I really didn't have anything to do besides submit my abstract and send in my RSVP for the symposium. Tomorrow I will probably be discussing my solution and the results of my NMR with my mentor. That's all for now, see you tomorrow!

Cheyeanne Perez 7/15/15 summary

Today I ran a gel to test if my samples had to much ethanol from skipping a step last week on accident. It turns out if there was any its not enough to cause any problems!! So now I can check the concentrations and then send it to Pitt to get sequenced. Then I'll know if this one worked or not!!!!!

23 days down : 17 left

11 work days until symposium

Jeramiah Jones 7.15.15

Today i was input my data making them into charts and graphs, and i also retrieved my data from the A.C #1 samples i ran yesterday.

Blog Challenge 2

The winner from Blog Challenge 1 was Sarine!! Don't worry we haven't forgotten your prize.

Blog Challenge 2


Due Wednesday, July 22 at Noon.

For Blog Challenge 2 your task is to interview a graduate student or a professor about their education and career paths.

You should ask the graduate student or professor a minimum of ten questions. Then, use those answers to create a biography on this person.

The same person cannot be interviewed by more than one student.

In your blog post use the title "Blog Challenge 2: Your Name", include the questions you asked, and write the biography.




Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Jisca 7-14-15

        Today, I ran my 1 hour deposition and 2 of my 24 hour deposition through the IR to see if the monolayers remained stable after the tape test.  When I viewed the spectra, the peaks were either not there or in a complete different spot.  I also took the 4th 24 hour trial of ODPA deposition out of the solution and into the oven to dry. 
        Tomorrow, I plan on turning my abstract in.  I will also look at the 24 hour deposition through the IR. 

Stephen Lau - July 14, 2015

     I finally finished my abstract but now I just have to wait for my mentors to read over it.  Tomorrow I'll put my finishing touch and turn it in.

Jeramiah Jones 7.14.15

Today i finished running my standard solution through my A.C sample 1 that was grinned into fine powder and then i assisted with placing labels on lab notebooks. 

Jordan Pestok 7/14/15 and 7/13/15

So I forgot to do my blog yesterday so this is yesterdays and todays. Yesterday I mostly worked on my abstract and my presentation. I showed Secretary Rivera around my lab.

Today I presented my project in the group meeting. Later on I mostly worked on my abstract.

Tomorrow I will finish my abstract and have my mentor look over it. After that I will submit it and register for the symposium.

Sarine McKenzie- 7/14

So today we had a group meeting with all the SEED students, and Jordan and I presented. I think we both did very well, but I certainly have things to work on within my presentation. Afterwards, I observed my mentor as she worked in the glove box and began the combination of the molybdenum, ethanol, and dithione solution. Then we took an NMR of our solution, and we had to rewash our crystals a few more times. After that, Jeramiah and I organized and labeled DR. Basu's old lab notebooks, and I gave Kasey my abstract. So basically I've had a pretty busy day, and tomorrow I have to submit my abstract. That's all for now, see you tomorrow!

Amber Latona 7/14


Today I finalized my abstract and submitted it.
I also talked to Dr. Aitken about editing my power point. (What to change, add, etc.)
It was nice seeing Kelly and Rob today who were SEED students last year.
Tomorrow I am going to be using the SEM/EDS most of the day.

Amadou Diallo 7-14-15

Today I ran some assay. I also finished editing my abstract.
Tomorrow I will probably run more assays with different concentrations of ficoll.

Cheyeanne Perez 7/14/15 Summary

Today Kelly came in to see all of us and we hung out. I asked Kasey for help on shortening my abstract because it was a couple words to long, then went for Chinese food. When I got back I ran my corrects of my abstract to my mentor and he corrected the corrections and I sent my abstract in and made reservations for me and my family for the symposium. Then I talked to someone in my lab about what I have to do being I have ethanol in my samples, and I have to run a gel then preform a ethanol precipitate to remove it. Now I have a meeting with my lab at 3:30 so I really wont be doing much because the gel will take to long to run I wont finish it before the meeting.

22 days down : 18 left

12 until the symposium

Cheyeanne Perez 7/13/15 summary

Sorry guys I forgot to write this yesterday!! But in the morning I helped Stephen with his presentation the watched Angel, Stephen, and Jeremiah practice presenting before going to the poster making seminar. They did really well after taking the few things we had for constructive criticism and presented amazingly to Secretary Rivera. After the presentations Jordan and I toured Sec. Rivera around our labs and explained what we do. We all had a long day yesterday but it was great getting to meet such an important person in the education field that possibly could lead to more funding for programs such as this one.

21 days down : 19 days left

Monday, July 13, 2015

Jisca 7-13-15

        Today, I did a tape test on my 1 hour deposition and 2 of the 24 hour depositions.  I then started another 24 hour deposition in ODPA. 
        Tomorrow, I plan on using the IR to see the spectra of the tape test that I conducted on the coupons. 

Jeramiah Jones 7.13.15

Today i had to give a presentation about my research project along with Stephen and Angel. I also collected my data from the I.C system

Sarine McKenzie- 7/13

   So today was a very busy day. For the most part of my morning, I practiced my presentation for tomorrow, then we got our lunch early and took it to Fisher Hall for the Poster-making seminar. After lunch, Secretary Rivera from the Board of Education sat in on Stephen, Angel, and Jeramiah's presentations, then some of the SEED students showed him around the labs. After that, I continued practicing my presentation for Tuesday, which I'm really excited for. So that's pretty much everything, tomorrow I'll present, and I'll finish and probably submit my abstract. 

Stephen Lau - July 13, 2015

     What a big day it was today.  I came in and worked on my presentation like a maniac so it would be ready before I had to present to Secretary Rivera which I'll admit I was a bit nervous.  I did get a lot of work done including alanine scanning TIE-9647 and did some research on it.  After the poster session and presentation meeting, everything was downhill and finally had some breathing time.  I have yet to write my abstract though...

Amber Latona 7/13

Today I finalized my abstract.
I also watched Angel, Jeramiah, and Stephen present.
I attended a poster making seminar in Fisher Hall and then Secretary Rivera came from the board of education to watch Angel, Jaramiah, & Stephen present and then he went to tour some of the labs.
It was a good day overall.
Tomorrow I am going to finish up editing my results from the XRPD.

Friday, July 10, 2015

Stephen Lau - July 10, 2015

     Today I finished my reading of an article which had some use for my project.  I also prepared for my preparation for my presentation on Monday. Next time I have to finish a few things real quick before presenting my work.

Angel 7/10/15

Today I went to work on the SEM, but we couldn't get a picture in VP mode so next week we will try to get my sample running finished.

Jordan Pestok 7/10/15

Today I ran tests on Sal VAAF and Sal YGGFL. Then I ran it again with sodium attached. I also worked on my presentation. On Monday I will show the secretary around the lab and continue working on my presentation.

Jisca 7-10-15

        Today, I had a group meeting which I didn't present at.  It only took an hour but it went okay.  I also ran the 24 hour deposition through the IR.  The peaks were there but were shorter.  Also, one of the peaks were not in the correct place so that is a problem.
        Next week, I plan on doing a tape test on my coupons and start another 24 hour deposition. 

Amber Latona

Today I began to analyze my data from the XRPD. I looked for pattern matching impurities.

On Monday, I will work on this some more. Also, there is a poster making session and a few other things going on. I want to finalize my abstract on Monday as well if there is time.

Have a great weekend everyone!

MY BIRTHDAY IS ON MONDAY :)

Cheyeanne Perez 7/10/15 Summary

Today I preformed a maxi prep and i skipped a step...

Which means if my DNA freezes over the weekend I'm safe if not I have to learn how to do a new process to remove the ethanol that was left in the sample from the step I missed.

20 days down : 20 left. GUYS WE'RE HALF WAY DONE

Jeramiah Jones 7.10.15

Today i had a group meeting and went over my presentation. Afterward i ran my samples through the I.C system and fixed up my presentation.

Sarine McKenzie- 7/10

Hey everybody. So today, we had a group meeting, and I presented my powerpoint to the students in my lab, and my mentor took notes on the things I needed to change or improve within my presentation. After group meeting, I changed up my powerpoint, and ran through it a couple more times. I also began my introduction for my research paper. Later on in the day, my mentor wants me to present my powerpoint to her again so she can make sure that everything is accurate and sounds good. That's pretty much it for today, see you on Monday!

Amadou Diallo 7-10-15

Today my mentor wasn't here but I ran assays with higher concentrations of ficoll.

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Jordan Pestok 7/9/15

Today I put the peptides VAAF, YGGFL, and APRLRFYS in 10 mL of methanol. Then I looked at the peptides in the mass spec. After that, I looked at each of the peptides with sodium and then again with lithium. The peptide APRLRFYS did not work out so well probably because it did not mix well with the methanol or because there was not enough of the peptide. So then I mixed VAAF and YGGFL with sal and looked at those. I looked at the new peptides with sodium. Finally, I added lithium and looked at the peptides again. Once I fragmented the parent peak for each one I looked at the highest peak then fragmented that peak until I was unable to do it anymore. Tomorrow I will work on my presentation and abstract.

Busy Day Monday

We have a very busy day on Monday.

Jeramiah, Angel, and Stephen will practice their presentations for Dr. Aitken in Maurice Lecture Hall from 9:30 - 10:30. I will be around all day tomorrow if you would like to practice before Monday.

At noon in Fisher 719, Philip Clarke will be holding the Poster-Making Seminar. Now is the time to be thinking about the following two items:

1. Your written abstract
2. Speaking to your faculty mentor about producing a professionally-printed poster or printing PowerPoint slides for your poster.

The deadline for your abstract submission is Wednesday, July 15. You need to submit your abstract and register for the symposium at www.duq.edu/urpsymposium by this date.

The lunch for Monday is TBA.

Secretary Rivera will be visiting the Project SEED program on Monday from 2:00 - 3:30. At 2:00PM, there will be desert bars, fruit, and lemonade served in the Mellon Lobby outside Maurice lecture hall. Directly following, Jeramiah, Angel, and Stephen will give a short 5-10 minute presentation. Then, Jeramiah, Jordan, and Cheyeanne will give Secretary Rivera a quick laboratory tour.
You do not need to dress up for this event.

Please comment on this post so that I know everyone has received all of this information.

Angel 7/9/15

today I didn't get a chance to use the SEM as planned, but maybe tomorrow hopefully the EDS will stop freezing so me, and Amber get our samples running done, and the data collected.

Jisca 7-9-15

        Today, I made the changes to my abstract that my mentor told me to change.  I then ran the 24 hour deposition through the IR and the peaks were still then.  I sonicated the coupons in THF for 15 minutes and put them in the oven after.  
        Tomorrow, I plan on using the IR to check on my peaks.

Amadou Diallo 7-9-15

Today I ran some assays with different concentrations of ficoll and I made more concentrated ficoll solutions.
Tomorrow I will run assays with the more concentrated solutions.

Jeramiah Jones 7.9.15

today i retrieved my data, and found that results were messed up because of the system pressure changing. Also i had to remake my standards and run them through activated carbon. tomorrow i will  get my solution tested.

Sarine McKenzie- 7/9/15

So today was a lot like yesterday, I worked on my powerpoint presentation for next week, and I'm almost completely finished. I also went to the NMR room and the glove box room with my mentor so she could test her sample. Tomorrow is group meeting, and my mentor suggested that I present what I have done so far, so that I can see if I need to make any revisions, or add on more to my presentation. That's all for today, see you later!

Stephen Lau - July 9, 2015

     I began a new reading today because it is similar to what I am doing so I hope it will help me tomorrow.  Unfortunately my group meeting interrupted my reading so I will resume where I left off tomorrow...