8/7/14 Kelly Pesta

Well today was a pretty good day. I finally finished my poster and my paper. I went down to the print shop today and I'll be getting my poster tomorrow. I'm pretty excited to see the final results on a big poster instead of a little screen and because that means it's closer to San Fransisco. Tomorrow I plan on getting my paper signed by Dr. Wetzel so I'm completely finished. There's only one more day of SEED. I'll definitely miss everyone here and all the new friends I met. Hopefully we keep in touch and in the future we'll all meet again.
To end with a quote:
"Don't be sad because you're saying goodbye, you should be happy because you have memories with them that you'll cherish forever."
     -Unknown

8/6/14 Kelly Pesta

Today had to be the most frustrating day ever!! This morning we had an admissions meeting that went well. After that we went to lunch. I left lunch early because I had to get stuff done with my research. I went down to the SEM and took down the last two data tables and wrote some more stuff down that Leah had me do. I was running out of time when I was still writing stuff down so I had to work as fast as I could. When I finished I came back up to the lab to make extractions so we can put them into the LC/MS, but couldn't go in because the floor was waxed. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do now. I guess I'm not going to be able to add anything else to my poster because what I was doing won't even be done.

8/5/14 Kelly Pesta

Today was a fun day. We went on a field trip to the Bayer Corporation and was able to present our posters to them and also take a tour of Bayer and see what they do. When the poster sessions began I was nervous because I knew that there were some pretty important people there, but as the sessions went on I calmed down and I actually enjoyed it more then the symposium. I felt very relaxed and everyone was very friendly. I really enjoyed the tour not only seeing what Bayer does, but also understanding some of the things Bayer did because of my project. We also got some free things from Bayer which was pretty exciting. When we came back I worked on my paper/poster and continued getting data. Tomorrow I plan on getting the last of my data from the SEM, gathering all the stubs, extracting them in the extraction method that had the best percent recovery, then running the samples through the LC/MS by the afternoon, getting results, and finish up my poster/paper by Thursday morning to my poster is finished at the print shop by Friday.

8/4/14 Kelly Pesta

Yesterday was a busy and frustrating day for me. In the morning I went down to the SEM to look at my data from my samples that Leah ran over the weekend, but the program froze on me when I tried to look at my data so I had to wait for Leah to come at 1:30 to restart the program. After she restarted the program I was then able to take down the data from the 3 samples she ran for me (revolver 2, revolver 3, and automatic 1). I wasn't able to put on a new stub yesterday after I got all my data because I ran out of time, so Leah ran one for me last night and she is going to run my last one tonight. I'm going to get the last of my data from the SEM tomorrow morning and make my extractions to run on the LC/MS and then finish my paper and poster by Thursday.

8/1/14 Kelly Pesta

This morning was slow. I didn't do much because I didn't have my flash drive since we had to use it to save my data from the SEM last night. After lunch Leah came in and she showed me how to look at my data so I can do it on my own. I wrote down all the data from my results. After that she showed me how to restart the computers after the samples are finished running. Then I ran my next stub on the SEM. Leah is going to run 2 more this weekend. So Monday I will copy the data from the stubs and load the next one on. Hopefully we'll be done running my samples Wednesday, extract, put them through the LC/MS, and get results. I'll add the results Wednesday night- Thursday morning, have my mentor revise it within those days and have my poster finished by Thursday so I'm ready for San Fran.

7/31/14 Kelly Pesta

Today was another slow day. This morning I cleaned the GC vials from my extractions and cleaned the contained we put the GSR samples from last night in so there was no GSR transferred from the outside of the container to anything else we touch. After that  I worked on my paper and poster the rest of the morning and continued working on it after lunch. When Leah came in at about 4:00 we got my first sample (revolver 1) and took it down to the SEM to start scanning it over night so I can look at the results tomorrow. Leah should be in tomorrow afternoon so I'll be able to start to look at the results. We're going to run another sample tomorrow night and Leah is going to run a couple more of my samples over the weekend so I can at least start adding some of the results to my paper and poster so I'm finished by Thursday. Monday I have to run my samples on the SEM on my own because Leah won't be in. But hopefully by Wednesday we'll have all my samples ran through the SEM and we can extract them Wednesday and put them in the LC/MS and get results Thursday morning and add the last minute results to both my poster and paper so my poster will be finished by Friday. I'm running out of time so I'm hoping our plans work out. Wish me luck.

7/30/14 Kelly Pesta

Yesterday morning went slow. I continued working on my paper. In the afternoon I worked on my poster. When Leah came in Dr.Wetzel took us to the shooting range to take samples off of their hands after they shot the guns. After that we came back to duquesne and Leah showed me how to use the SEM again. Today I am going to clean the vials I used from the extractions and start running my samples on the SEM.

7/29/14 Kelly Pesta

Today was another boring day. I worked on my paper for a little bit, and that was about it. We sat and talked the rest of the day and made plans to hang out with each other before and after SEED. I should hopefully be getting samples tomorrow so I can get results by the end of this week so I can write my research paper and finish my poster before ACS.

2014 URP Symposium Experience- Kelly Pesta

Friday was the symposium, the second symposium I attended. It was a lot different the second time then it was the first time. In the morning I got there at 7:30 to finish up last minute things my mentor wanted me to fix, I printed my slides and title, and then I glued them onto the construction paper. When I finished that it was already 9:00 and the talks started at 10:00. So I had an hour to put up my slides. I found my board and successfully hung up my slides. Unfortunately my title was extremely long so I had to tape it to the wall, but in the end it all worked out. I ended up going to the speakers in the building next to ours a little late so I had to sit far away from the other SEED students, but at the break I switched my seat so we were all together. But I really enjoyed the speakers this year. Some of them I knew what they were talking about and their projects were really interesting. After that we all met up with our families and ate lunch. When we were finished we took some pictures together. Then it was time for the poster session to begin. I ended up getting the second hour so while I waited, half of the first hour I spent with my family and the second half I spent looking at the other SEED students projects. Then it was time for my shift. Dr. Wheeler was my first visitor. He asked me what my project was and asked a few questions. My next visitors were my family members and the other SEED students. And then it was over. I didn't get as many people as last year to looked at my poster, but I still had a good time. I enjoyed looking at all the other SEED students and seeing how well we all fit in with the undergraduate students. If it wasn't for our power point slides on construction paper to make us stand out a little we could go for college students. Like I said in my last blog, time flies. One second we all were strangers to one another and now we've all become such great friends. I sure hope we all stay in touch once SEED ends, even though I don't want it to end. It feels like it was just yesterday when we all met and now we're on our last 2 weeks of SEED.  Like I've said before, I'm going to make these last to weeks the best.
To end with another quote:
"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin."
     -Mother Teresa

7/28/14 Kelly Pesta

Today was an extremely boring day. I didn't have much to do since the symposium is over so I started to write my research paper. This week I will be continuing my research so I have a better poster for the ACS meeting in San Francisco. So not only do I have to write the research paper but I also have to make a poster and continue adding to both of them as I continue my research. I sure hope I have enough time.

7/24/14 Kelly Pesta

I know I have said this in my past blogs but today has definitely been the busiest/craziest day ever! I was stressing about getting the poster done and not having enough time to finish it until I talked to one of the other 2nd year SEED students and she said that she's not going to have enough time to finish the poster so she's just doing the slides. That lifted a lot of weight off my shoulders, but it also added some because since I was spending all my time on the poster I wasn't keeping my slides up to date. So I was going crazy adding things and emailing/texting Leah to see what I could add or should take out before our meeting that was at 10. But since everyone had to finish their presentations I rescheduled the meeting for after lunch from 12-2 so we had some time to work on them. After lunch we presented. I have to say that my presentation wasn't very good because I wasn't 100% confident in what I was presenting. So after that I met up with Leah and she helped me out with things that I didn't know so I know what to say if someone has a question. I still have to print out my slides and glue them onto the construction paper but I'm getting to Duquesne super early so I can finish that and get it hung up before the speakers. I'm pretty excited for tomorrow so my family can see my presentation and what I've been working on and also so I can see the other SEED students projects complete. I can't believe that the symposium is already tomorrow. Time flies. I'll definitely miss the SEED students once it's over, we've all got so close. I'm going to make these last two weeks together with the SEED students the best two weeks of SEED.


To end with a quote:
"The most beautiful moments always seemed to accelerate and slip beyond one's grasp just when you want to hold onto them for as long as possible."
     - E.A. Bucchianeri

7/23/14 Kelly Pesta

Today was the busiest day ever. This morning our SEED meeting was canceled so we can work on our presentations since the symposium is tomorrow. So I worked on my poster and then walked down to Fisher with Rob to get his construction paper. After that I went to lunch with my mentor and my secondary mentors to the cheesecake factory. After that I worked on my poster for a little bit until Leah came. When she got there my mentor Dr. Wetzel talked to me about what I will be doing in the last few weeks of SEED and what I should be adding to my poster. After that Leah and I went to the Triple Quad. and she showed me how to look at my samples and showed me how to find the peak height. She had me make a chart of each extraction, each of the 7 standards (except MC), and the peak height. That took a long time to write all that down. When I finished we went to the computer lab and went over what I should change and add to my poster. She had me add a few more things to my notes and add more to the chart. When we finished that it was already 6:00 and time for me to go. So we quickly went over what I have to do tomorrow. Hopefully I can finish my poster in time to get it printed so I have something to present at the symposium Friday. Time is running out.

7/22/14 Kelly Pesta

Today was kind of busy. This morning I didn't have much to do until Mr. Larry told me I should make an actual poster instead of slides. I've been working on that all day deciding on what type of background I should use. I'm going to look over my results tomorrow with Leah and add them to my poster and hopefully be done before the symposium Friday. I'm really pressing time so I'm hoping I finish everything by Friday.

Title for the symposium

1. Open Microsoft Publisher.
2. Under Publisher change the orientation (under the page design tab) to landscape.
3. Under the same tab, change the size.
     1. Click on size.
     2. Go to the far bottom and click "create new page size..."
     3. A new window will pop up, change the width to 48" and the height to 8.5".
4. The picture should now be long.
5. Insert a text box and type in your information from your Power point title slide.
     It should look like this:
                                                        Title of project (90 pt. font)
                    Your name, the name of your mentors, and secondary mentors (75 pt. font)
 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA 15282 (70 pt. font) 
* Adjust the sizes so it looks good and its centered. You don't want it to take up the whole slide you need room for the logo *
6. You can change the font to whatever you want, or so it matches your slide fonts, it's up to you.
7. Go under insert, borders and accents, and scroll all the way down. Under emphasis and choose the border stripes. You can change the color of the border (under page design and choose you're color scheme or create your own to match the rest of your slides). Adjust the border so it fits the title inside of the blue borders.
8. Copy and paste the Duquesne logo and place them on your title the same way I have mine below.

* If you need help find me and I'll help you *
** Check with your mentor to see if they have a certain preference for your title slide **


This is what mine looks like:

Copy and paste (you might have to crop out the extra white around the logo after you paste so they're the same size):

7/21/14 Kelly Pesta

Today I didn't do much again. This morning we had our SEED meeting from 10-11. Not many of us presented today, but who did present did good. After that we all went out to lunch which was very fun. After we got back I didn't have anything to do, Leah ran most of my samples on Sunday so Wednesday I'll look at our results and put them on my power point so I can finally have something on my power point for my presentation.

7/18/14 Kelly Pesta

Today was another day of nothing. This morning we had our SEED meeting again. All the presentations were great and are improving. After that I went to the computer lab and I waited until it was time fore lunch. After lunch we went to a seminar speaker that lasted about an hour. After that I was planning on Leah being here so we can finally run my samples and add the results to my power point so I can practice my presentation at our meeting on Monday, but no one in my lab showed up and the lab was closed so I didn't even have the opportunity to go into my lab today. I'm not sure when I'm going to be able to run my samples, but I sure hope I'll have enough time to run them, get results, and add them on my power point with time to present at least one time before the symposium, but I don't know. Hopefully I have time to finish everything.

Blog Challenge #3- Kelly Pesta

For our third blog challenge we were suppose to take a picture of the SEED students in their lab working on their project. Below are the pictures I took:

 Cleaning a mortar and pestle with aqua regia.

Pouring sodium hydroxide into a beaker.

Rinsing solutions.

Weighing dithione.

Labeling samples.

Looking at output files on a laptop.

 Turning on the ROTOVAP and inspecting the Oxidize Stress Setup.

 Checking on running files.

 

Looking at recombinant DNA from a bucket of ice.

For the second part of the blog challenge we were suppose to interview another SEED student. I interviewed Robert. This is what I learned about him and his project:

Robert is 18 years old, a senior at West Mifflin High School, and this is his first year at Project SEED. He is interested in Science and art, specifically biology and painting. Once he graduates he has multiple interests including: a medical examiner, physical therapist, physician assistant, a high school art teacher, anesthesiologist, or a gynecologist. He hasn't been looking at a specific college to attend because schools have actually been looking at him for track. But he does want to go out of state and if he had to pick a state to go to he would either choose Florida, Ohio, or Oregon. Robert's project is titled The Investigation of Probing Substituent Effects on Fragmentation Energetics for Protonated Peptides Modified to Create N-Terminal Imines. What he is doing is modifying the peptides, putting them through the mass spec, and looking for pathways the peptides are choosing to take when fragmenting. All in all, even though this blog was frustrating at times, I enjoyed this blog the most and had fun taking pictures with the other students and getting to know Robert better.

7/17/14 Kelly Pesta

I didn't do much today, yet again. In the morning I worked on my blog challenge since there were people from the forensic workshop in my lab again this morning. After that we went to our SEED group meeting which lasted about an hour. When we came back from lunch I sat in my lab for a little because there were a lot of people in the computer lab and I didn't want to interrupt them. When they left I went to the computer lab and continued working on my blog challenge. I got the names posted on the blog, that's all I have to do is put the pictures and type the interview and I'll be finished  with it. Tomorrow I am running my samples, FINALLY.

7/16/14 Kelly Pesta

Today I did a lot. In the morning we had our SEED meeting. A lot of people were at our meeting including Dr. Wheeler (the head of the department) and the mentors of everyone who was presenting. I presented today at our meeting even though I didn't have much to present I believe I did well, and so did everyone else who presented. After that we went to lunch. When we came back from lunch we all went around and finished taking pictures of one another so we can finish our blog challenge. Once I finished my mentor wanted to talk to me about my presenation to change and add things on my power point. Our discussion didn't last long so after that I went to the computer lab to fix what needed fixed on my power point. After that I went to the office and scheduled us in the conference room there to practice our presentations together and give each other advise on what to fix or work on without our mentors to prepare ourselves for the symposium next Friday. When I finished that Rob and I interviewed each other for the second part of our blog challenge. That lasted an hour and then I was done. Later this week I hope I can run my samples to get results and finally finish my power point and tomorrow I plan on finishing up my blog challenge.

7/15/14 Kelly Pesta

Yet again I have not done much today. I wasn't aloud in the lab this afternoon because there is a forensic workshop going on in my lab this week for juniors and seniors from different high schools so they were doing different experiments in there today. Since I wasn't aloud in the lab I was in the computer lab a majority of the day. I took some pictures of the other SEED students for our third blog challenge. After I took pictures of the SEED students who were here today I went over my power point since I have to present tomorrow at the SEED meeting. I don't have much information on my power point yet because I haven't run any of my samples on the LC/MS yet, but I do have background information and I can explain what I will be doing to get the results and what were coming or trying to get out of the extractions. So, tomorrow I hope to be running my samples and possibly be looking at my results by Friday with Leah so I can finish my power point and have it finished by the symposium by next Friday.