Sometimes opportunities don't fall into place to you unless you go looking for them. I told Brandy a couple of days ago that I am interested in environmental engineering, and she immediately tried to arrange a tour of Parsons Lab for me and Cole. I am often astounded by Brandy's efficiency, organization, and persistence. Within a day's notice, Sheila of Parsons Lab agreed to meet us at 11:30 a.m. on Friday.
Sheila was very friendly and eager to acquaint us with the lab. She entered nearly every lab and bothered the researchers and grad students there to give us a brief description of their research. We got to witness cutting-edge research, from hydrodamics on a microscopic scale to extremophiles in a laboratory environment. Environmental engineering is a smaller department; as Sheila says, the environmental engineering department is like a family. The few undergrads therefore get research opportunities and positions that larger departments may not offer.
Several of the labs in Parsons have gas chromatographs, complicated pieces of equipment that I was hoping to use for measuring algae lipid profiles. However, without EHS training and a professor to supervise, I am unable to access the equipment over the summer. I wish I could learn to use all of the machines in Parsons, from the gas chromatographs to the fluorocytometers, which were made by Sheila herself. For now, I will have to conduct a simpler version of the project - measuring cell density and cell count instead of lipid profiles - without forgetting my dream of extending the scope of the project in the future.
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