My experience took place here at Penn State. I am part of a research lab that studies the interactions between strains of bacteria. These interactions are generally understudied and understanding more about them can help us perturb infections of pathogenic bacteria.
This experience was (and is) important to me because I am planning to have a career in microbiology and participating in research as an undergraduate prepares me for graduate school. Personally, I have discovered two strains of bacteria that require an interaction in order to infect a host; a finding that has not been observed in this system until now.
I took a class called BMB488, which is coupled with my research. In this class we received credit for performing the actual experiments, but also had the opportunity to practice presenting posters, talks, and writing grant proposals and personal statements, all of which have prepared me for a career in research.
During this experience, I learned about scientific research design, and how to carry out experiments and ask meaningful questions about science. I learned techniques pertaining to bacteriology and how to present my research (in the form of poster presentations, talks, and grant proposals). Overall my time in the Miyashiro lab has helped me toward my goals of getting a Ph.D. in microbiology and I will attend Cornell University for this degree in Fall, 2018!
Welcome to my lab!
I am researching bacterial strain interactions in the Miyashiro lab at Penn State.
Retrieving Bacteria from Hawaii
I went to Hawaii in order to obtain E. scolopes, the squid within which V. fischeri bacteria reside.