Biological Sciences Undergraduate Research Fellows Blog

When I started this blog and this summer program, my primary expectations were to develop experience in a lab and learn about the lifestyle of a researcher. And as this summer comes to close, I can say these expectations were absolutely fulfilled. This experience has absolutely shown me what life in a lab is like, as I spent a lot of time working closely with my mentor and observing their day-to-day tasks.This summer program provided me with quite an invaluable experience for someone interested in the biological sciences. I am glad and grateful that I finally was able to physically be in a lab for the first time. 

This experience has influenced me by opening my eyes to what many careers in science are like. This was not only because of my work in the lab, but also because of the faculty talks that we had many mornings. Duke faculty members visited us and discussed the trajectory of their careers and academic journeys. Hearing specific stories was incredibly helpful for learning about what pursuing science professionally is like, and I’m glad I got to listen to many different speakers. Additionally, the presentation of a poster helped me with my science communication skills, as I had to prepare a visually appealing poster and describe the significance of it to a variety of listeners who knew varying degrees of context about my work. This summer was a productive, eye-opening, and fun one that I will definitely remember!

Hello! I knew BSURF would feel quick, but wow, these last eight weeks have flown by.

In my first blog post, I wrote about how I had always been slightly intimidated by research. I was nervous about my capabilities in the lab and worried I would make mistakes in procedures such as DNA extractions and PCRs. While I have made such mistakes occasionally, I’ve been blessed to have a mentor who trusts me and even encourages me to explore and make some mistakes to understand what steps/precautions to take in experimental procedures. Carlos has been such an incredible mentor in that he makes me feel comfortable trying new things and asking for help in the lab. I love to ask Carlos, “What is the worst thing that could happen if I… (random thing, e.g., add too much buffer),” to which he always gives a thorough response that informs how I go about my procedure. The funniest example that pops into my mind is me asking, “What would happen if I dunked my hand into the liquid nitrogen?” to which he responded calmly, “It would immediately freeze.”

This trust and open line of communication has helped me grow much more confident as a scientist, as I now understand that everything in the lab is an experiment! We’ve had to troubleshoot many experiments even though we followed the procedures because, as often seen in science, there are unaccounted variables that change our results. Seeing this unpredictability in the lab has made me understand that science is not a stagnant, linear “if a, then b” field of study but rather one that is continually changing, informed by new observations and experiments. Sometimes the procedure won’t work, and that’s okay! You can retract and do mini-experiments to determine what could have influenced the outcome. Knowing that science is unpredictable, I feel more comfortable learning new skills and not knowing what to expect.

Another major lesson I’ve learned in BSURF is the importance of scientific communication. BSURF has done an incredible job of implementing workshops that help us develop these skills. From listening to faculty describe their research and career journeys to condensing our summer projects into eight minutes of speech, I’ve learned that science is not just about the work you do in the lab but also about sharing it with your peers and the public. It has been invaluable to have the chance to learn different modes of communication, such as abstracts, papers, posters, chalk talks, and presentations, and also practice them in a welcoming environment. I was so nervous about my chalk talk, but it was a great experience with a cohort of peers, many of whom were also experiencing it for the first time. Completing each deliverable felt like an accomplishment, and I thank Carlos, Dr. Lutzoni, Dr. Grunwald, Dr. Harrell, Grace, and Kehali for providing feedback throughout these processes.

Finally, I feel so lucky to have met amazing people this summer. It has been a privilege to live in Swift with not just BSURF but also other programs like the Huang Fellows program. We have all grown so close through carpooling, group cooking, and supporting one another through the research experience. I did not come into the program knowing many people before, but I am blessed to have met such kind-hearted, motivated, down-to-earth people. I am happy to enter my sophomore year with these new friendships and excited to see the great things everyone will accomplish! Thank you, BSURF!

Carlos! 7/27/23

When I applied to BSURF, I didn’t know what I was going to do this summer. I thought that as long as it was related to biology, I should be fine. I have to say that this program exceeded my expectations.

From giving me the opportunity to experience research to meeting some really awesome people in my class, BSURF really expanded my view of my future college years.

One of my favorite parts of the program was listening to different faculty members give talks about their life journey’s, work, and insights. I think that these talks helped give me a lot of guidance for what my next steps should be in my science career.

Duke places special emphasis on their research and that really becomes evident when you see the effort put into programs that empower undergrads and give them resources to succeed in research.

I would like to thank Grace, Kehali, Dr. Grunwald, and Dr. Harrell as well as the Dong Lab for such a great and well-planned summer! Special shout-out to Yezi, my awesome mentor! Thanks for being patient with me and continually being so good-natured throughout this experience.

This concludes my final week of BSURF and my final blog post.

Polite applause!

I can’t believe my summer with BSURF is coming to an end?!?! It seems as though it was yesterday when I first stepped inside the Perfect lab, kind of nervous but mostly excited too for what the summer would bring.

Walking into the Perfect Lab that first day, I was walked through the procedure of making YPD agar to fill inside Petri dishes. I had no clue what YPD was or why it was needed for my experiment. Turns out that YPD is an important factor in my experiment, it’s the food that the cells that I work with need to grow. From then on, my mentor, Jenny, began introducing me to new procedures and machinery which at the time was terrifying because, for one, I didn’t want to break/damage any equipment and two, it was a lot of new things at once to handle but with time and practice, that emotion transformed into enthusiasm as I was able to master the techniques and carry the experiment on my own without doing too much damage. Jenny’s reassurance made me feel comfortable with the idea that mistakes and failures in science are something that is inevitable and one just has to learn and move on from it. Whether it’s the machine’s fault because it won’t want to cooperate with you, or a contaminant has infected your strain, or you pipette the wrong concentration of a solution into something that needed the right concentration, and it’s irreversible, so you got to start back from the beginning, it’s all okay because rest assure you won’t be the first or last person in the laboratory working history that has done it. With that being said, some mistakes were made along the way, but that didn’t stop me, and it’s amazing to see how far I’ve progressed in the lab.

There’s a specific moment I can recall that I felt I experienced my “Harry Potter” moment, and that was when I was practicing to pipette. Jenny told me that each pipette is different, not just the fact that there are specific ones needed for a specific liquid measurement, as people have various ways to grip and press on them which brands take into account. I was still new at pipetting and there were some pipettes that I had more trouble using, so she had me try out different ones until I found the one that was the right one for me to utilize, which brought me back to how Harry tried out different wands until he found the wand met for him. Just as wands help create different spells for wizards, pipettes enable scientists to create different solutions in the lab because knowing the right measurements is important. Too much of a substance or too little can throw the experiment off course. I can proudly say I’ve mastered the art of pipetting, which a testament to that is that I’ve pipetted onto a 96-well plate and a 384-well plate. Pipetting into the 384 well plate was the biggest test to my capability, as one needs to have A LOT of patience and be accurate while doing it because otherwise, bubbles can form or some of the tips in the multichannel pipette may not intake the same amount of the solution onto it. I also now know how to use a microscope and a robot for high-quality imaging, which I am proud to say because learning it was a struggle as different steps are required along the way. I have gained so much knowledge and with that, gained confidence in myself that I can do science, despite how much of the journey is unknown to me.

I owe the success of my project to my mentor Jenny, P.I Dr.Perfect, and other valuable members of the Perfect Lab, who stood by me every step of the way and guided me with their wisdom to me so that I could grow more as a scientist. As many of the lecturers highlighted in their talks, the community inside the lab is a contributing factor to a project’s success because that community needs to be supportive, fun, friendly, patient, and encouraging with each other for everyone to have a good time and enjoy the scientific discoveries along the way which I did find within the Perfect Lab.

Outside the lab, that community that the lecturers talked about, I found it with my fellow BSURFers as well. I am happy to say that I made new friends this summer that I hope to carry with me through the rest of my journey here at Duke. From Bachelorette Sundays, and boba & food outings, to trips like going canoeing, hanging with the Lemurs, or the movies, I enjoyed the time I got to spend with you all, and I would like to thank you for adding fun to this experience. In the beginning, we were all adjusting to a new environment, from being in a lab for the first time or learning to be the independent adults we are and tackle meal prepping, budgeting, giving a chalk talk for the first time, and even timing our bus pick up. We shared some of that anxiety, and it was nice to know that I wasn’t alone in it and that we could share as well as together found ways to cope throughout the journey. We explored Durham together and had lots of laughs along the way. I would like to y’all, my fellow BSURFers, for making this summer a memorable one for me. Congratulations to everyone on overcoming the challenges, making the most of the summer, and on your projects which are all mind-blowing. We all have overcome so much, and it’ll be great to see our final products tomorrow 🙂

I am beyond grateful for the lessons I gained, both inside the lab and outside with our morning faculty talks and journal club lessons. The lessons that took place in our temporary BSURF classroom were an enjoyable way to start my mornings because they were very engaging. From learning about the various phenomenal research projects which Duke Faculty members are working on to gaining a lot of advice useful for my future like knowing how to go about dissecting scientific papers, and programs to apply for in the future, as well as how to improve how I present/communicate my findings in a scientific setting. Because as Dr.Grunwald emphasizes, “What you do in a lab doesn’t matter unless you are communicating your findings to others.” I will carry these lessons with me always. One of the most important lessons learned by experience is how to recover from a capsizing experience and don’t forget about snakes’ special gripping abilities!

Finally, I would also like to express my gratitude to Dr.Grunwald, Dr.Harrell, Grace, and Kehali for making BSURF a possibility. Thanks to the passion and hard work you put in, your guidance, support, and kindness for us which made BSURF an unforgettable experience! You all taught us what it means to be a scientist and provided us with the tools we needed to make our projects happen. Thank you! BSURF was a truly transformative experience and has laid the foundation for me to pursue research, which I hope to continue in the Perfect Lab.

Thanks to BSURF, this will be a summer I won’t forget and an experience forever impacting my journey at Duke. I will recommend future freshmen to apply and hope that they can be immersed in the way I have. Thank you all, and I wish you all a great remainder of the summer.

Change has always been a challenge for me – new environments, routines, and especially meeting new people and learning to trust them. The start of BSURF was no exception. In all honesty, the first week was overwhelming, filled with unfamiliarity: new faces, a new apartment, and a new workplace.

Yet, amidst the uncertainty, one thing remained familiar and comforting – learning. Immersing myself in scientific questions and thoughts helped me forget the unease around me. As the summer progressed, I absorbed a wealth of scientific knowledge, gaining clarity on my career aspirations, and discovering fascinating research projects and paths.

Little did I know that this learning process would extend beyond science; it taught me to find comfort in the uncomfortable and to let myself open up and trust others. In just eight short weeks, I connected with people whose sole intention was to only help me be the best I can be, and that’s what makes this program truly special.

One of these individuals is Dr. Mercedes Barzi, my mentor. Her authenticity, passion, and care were inspiring, and her research served as a guiding light for my own aspirations. With her guidance, I learned not only about the importance of paying attention to detail but also how to think independently, question everything, and find something to laugh about in every situation. But beyond it all, her kindness and nurturing helped me recognize that I could let myself trust others.

Another essential figure in my journey is Dr. Bissig, or Dimi, my PI. It’s rare to find someone who invests so much trust in a kid they barely know, but Dimi did just that. He entrusted me with my very own research project and is supporting me wholeheartedly throughout. Thank you, Dimi, I won’t let you down!

I am also grateful to Dr. Jason Somarelli and Dr. Tom Shultz, two new mentors I have found this summer. Already, Dr. Somarelli’s unwavering support is helping me achieve my goals and pursue my passions, and his generosity to help me in everyway he can has touched me deeply. Dr. Shultz provided me a super exciting opportunity to pursue my passion in marine science and assured me of his continual support even if it meant I wouldn’t be working with him – a sign of an exceptional mentor.

In a short time, I’ve formed an amazing community of role models. They’ve shown me how much kindness the world has to offer and in turn, have helped me open up and let myself trust others. I think this is what science is all about. I think this is what it really means to be a scientist: building and nurturing communities across cultures, generations, and oceans, all working together to make the world just a bit brighter.

Before BSURF, I struggled to adjust to life at Duke, thousands of miles from my home. But it was because of BSURF that I can finally say I’ve found a home here. None of this would have been possible without the support of Dr. Grunwald, Dr. Harrell, Grace, and Kehali. I am sincerely grateful for this transformative opportunity. Thank you.

One of the main insecurities I had working in the lab before this summer was feeling lost in the techniques and rationale of the experiments. I couldn’t see the purpose of the assays or could only understand how they worked individually. To grasp the greater picture of the work takes time and practice. This is something I could do a lot during these two months. I had time to sit down with my mentor and ask questions, participate in journal clubs, and repeat experiments until I felt confident. Although 8 weeks go by quickly, I can say it was a great start to my scientific journey. I still have more questions than answers, but I know where to start searching for them. 

BSURF has also been great for my social connections. I’ll take the career advice and life experiences from the professors and their talks with me when looking for new opportunities and making new decisions in the future. I feel more assured about my career prospects now after hearing their stories filled with success, failure, luck, and a lot of fun. I could see in the way they talked how much they enjoyed their research. I want to be able to say that about myself in the future as well.  

I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend outings and just spending time with my new friends that also have a fascination for Biology, whether it was watching movies, getting boba, canoeing, or having a potluck. It has been an exciting summer and I want to thank everyone that made it special for me and I hope BSURF can continue to engage Biology enthusiasts in the year to come.