8/22/22
Hello! This month has been very different than the rest of the summer since I haven’t done any research. This is because my mentor reserves the month of August for prepping, so I had the month to focus on other things. I have mostly been studying for the GRE, looking more into graduate schools, and presenting my research at a summit.
The Research Summit
An opportunity for this month, provided by McNair, was the ability to present our work at the McNair Research Summit located in Superior, WI. I have presented my work at two other conferences, but this gave me the ability to practice my presentation skills and show off my newly synthesized molecules. The format for this summit was a hybrid between poster and oral presentation, so I was able to update and use the poster I had from the past.
The Presentation
The biggest thing I was looking forward to from the summit was the actual presentations. We were split into groups based on our research topics, so I was in a group that understood my project to a moderate degree. My presentation went well and there were a lot of questions that I was happy to answer at the end. This presentation, compared to my previous two, had a lot more to show off due to the substantial amount of work I had done this summer. It was excited to tell people what my project is and be able to connect with people who have similar interests.
My Cohort at Superior's Summit
The Panels
The rest of the conference focused on different panels and presentations organized for us. Some of these sessions included networking, an etiquette dinner, finding recommendations for graduate school, publishing your research, and much more. The panel that stood out to me was the publishing your research presentation because my mentor has expressed that he plans on publishing our work as soon as possible. Starting in the fall, I will start purifying and testing our products in order to do this. Our plan is to publish either in the spring or summer, which is very exciting for me. This presentation was able to give me more information on the logistics of this, which I haven’t been able to discuss with my mentor yet.
My Takeaways
Although many of the presentations were similar to those I had heard before in the Maryland McNair conference, I still found the reminders helpful. The panels which I had not heard before were incredibly helpful. I plan on presenting my research at least two times this school year, so this conference also helped me practice for the future. Overall, I am glad I was given the opportunity to go to this summit.