Hello everyone.
I’m Rachel Staats and my summer internship at Dean McGee Eye Institute has come to an end. This summer we got a lot accomplished. My solo project isolating RNA from BC41 infected mice went very well and the samples are currently being analyzed. I learned a lot working in the lab this summer. The graduate student I spent most of my time working will with is currently working on publishing a paper that I will be a co-author for due to all my contributions. I had a great experience learning what goes into research and how much hard work it takes to learn how the body works and what is effected when infections occur. Some of my favorite parts of my internship this summer include: getting my own project to work on, figuring out how to do new experiments that haven’t been done before, perfecting some biological laboratory techniques that I learned last summer, and learning more and more everyday with great, hardworking scientists.
Below is a picture of me with everyone in the lab that made my experience such an unforgettable one and taught me so much that will help me further my career goals later in life.
The last picture is a poster that was presented at the 2014 ARVO conference in Orlando, FL. This poster includes work that I have done. For me, the most exciting part about this poster is that my name ,as well as, Department of Animal Science and Oklahoma State University are recognized.
I would like to thank Dr. Michelle C Callegan, Dr. Phil Coburn, Roger Astley and Madhu Parkunan for allowing me to work with them and being open to help, answer questions, and teach me along the way.