This summer, I was lucky enough to participate in a Biology Internship at Wabash College with Dr. Heidi Walsh. Our lab set out to explore the causes and effects of obesity at the cellular level by experimenting with palmitic acid; a saturated fatty acid that is known to induce stress in cells.
Beforehand, I knew nothing about palmitic acid or its effects on the body, but Dr. Walsh has an amazing way of breaking down difficult-to-consume topics into manageable pieces. With her guidance, as well as the help of my coworker, Eero Gross, we were able to experiment with a vast array of procedures including Western Blots, PCRs, protein and RNA synthesis, and more. While we, unfortunately, did not gather many results, I still personally feel as though I have gained so much from this internship through priceless hands-on experience. In addition, I feel I have a better understanding and respect for the complexity and interconnected workings of the human body. Our bodies are intricate machines but need to be properly taken care of as well.
Beyond the technical aspects of the internship, I was also able to learn techniques for the classroom. Aside from testing and imaging cells, we also ran our own journal club in order to understand additional background information for our studies and to be able to professionally present these findings to other scientists. Twice, we all separately studied a research paper pertaining to something related to our overall topic, prepared a detailed presentation to give to each other, and then presented and answered questions at the end of the week. In the real world, articulating your findings is sometimes more important than the discovery itself. Practicing these more professional, scientific talks was incredibly beneficial and important, and I will always remember some of the things I’ve learned from them.
Overall, this experience was especially valuable and incredibly fun. I highly recommend this internship to anyone interested in the field of biology, especially one involving work in a laboratory study of some kind. I would like to personally thank Dr. Walsh for an amazing summer experience, Eero Gross for being an informational and enjoyable mentor, and all Wabash sponsors for making this spectacular internship possible.
