Sierra DeAngelo, Class of 2020
Sierra working in her research lab in San Diego, CA!
This summer, Sierra took a paid research position with the Center for Aerosol Impacts on Chemistry of the Environment (CAICE) through UC San Diego/Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Her team’s research focus was on answering the question of how microbes leaving the ocean to enter the atmosphere may affect our planet’s climate. She spent nine weeks in San Diego researching these topics, while also exploring other new passions in her free time! On her experience in California, Sierra said, “I worked closely with a graduate student/mentor to measure enzyme activity of seawater, sea spray aerosols, and culture bacteria, among other things. When I wasn’t working hard at the lab, I was swimming in the beautiful ocean, exploring San Diego, or learning to surf, paraglide, and throw pottery.”
What inspired you to take the research position with CAICE?
I was seeking bench research experience because I did clinical research last summer, specifically psychiatry research at UChicago Medical Center. I’m pre-med, but major in environmental bio, so I was eager to have a wide range of research experiences.
What’s one lesson you took away from the experience?
I discovered this opportunity when Dr. Kim Prather, the director of CAICE, delivered an incredible talk here at Colgate and I was inspired to introduce myself. Never underestimate the power of putting yourself out there professionally! One of the greatest takeaways from my summer experience was that I am fully capable of excelling in scientific research– something I wasn’t so sure of before my internship.