• While all Laidlaw Scholars will be presenting their research at the Columbia Undergraduate Research Symposium in the fall, what are the more immediate expectations that you have for your research? Are you writing a paper? Will your research be part of a larger scientific study? Do you hope to produce an annotated bibliography that you reflect on down the line? Is your research now the first phase of a project you’ll continue to work on throughout the year, and/or next summer? Now that we are nearing the one month mark of the program, please write about your expectations for your research.

My immediate expectation of my research is to complete the first part of a larger study on membranes. I will complete a presentation by the end of the summer that encapsulates my findings and next steps. Furthermore, I will compare the research that has been done in my lab and put it into the context of the broader research in the field. 

• Why does your research matter? Explain the significance of the question you are investigating, and why you are interested in it.

Ion-exchange membranes have a wide range of applications, from the pharmaceutical industry where it is used to produce active pharmaceutical ingredients, and wastewater treatment where it removes contaminated waters that have ionic compounds and heavy metals. The significance of my research specifically focuses on understanding the selectivity of ion exchange membranes in differentiating between monovalent compounds. Such understanding will hopefully lead to a more fine-tuned process to provide as much pure water as possible and also eventually lead to resource recovery from waste.